A Regal Romance

May puso!

That, in one word, is how Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde describes herself.

A lioness in love (born on Aug. 22, 1939, a Leo), she is full of heart that beats with the whole gamut of emotion in a heady whirl the way the characters of her Regal movies do — falling in love with great passion and falling out of love with a loud thud.

Her movies, perhaps more than 200 so far, carries little pieces of Mother Lily, a character so complex that if ever her life/love story would be made into a movie, it would require more than the six Mano Po she has produced to date, an all-star-cast romantic saga still on its way to a happy ending.

It would start with her own “Regal Romance” with Leonardo “Remy” Monteverde, fondly called Father Remy by industry people, by whom she has five children (Winnie, Meme, Roselle, Dondon and Goldwyn) and seven grandchildren — “Plus two dogs,” said Mother Lily, referring to the pets of Meme who is childless.

Yes, Mother Lily courted Father Remy and she happily admits it, and tells anybody who cares to listen, a cinematic love story that takes on even more color and meaning in the retelling.

And what better to hear it retold one more time than on this Day of Hearts?

After 49 years, how do you and Father Remy spend Valentine’s?

“We spend it with the family, not just the two of us. Wala na ‘yung special na kaming dalawa lang. We eat out with our children and grandchildren. Or sometimes sa bahay lang.”

Do you love Father as much you did 49 years ago when you were courting him?

“We are now into a deeper relationship because I finally know how to define what love is. Noon, I didn’t really know what love was. After so many things have happened in my life and in my life with Father, and now that all my children are married and have a family of their own, I can clearly see what the meaning of love is.”

Is Father your first love?

“Yes, of course!”

Is he also your last love?

(Thinks awhile) “My last love? I can say that, yes, he’s my last love.”

Is it really true that you courted Father instead of the other way around?

“Yes, it’s true. Ako talaga ang lumigaw sa kanya. Father was a basketball player, very handsome. He was tall; at that time, 5’8” was considered tall. He was playing for San Beda at that time and at the same time for the team of my father, Domingo Yu Chu who was from Marinduque. I would watch him practise every night. He was the No. 1 player.”

What else did you find attractive about Father?

“He’s simpatico, parang kahawig siya ni James Yap. He’s so quiet, a man of few words, my exact opposite because you know me, I’m very noisy.”

Opposites do attract each other.

“But you know, Father is very intelligent. He’s a great think tank. He thinks hard before he makes a decision, unlike me na very impulsive.”

Is it also true that your parents didn’t like Father?

“Yes. I think it was because Father didn’t know how to speak Chinese at that time, even if his father, who was from Sariaya, Quezon, was the Copra King. I was then studying at UNO High School in Binondo. I would skip classes and go on dates with him. He would wait for me at the corner so people wouldn’t see us and make sumbong to my parents.”

So you went against your parents’ wishes when you married Father?

“Yes. Father was worth it. True love talaga!”

What’s your fondest memory about your wedding?

“We got married at Lourdes Church in Quezon City on April 16, 1961.”

Were you pregnant when you got married?

“Of course, not! It was a simple but beautiful wedding. Kinausap ko si Pitoy (Moreno) to make me a very budgeted gown. It cost around P1,500.”

Wow, it should cost much more now! Ayaw mo ba i-auction?

“No. I’m keeping it in my aparador. You know, I want to wear it when I die.”

Weren’t you nervous when the officiating priest was asking Father, you know, if he was taking you as his wife for better or for worse, ‘till death do you part?

“Well, I was glad that he said ‘yes’ right away.” (Laughs)

When you were courting Father, didn’t he have a girlfriend?

“Mayroon. But I courted him really hard.”

Did you ask help from both your parents when you started life together?

“No, we did not. I had to scratch out on my own to prove to my parents na kaya naming mabuhay ni Father. I borrowed P10,000 from my (late) brother Jessie and put up two popcorn machines, one at Good Earth on Avenida Rizal and another at Cherry Foodarama in Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong. That was in 1962. There was a moviehouse, Ideal Theater, near Good Earth and I was making P100 a day. Ang saya-saya ko! I also sold blouses in Zurbaran Market, consigned at the Corazon Dry Goods Store at P24 per dozen; five percent lang ang tubo ko.”

Was that how the Regal Empire came to be?

“I started Regal in the late ‘60s. I bought a copy of the movie (a tearjerker) All Mine to Give for P10,000 and the movie earned more than P500,000 Tubong-lugaw. Later I produced a movie called Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi, inspired by All Mine to Give, which is the story of a woman (Charito Solis) who couldn’t support her siblings so she gives them away.”

You bought a copy of All Mine to Give in New York, right?

“Yes. We had to borrow P10,000 again from Jessie because we were not earning enough yet. We really made tipid. In New York, I showed Father how much I loved him. We stayed in a cheap hotel. I would buy meals from a fast-food center and let Father eat. When he asked me to eat with him, I would say no. I would pretend that I wasn’t hungry. But when he wasn’t looking, kinakain ko ‘yung tira niya. Then, pumupunta ako sa grocery to buy a small pack of coffee. I would get hot water from the faucet and that’s what I would drink.”

Are you the jealous type?

“Yes, I am very, very, very jealous. Kapag nagseselos ako, I would bring our kids to my parents’ house so he would pick us up. That was then. Now, no more like that.”

Are you a nagger?

“Sometimes. But I tell you, Father is one person na kahit naiirita ay hindi nagsasalita. He just keeps quiet. He doesn’t get angry. But when he does talk, I better behave na.”

Father is very quiet. Do you dominate him?

“I don’t think he can be dominated. Quiet lang siya but he’s very strong.”

How often do you say “I love you” to him?

“Now, I say ‘I love you’ to him through prayer. I pray to God that everything will be okay.”

Does Father say ‘I love you’ to you?

“Not with words but with his gesture.”

How does Father show his love for you?

“Not with expensive gifts but with food which he brings home not only for me but for our children and grandchildren.”

Is Father romantic?

“Very! When we were young, he was somewhat demonstrative. But now, he shows it with his eyes.”

Is it true that most of the stories of the Mano Po franchise were derived from your own life?

“Yes. There are so many struggles, so many conflicts...of love, of life, of jealousy, things like those...but never about finances. In those days, I was childish; I didn’t realize what love really was.”

So when did you realize what love really was?

“When our children started growing up and our grandchildren started coming.”

What has been the biggest trial in your marriage?

“When I was looking for love. That was during my years of journey. True love was there all the time but I didn’t realize it because I was a brat like Kris Aquino. Now that the whole family is together, all of us together even if all of us have lives of our own, I know na what love is. We stay in one house, my children and my grandchildren, and I can feel our house so full of love.”

What are the best, most memorable gifts you and Father have ever given each other?

“The tears of joy that Father and I share in private.”

How would you rate yourself as a wife?

“Out of 100? Seventy-five percent.”

As a mother?

“Ninety percent.”

As a grandmother?

“One hundred percent.”

Turn the hands of time 49 years back. Would you still court Father?

“If I were reincarnated, I would still court Father all over again but in a different way. Iba na ang gimik ko sa buhay.”

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