Reflections from Jun Urbano, Shooli & Fpj

Some time ago, as we watched The Dictator starring Sacha Baron Cohen in his fourth ‘mockumentary’ after Borat, Bruno, and now Admiral Dictator General Aladeen of Wadiya, we are reminded that the Mongolian Mr. Shooli had long predated Borat in utilizing sardonic humor to effect change. 

Although we had met Jun Urbano way back when, it was only when he became visible as Mr. Shooli with varied advocacies, and as principal source in our book “Filipino Directors Up Close” on his dad, the great Manuel Conde, that we got to work together.

He was one of the busiest directors of commercials winning awards at yearly Advertising Congresses, but at the same time would find time to direct some movies like Hoy, Wala kang Paki with Susan Roces and Bert ‘Tawa’ Marcelo written by a young Joey Reyes, direct for TV, and also do live shows as Shooli.

His TV show Mongolian Barbecue won three consecutive years at the Catholic Mass Media Awards, and his most successful attempt at directing was Juan Tamad at Mister Shooli sa Mongolian Barbeque which won seven awards at the 1991 Metro Manila Film Festival, including Eric Quizon as Best Actor, and Leo Martinez as Best Supporting Actor. The film, its actors, and creative staff also got nominations from the URIAN, Famas, and FAP.

Dolphy's last vitamin commercial with Urbano

Nowadays during election time, Shooli still gets invitations, especially from organizations seeking changes in the old system of government. It is obvious that Urbano had a gift of using comedy to deliver a message in an oblique manner, of appearing as the object of ridicule when he was actually using himself as a mirror of his audience’s faults.

Of his years in advertising, Jun Urbano had worked with many big endorsers among them Dolphy. He has had many wonderful memories, the best of which he had trying to decipher the myth and magic of a Fernando Poe Jr.  

In 1991, Eric Quizon was MMFF best actor for Urbano film

With San Miguel Beer as a client, among Jun’s most famous commercials are Isa pa Nga, Ito ang Beer, the Christmas commercial Iba ang may Pinagsamahan, and Isang Platitong Mani, 1984, with Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde, that was remade with Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao in 2009. It was therefore inevitable Jun would meet and direct FPJ who was one of its prized endorsers. Jun was curious to uncover the real FPJ from the many stories about him. It is known that he loved to play harmless jokes, goodtime, they called it. Another was that accepting an invitation to eat and drink with him was tantamount to a requirement to stay till he was ready to call it quits.

FPJ exuded an aura of inaccessibility, of one you couldn’t easily approach. Jun Urbano remembers distinctly, a commercial shoot in the mountains of Tanay near Daranak falls when FPJ arrived on board one of the service jeepneys as his favorite Mercedes Benz had stalled on the way. He spoke to no one. No one bothered him, afraid of being reprimanded. After the take, he noticed a young boy in the crowd and asked direk who he was and Jun said it was his son who had just come in with the helicopter crew to watch FPJ shoot. Ronnie told him that had the boy been witness to his foul mood, “I will never forgive myself.”

Another occasion was at an island Pico de Loro near Nasugbo where bad weather was expected to delay the shoot, and as Jun was considering changing Ronnie’s call time, in he strides saying he arrived the day before. Still another occasion was during deliberations for a billboard campaign for the 2007 elections which took obvious potshots at the incumbent Gloria. FPJ rejected the billboard, just as he rejected a rally to his advantage because he wanted the campaign to be clean, Jun told us, musing belatedly that it took him sometime to know the real FPJ. He ended up directing him in five commercials.

Susan Roces & Bert Tawa on set of Wala Kang Paki

It is unfortunate FPJ died before he could have successfully led a revolution in government. No one today has his good heart and his following, reflects Jun Urbano.

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