Remembering the colorful life of Mother Lily

Lily Yu Monteverde, more fondly known as Mother Lily, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 4, exactly 15 days before she would have turned 85 on Aug. 19. August 4 was also the day after her husband Remy was laid to rest, and there is some comfort in knowing that Remy and Lily are now peacefully together in eternal rest. Such was the fate of our beloved Mother Lily, matriarch of Regal Films, the studio that has produced hundreds of movies and later, television shows, that have entertained millions of Filipinos since the 1970s.

I had the good fortune to consider Mother Lily my friend for more than two decades, since we belonged to an eating club which we christened the “Dabarkads.” Sadly, several members of this group have also passed away in recent years, including Susan Roces, Marichu Maceda, Ethel Ramos, Ricky Lo and Danny Dolor.

In fact, the last time the group saw Mother Lily was at our Christmas 2023 get-together, which also doubled as a birthday celebration for Dolor Guevarra. Helen Gamboa-Sotto hosted the event at her beautiful residence last December, with Sen. Grace Poe, Veana Fores, Eric Quizon, Maricel Soriano, June Rufino, Betchay Nakpil, Law Tan, Gello Jamias, and Tita Dolor’s daughters Jaypee and Anes Victoriano in attendance.

To honor the wonderful and colorful life of Mother Lily, I thought it best to ask our common friends to share their most memorable memories of the Regal matriarch.

Mother Lily with Charo Santos-Concio.

Dolor Guevarra and daughter Jaypee Victoriano: “Christmas Day dinners were always spent in La Salle Street, Greenhills, and her red angpao was always what we looked forward to. Not to mention the fried prawns and kiampung served, which were the best. Lola Mother, maraming, maraming salamat sa lahat ng ginawa mo para sa pamilya namin. Mahal na mahal ka namin. Say hi to the rest of the dabarkads in heaven for us.”

Christmas dinner at the residence of Helen Gamboa-Sotto last year.

June Rufino, talent manager: “When I was working in Regal Films, Manoling Morato was the MTRCB chair then. One day he called and asked, ‘Why is the billboard of ‘Isang Gabi Tatlong Babae’ (starring Ruffa Gutierrez, Cristina Gonzalez and Tetchie Agbayani) showing naked girls?’ I told Mother Lily about the call, and she grabbed the phone from me and said, ‘You know Chairman, it’s been raining lately and the rain washed away all their clothes!’ Manoling Morato got so upset while Lolit Solis and Douglas Quijano — who were with us in the room — fell off their chairs from laughing and laughing!”

Last get-together that Mother Lily joined us with Joel Mercado, Mr. M, Mariole Alberto, Korina Sanchez, Enrico Santos, Mother Lily, Roselle Monteverde, Keren Pascual, yours truly, Robina Gokongwei and Leo Katigbak.

Gello Jamias, MTRCB board member: “Mother Lily had a loud and contagious laugh, and a wonderful sense of humor. I remember her randomly playing the piano during our Christmas celebrations and will sorely miss her. I love you, Mother.”

Sharing a funny moment with Mother Lily, Law Tan, Susan Roces, Betchay Nakpil and yours truly.

Paul Daza, writer and director: “I worked for Mother Lily for a couple of years as her sort of EA/righthand man, and I realized right away that people called her ‘Mother’ not because they had to, but because she really was very motherly. One hectic day, we were going from one meeting to another in Quezon City, San Juan, and Pasig. After the meetings, she told the driver to bring us to Shangri-La Makati around 6 p.m. I asked her who we were meeting there, and she said she was treating me to dinner because it was my birthday.

The dabarkads during one of the special occasions.

“I didn’t even know she knew it was my birthday, and it was just the two of us, which was such a ‘kilig’ situation for a movie fan like me. I will also be forever grateful to Mother Lily and Roselle for making my dream to become a movie director come true, when they trusted me to helm a segment of ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll Part 9.’ I love you, Mother Lily.”

