She still 'refreshes' through the decades

Is it redundant, as she turned 69 (yes, as in the case of all celebrities, her age is public record) last July 28, to once again, once every year, remind the world that Susan Roces is still “The Face That Refreshes,” an apt description from the late Sampaguita Starmaker Dr. Jose R. Perez when in 1956 he introduced the 15-year-old Jesusa Sonora in Boksingera Daw! and launched her to stardom in Kulang sa 7?

“Of course not!” will exclaim the Susanians to whom that classic phrase has become some kind of a mantra.

“Not a single part of her body has been enhanced by cosmetic surgery,” says Dolor Guevarra, Susan’s manager. “She’s afraid of that kind of procedure.”

Funfare purposely delayed a bit the yearly tribute to Susan whose birthday coincides with The STAR’s anniversary, the 24th last July 28, so she can have a solo spotlight fitting for a movie queen. Perhaps the new generations of movie fans don’t know that Susan, along with Amalia Fuentes who was considered her “rival” during their Sampaguita heyday (actually, the two are good friends and kumares), is a STAR baby. They were featured in every issue of the magazines Movieworld (pro-Amalia) and Movieland (pro-Susan), The STAR’s sister publications conceptualized by Betty Go-Belmonte, founder of this paper, who was showbiz-friendly. Now you see the Susan-STAR “connection.”

Come to think of it, they don’t make stars like Susan the way they used to, do they?

Back then, “Doc” Perez imposed strict do’s and don’t’s on his stars, such as 1) they were not supposed to appear in public “unkempt” (unlike today when stars stroll in the mall in what appear to be straight-from-bed clothes and “unwashed”), 2) they should behave even in private and especially in public, and 3) when they went to a social function, they must ride the company bus together, the better to make an impressive entrance.

It was that training (plus parental guidance) that helped Susan stand out as, to quote a past STAR story about her, “the calming element in this time of grave crisis, the rallying force of everyone who believes in the beauty of the soul and the purity of the spirit, in the undying light (at the end of the tunnel?) and in the unfading hope (against hope?) for truth and justice.” That was when she delivered her famous fighting line “hindi ko matatanggap ang iyong sorry; ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw” at the height of protests against the perceived unfair loss in the May 2004 presidential election of FPJ who is described up to now as probably “the best president the Philippines never had.” That outburst became a popular ringtone and ringback, a constant reminder of what shouldn’t happen ever again.

Some trivia:

• Susan, who studied at La Consolacion College in her native Bacolod City, started in showbiz as a 10-year-old child discovery in Jose Nepomuceno Productions’ Mga Bituin ng Kinabukasan (1951). Her role as a lady boxer in Boksingera Daw! was originally intended for Alicia Vergel but Alicia had decided to move to Premiere Productions, one of the era’s so-called Big Three (including LVN Pictures).

• Among her memorable moments: Her coronation as Miss Philippine Movies at the Araneta Coliseum, accepting her first and second FAMAS awards (for Maligno and Gumising Ka Maruja in 1977 and 1978 respectively), seeing Elvis Presley in person and having her picture taken beside him when she and Eddie Gutierrez chanced upon The Pelvis while they were shooting Romansa sa World’s Fair in the US, and her and FPJ’s wedding on Christmas Day in 1968, followed by their honeymoon in Japan.

These days, being semi-retired (acting only every now and then in movies and TV, the last having been the five-part Sana Ngayong Pasko on GMA last year), Susan spends most of her time with her grandchildren and, on weekends, at her Batangas farm where on that fateful day in Dec. 2004 she received the heart-breaking news that FPJ suffered a heart attack.

(Note: This piece is dedicated to Susanians all over the world who look forward to this yearly tribute that coincides with The STAR 24th anniversary on July 28. The 24 photos of the young Susan Roces on this page are courtesy of Susanians Bing Manalo of the GMA Program Analysis/Office of the President and James Drosa, moderator of susanroces.blogspot.com.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected] or at [email protected])