Remembering Da King

MANILA, Philippines - August is the birth month of Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) for he was born on the 20th of this month. Every time August comes, I would remember some of the moments I spent in his company off-camera during his lifetime.

That’s why I am delighted to know that ABS-CBN is now embarking on the adaptation of FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano into a teleserye with Coco Martin in the lead role. Very few people know that I was very fortunate, or should I say privileged, to have shared a close friendship with FPJ or “Ronnie” as his intimate circle of friends called him when he was still alive.

I shared many memorable “escapades” with Ronnie. Not as a movie director, although I was then already a director, but as one of the FPJ boys. Let me just share a few of those personal juicy anecdotes.

As the then undisputed King of Philippine Movies, Ronnie always had a heavy schedule but whenever he had a free time, he would often call Rudy Meyer, an actor and director who is his trusted friend, to round up the boys or inquire about our whereabouts. Soon enough, he would come driving his huge Cadillac.

One time when we had drinks too many, I got so sleepy and before I knew it, I was at the back of Ronnie’s car and we ended up at Rez Cortez’s house somewhere in Antipolo in the wee hours of the morning. I couldn’t stand up, so Ronnie scooped me up and brought me inside the house and laid me down on the sofa. Then he made some hot soup and literally spoon-fed me to sober me up. Imagine FPJ serving me soup as if I were a sick little brother!

One good quid deserves a quo. One time, FPJ sidled up to me and said: “Balita ko masarap ka raw magbulalo…pwede ba sample?” So early one morning, I and a few FPJ boys went to buy several kilos of fresh beef at the Tagaytay market and then proceeded to Ronnie’s kwadra (horse stable) in Sta. Ana where I prepared the nilagang baka. I was only too delighted to see FPJ together with a dozen salivating FPJ boys and members of KDPP (Kapisanan ng mga Direktor ng Pelikulang Pilipino) feast on my bulalo.

Sometime in the ’70s, I was asked to direct Ronnie in a film clip shown in a live concert of Celeste Legaspi in which she (live on stage) sang together with FPJ (on the screen.) Later on, I learned from the organizers that Ronnie consented to do it only if I were the one to direct him in the said film clip.

One thing about Ronnie, he was a happy and magnanimous loser. In an intramural bowling tournament among the workers in the movie industry, our team of movie directors found itself pitted against the powerhouse FPJ Bowling Team in the championship round. Aside from yours truly, our team included Bebong Osorio, Ogie Salvador, Bobby Santiago, Boy Alano, Norman Daza, Rudy Meyer, Charlie Ordoñez, Boy Vinarao and Tony Cruz. Held at the then Greenhills Bowling Lanes, the championship game was tight and hard-fought. But our team eventually prevailed. But instead of sour-graping and sulking, a beaming Ronnie came to congratulate us, warmly hugging each member of the winning team. He was so happy, he then treated all of us to a victory celebration. What a big heart!

FPJ revered the Filipino master filmmaker Gerry de Leon also known as Manong. The last film Manong directed was Juan dela Cruz starring FPJ. But Manong died before the film was finished. As a gesture of his great respect for Manong, FPJ kept the raw, unedited footages in a vault, unseen by anybody else. One day, FPJ asked me to view the footages, which consisted of raw cuts of the first part of the film. Even in their raw form, the footages were impressive, masterfully done, indeed. And I am grateful to Ronnie for the privilege of seeing them. But why me? Up to now, I’m still scratching my head.

When my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary, FPJ readily consented to be one of the main wedding sponsors. Maybe it was because I once told him what my father had astutely observed about his character when Ronnie was still a fledgling actor: “Alam mo nang ipinanganak iyan, nakadikit ang tainga sa lupa.” (When he was born, his ears were pressed close to the ground.) My father had that “kutob” (gut feel) that Ronnie was down-to-earth and would go far as an actor.

Now looking at the sepia-tinged pictures of my parents’ golden wedding anniversary, I noted that it was a celebrity-studded affair. Most significantly, Ronnie’s lady counterpart as main sponsor was the young Pilar Pilapil!

As a final note, one reason I can never forget Ronnie is because he passed away on my birthday in December. I left Manila on Dec. 13 and landed in Los Angeles City on Dec. 14, and the moment I met Norman Daza, an assistant director, he told me the sad news.

There are other colorful anecdotes but I choose to reserve them for another time. But for now, I am eagerly waiting to watch Ang Probinsiyano the teleserye on ABS-CBN. I hope it will be a worthy tribute to Ronnie who highly valued friends who stayed true to the spirit of “may pinagsamahan.”