MANILA, Philippines - It was the legendary Dulaang Sibol director Onofre Pagsanghan (our dear “Mr. Pagsi” at the Ateneo de Manila high school) who, during a theater workshop in Camp Claudio, Parañaque, discovered the acting potential of Soliman Cruz. And, through the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), he recommended the boy to the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Makiling, Laguna.
Classes at PHSA were devoted to academics in the morning, and to drama in the afternoon. Soliman’s head became filled with heavy stuff, like plays of the Greek classicists Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes. Other artists who would also be luminaries specialized in their fields, like Raymond Red, Rowena Arrieta, Grace Nono and Shamaine Centenera.
After graduating, Soliman, now hooked on acting, decided not to go to college but instead joined the CCP’s Bulwagang Gantimpala, where he soon caught the eye of director Tony Espejo, who gave him roles suited to his style of intense, macho acting. But one of the roles he best recalls is that of Isko, a gang leader in Sitnget (Ilokano for darkness), written by Anton Pascual and directed by Joel Lamangan.
Soliman played opposite Pen Medina and — would you believe — Bella Flores. And it was a play with a lot of stunts and special effects, like gunpowder blowing up in the faces of the actors. (Twenty-five years later, he is still at it. He plays a gangster in the current film by Tikoy Aguiluz, Asiong Salonga.)
Soliman (he dislikes the nickname “Sol”) played the tough but “adorable” father of the swarding Maximo in the hit gay film Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, and this led to a breakthrough role in the top-rated ABS-CBN teleserye Maging Sino Ka Man with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo. His character was the sinister Mang Oca, an intriguer, around whom the story eventually revolved.
Success went to Soliman’s head. He was being acclaimed as an actor, and earning more money than he had ever seen in his life. He couldn’t handle it. Stress couldn’t be avoided. His relationship with the family (live-in partner and two daughters) deteriorated, he suffered a nervous breakdown and took up an early nasty habit — cocaine.
He descended into hell, although it seemed heaven at first.
From nirvana to hades: He couldn’t stand it anymore, sought professional help from a psychiatrist, entered rehab — and succeeded. He attributes this to family support. His other friends who also had a lifeline with their families were also able to lick the habit — except one.
“Yung isang kaibigan ko ayaw nang bumangon,” Soliman shares. “Andoon lang siya sa bahay, dinadala nang pagkain. It’s his choice.”
A documentary on Soliman’s experience with drugs, directed by visual artist Dante Perez, is in the works. It will be shown at the UP-Diliman Film Center on Jan. 27.