Armida on a roll

The passing year will be very memorable for Armida Siguion-Reyna. At 72, the former MTRCB chair’s career is definitely on a roll. She plays a lead role in Viva Films’ Metro Manila filmfest entry, Filipinas, and she has also just launched a new album, called Pop Lola, her first since 1975 when compact discs were not yet in vogue.

"People say my role in Filipinas is my biggest so far, but it’s not true because I have also played big roles in Laruang Apoy, Mga Bilanggong Birhen, and even Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin for which I won the FAMAS Best Supporting Actress award," she says. "But in terms of this being a big filmfest movie with a huge star-studded cast, we can say this is one of my biggest films so far."

Everyone knows the role was first offered to Lolita Rodriguez. "I don’t mind being the second choice. The role is good and it’s pivotal to the theme of the heart-tugging story and script written by Roy Iglesias, which is a tribute to the Filipino family facing very troubled times like what we have now. It’d be foolish to bypass the chance of doing this kind of important project and working with a respected director like Joel Lamangan who, I firmly believe, will be a National Artist for Film someday."

Did she really miss acting? "I never left the scene naman. A few months ago, I played the free-spirited grandmother of Aubrey Miles in Xerex, where I was paired with Luis Gonzales who, I discovered, is really forgetful now because he kept on forgetting his lines while we were shooting the movie."

Her performance in Filipinas will surely be compared to that of Gloria Romero’s in Tanging Yaman since they both play martyr moms with troubled children. "But it’s going to be unfair to compare us with each other because we have different roles. She only has three kids. I have six. And she’s not doing anything in their film. In my case, the film opens with receiving an award as a school principal. Her character is very passive compared to mine. In the climactic scene in Filipinas where my sons Richard Gomez, who’s pro-American, and Victor Neri, a labor leader who’s anti-American, get into a big fight on New Year’s Eve, I am shown trying to pacify them. At sa pag-awat ko, they hit me by accident so I landed comatose in the hospital."

Does she expect to win an award? "I’m not expecting anything. To begin with, Maricel Soriano, who plays my eldest child and who’s the film’s narrator, also plays a lead role and she’s also very good. Basta I gave my best to the movie, even in the scenes where I am supposed to be already comatose and was just lying down on the hospital bed. At first, enjoy pa ko, because I was just lying there unconscious habang panay ang emote nilang lahat around me. But later on, aba, I realize mahirap pala, what with all the tubes inserted in my mouth and my nose. I really got tired of just lying down and I felt na magkaka-bedsores na talaga ako sa kahihiga."

In the film, her favorite son is Richard, who plays a balikbayan from Los Angeles. But in real life, his favorite is Wendell Ramos, who plays a military man. "I love Wendell. Feeling ko, I really want him to be my son. At first, I thought he’s antipatiko, pero napakabait pala and he always smells good. Among the girls, kagaya ko si Aiko Melendez. Pareho kaming pranka at diretso magsalita. But I enjoyed working with all of them, including Dawn Zulueta as my third child who works as a nurse in Israel. I really felt very sad when shooting was over because we all bonded so well while making the film on location in San Miguel, Bulacan. Feeling namin, we’re really one big family."

Tita Midz has also just launched her new album, Pop Lola, which shows that being a grandma is not confined to just retiring to a rocking chair knitting sweaters for one’s granchildren. "Here, I go back to my original love, singing. People know me more for traditional music like kundimans because of my long-running TV show, Aawitan Kita. In Pop Lola, I show that I can also do popular songs. The album has 14 songs I’ve learned to love through the years and composed by people I admire. The English cuts range from standards like Night and Day, Smile and For All We Know to newer ones like Yesterday I Heard the Rain, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and Sway by Michael Bublé. The Tagalog songs are Kahit Konti, Michael V’s Sinaktan Mo ang Puso Ko, Hanggang, and Ngayon Pa Lang Tagumpay Ka Na, a duet with my apo, Cris Villonco. The final cut is a poem by Pete Lacaba, Tagubilin at Habilin."

A new movie and a new album. For Tita Midz, life really begins anew at 72.