Story of a lasting friendship

THEN: Written for a magazine June 19, 1990, 19 years ago.

One aspect in the colorful life of the late director Lino Brocka is his friendship with another colorful personality, Behn Cervantes. It is a story of a beautiful friendship that spanned more than 30 years. It started at the UP campus where Lino studied and became close to Behn.

“They used to laugh at his diction and Joonee and I would give him lessons and put him in plays that we were in. Lino loved the theater and he would volunteer even just as a curtain raiser just to be involved in it. I still remember him during those first years trying out the automatic door of Botica Boie darting in and out to see if he could trick the magic eye that made the door open. He weighed 88 pounds then, or thereabouts but he already has the determination and fearlessness that make him seem tall.”

Behn was in the mood to reminisce and laugh despite the pain of his loss. It was the night after Lino died and we were having dinner at his home preparing to go to UP. I was telling him about my last hour with Lino and we swapped memories.

On the day Lino died, we were shooting the movie trailer of the movie with Malu Barry. The shooting was at his former home in Scout Albano which had been turned into an office and production area for his numerous film assignments. From 7:30 to 10:30 we were at Scout Albano where I made some phone calls for him as he was busy directing.

When the scene was finished at 10:30 p.m., I invited everyone to go to Rico J.’s Spindle where Malu was singing that night. I prepared a table for Lino and his friends which included William, Boy and some other guys from production. I joined them for one hour and went up to the second floor to talk with Remy Umerez and some other friends.

Lino would later go up and tell me, “O hindi ka na bumaba.”

I went down and got my drink which he ordered for me.: Calamansi Soda. Lino ordered pineapple juice and two pitchers of beer for the boys and some pulutan. After a while I went up again to join Doris Puno, Rico’s wife, upstairs.

It was a happy evening. Lino said he had to leave early because they were flying to Palawan the next day. We left Spindle about the same time. I got the call about his accident 20 minutes after and I kept ringing Behn and Nestor Torre to tell them the sad news.

It was politics that brought Lino and me together. During the years of struggle, he would call me in the middle of the night to say who were arrested. “Gawan mo ng paraan” was what he would say. “Pag may problema may solusyon,” was what I learned from him.

We never worked together in the movie. But on that last Tuesday of his life, we finally talked about doing something together in the movies.

Behn went back to their UP days. “We would borrow money from each other. When I needed it, he would tell me “Beg.” So when he needed money and I had it, I’d make it hard for him. I would peel them off piso by piso and would drop the bills one by one while Lino picked them up, cursing me all the time. Again that sad laughter remembering all those young vibrant years.

“You should have seen Lino in his first sosyal party at George Sison’s house. He kept nudging me for instructions on using the silver. Then after UP he became a missionary in Hawaii for the Mormons. And he became immersed in the mission. Later, when I was at the University of Hawaii as a scholar, I heard a Tagalog curse, `P........a’ and sure enough it was Lino Brocka.”

Then there were the years when Behn and Lino were not in good terms. “He just got back from Hawaii and Joonee and I got him into PETA. We quarreled over some minor issue and I refused to concede and he refused to acknowledge likewise. Then we got back together when my father died. But it was politics that finally reunited us as friends on a different level. We have been through a lot together. We were even in jail together. I will miss his colorful language, his strong sense of commitment. And even his colorful curses in Tagalog. Yes, I will miss a friend.”

NOW. May 22, 2010

Today is the 19th death anniversary of Lino Brocka. Just got a call from Behn to remind me. He is still active teaching and committing to causes he believes in. He was been doing theater and bringing this to the provinces and abroad.

One of his projects in mind is to do a Lino Brocka lecture and show his films to young students in different schools. He believes that the young people should know about Lino and be aware of his works. Behn calls the lecture storytelling. He would like to tell the young people about his friend Lino Brocka.