Mother Lily and Mr. M.

Lolit Solis, talent manager: “First time ako nag-abroad sinamahan ako ni Mother Lily sa Hong Kong. Dahil first time akong aalis ng Pilipinas, sinabihan ko ata ang buong Pilipinas! Very excited family ako and very proud. Heto na, 7 a.m. ang flight, 9 a.m. dumating kami sa Hong Kong. Kain muna then labas para mag-shopping. So excited. Mga 1 p.m., tumawag siya sa Greenhills para mag-check kay Father Remy. Wala ang Father Remy, hindi nag-lunch sa bahay at wala din sa office.

“Kasunod nuon, nag-book na si Mother Lily ng flight pauwi! So mga 4 p.m. nasa Manila na kami. Syempre hindi naman traveler ang nanay ko, hindi alam na pwede pala balikan ang flight. So tanong ng nanay ko, bakit nandito na ako. Sagot ko, naku bumili lang ng mga candy sa duty-free. Duon ko inubos baon ko para sa Hong Kong, kaloka!”

Veana Fores, talent manager: “My fondest memory of Mother is that every time we would text each other about whatever issue, she will always end it with ‘I love you.’ And I will also end it with ‘I love you Mother!!!’”

Eric Quizon, actor-director: “The first time I met Mother Lily was during the wake of my lola (my dad’s mom) and I was 15 then. She told me, ‘Sisikat ka! Do you want to be a Regal baby?’ Being so young, I did not know any better so my dad Dolphy answered Mother Lily for me, saying, ‘No, mag do-doktor yan.’ Six years later, I signed up with Regal Films.”

Maricel Soriano, actress: “One of my fondest memories of Mother is when I did the movie ‘Oh My Mama,’ and it was a big, big hit! We saw each other and she started singing ‘Oh my mama, oh my mama!’ And of course, the rest is history.”

Johnny Manahan, director: “Mother Lily was very instrumental when ABS-CBN reopened in 1987 after the EDSA Power Revolution. She generously lent her talents to ABS-CBN. One of the shows that she produced then was ‘Palibhasa Lalake’ starring Richard Gomez, Joey Marquez, Miguel Rodriguez (+), Gloria Romero, John Estrada, Carmina Villaroel, Amy Perez, etc… which ran for over 10 years and which I directed while Joey Reyes was the head writer. And over those years we had so much fun! Without Mother Lily, there would have been no relaunch of ABS-CBN because she had all the stars in her stable.”

Helen Gamboa, actress: “I did a movie for Mother Lily decades ago with Nida Blanca, Alice Dixson, Gabby Concepcion, Maricel Laxa and Aga Muhlach. It was a drama-love story directed by the late Mel Chionglo, and the working title was ‘Pag-ibig…’ The rest of the title escapes me. During one of the shootings, Mother Lily even visited us on the set, and we were all happy to see her.

“Days before the movie premiere, Mother Lily decided to change the title of the movie to ‘Hot Summer’! We were all surprised at the title because it has a very sexy connotation. Maybe she decided to change it since that was the time ST movies were popular and maybe she thought it was a good marketing gimmick. I have countless fond and unforgettable memories of Mother, but I just want to share that Tito Sen and I love and respect her dearly. She gave us sound advice which we are truly grateful for. I love you Mother.”

Charo Santos-Concio, actress/producer: “Mother Lily’s warmth and wisdom were always a guiding light. I’ll never forget our often fun and occasionally intense script-reading sessions, where her insights turned stories into magic. In those moments, I knew we were a great team, with Malou Santos and direk Olive Lamasan, whom she called the English department. We were different in many ways but were all movie fans at heart. During my toughest times, her genuine care and support were a constant comfort. Thank you, Mother Lily, for everything.”

I love you too, dearest Mother Lily. The Philippine entertainment firmament has lost one of its most unique and brightest stars, and the world has become colder and darker with your departure.