Christopher de Leon revisited

About 20 years ago, my UP schoolmate Marlu Villanueva (now Balmaceda) asked me if I wanted to work for a new magazine called STAR! Monthly, whose editor was the much respected Betty Go-Belmonte. Her eldest son Isaac, also a schoolmate at the UP Institute of Mass Communications, was the magazine’s publisher.

The magazine’s launch was to be held on a Sunday at the Club Filipino in Greenhills. I wasn’t feeling particularly well that day, but, trusting my instincts, I rose from my bed in the middle of siesta hour to make the trip from Las Piñas to Greenhills. I wasn’t just in pursuit of a summer job. I was in pursuit of my destiny, for I would become a part of the STAR group, directly and indirectly, from that day on.

"Gabby Concepcion will be there!" Marlu gushed as she enticed me to attend the magazine launch. Gabby was the magazine’s first cover. I enjoyed ogling at the stars that afternoon – Gabby, William Martinez, Sharon Cuneta and Jacquilou Blanco. Before the launch was over, I was given my first paid writing assignment: "I want you to interview Christopher de Leon," Mrs. Belmonte told me. (A few years earlier, Christopher had become the hottest dramatic actor in town with his moving portrayal of a teenage boy caught in the cross currents of a small town in the Lino Brocka classic, Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang. That was his very first starring role, a break he stumbled upon when Brocka spotted him lining up for gas for sister Pinky de Leon’s car. The only son of the late actor Gil de Leon and actress Lilia Dizon, he was obviously a chip off the ol’ block – he won the FAMAS Best Actor award for his very first movie.

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Thus came to be my very first published piece (aside from my articles in the Collegian and in the Assumption high school paper Facets). I submitted it to Isaac’s brother Miguel on the front steps of the CAS building in UP (there were no fax machines then) and requested him to give the article (clean-typed by my Dad’s secretary on her electric typewriter) to his mom. I think Mrs. Belmonte liked it, because from contributor I was promoted to assistant editor of the magazine.

So Christopher, how could I forget you?

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The shoot began at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City, where Christopher was shooting a movie with Alma Moreno (He still remembers the title – Paraisong Parisukat). After the shoot, we proceeded to my aunt’s house in nearby Teachers Village, where Milton, Isaac’s cousin, shot the cover photo of Christopher.

I haven’t seen Christopher up close since then. For his second photo shoot with PEOPLE Asia magazine, I decided to tag along and renew acquaintances with the actor whose life story gave me my first by-line.

Christopher (he prefers not to be called by his nickname "Boyet" anymore, after all, his eldest son Ian is already 31 years old) hasn’t changed much in 20 years. He was the hottest drama actor when I interviewed him then, he still is the reigning Drama King today. An Eddie Rodriguez with the matinee idol good looks of an Eddie Gutierrez.

Twenty years ago, he came to the shoot in a Yamaha Virago 650 motorbike in faded jeans and brown cowboy boots. Those were his daredevil and carefree years, during which he indulged in drugs, among other bad habits. Today, we interview him in his tastefully furnished home in BF Las Piñas, where his wife Sandy Andolong (Her pet name for him is "Tatay.") prepares a sumptuous merienda and where his five children, whose ages range from 23 to nine, spend a typical afternoon doing homework and playing musical instruments. His dogs, a Labrador named GB (for Good Boy) and a Boston terrier named Frodo, clamber all over him.

Hard to imagine this was the teenager who was once rescued from a canal by his dad after an unusually bad "trip."

"I gave up drugs 15 years ago," admits Christopher, "after I joined Oasis of Love (a Catholic charismatic group.)"

The movement changed his life. Ironically, Christopher became a renewed Catholic because he was preparing to star in a movie about Filipino saint Lorenzo Ruiz, and the movie’s consultants (priests like Fr. Sonny Ramirez) urged him to more than just memorize his lines. While immersing himself in the life of a good Catholic in preparation for the role, "Art imitated life," recalls Christopher.

The movie never got off the ground but Christopher’s life has. Despite his busy schedule, he and his wife Sandy set aside one day a week to attend Oasis of Love fellowships. Now, among the three things he knows for sure are: 1. You reap what you plant; 2. God is good; 3. Death is certain.

There was a time when he mocked death –that is, until his best friend Jay Ilagan died from a motorcycle accident. Christopher not only gave up his Yamaha Virago 650 then, he started searching for the true meaning of life. He has found it within show business, which he described to me 20 years ago as "a circus."

"In the movies, it is an easy way up. What is hard is maintaining your position. The public will always expect more and more from you. The people suck on you, squeeze you till you’re dry. Like vultures, they feed on you till you’ve given all," he said then. He was an angry young man then, having just gone though a break-up with his first wife Nora Aunor. The absence of a normal home life was one of the things he regretted about his short-lived first marriage, which was subsequently annulled.

His having survived show business for over 30 years now he attributes to discipline, "the highest form of art," according to his mentor Lino Brocka. Also, he has grown to love the circus that is show business, because unlike the juggler on the wire, "I have found the people and the outlook that keep me grounded."

His wife Sandy tops the list. "She has always accepted me for what I am."

As for his staying power in showbiz, the secret is that he has romanced his work. "Ahh, I love my job. If you like something, it likes you back. Ano yung sabi sa likod ng bote ng 7-Up noon? You like it, it likes you back."

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I take back what I said in the beginning of this piece. Christopher de Leon has changed much in the last 20 years. But it is the inner change that has defined him, and in transforming his personal life, he has brought his art to its highest form.

Martin sings for Gaia

Martin Sings for Gaia, featuring the inimitable voice and artistry of Concert King Martin Nievera and the dexterity and creativity of musical director/pianist Louie Ocampo, will be held at the Rigodon Ballroom of The Peninsula Manila on March 29 at 8 p.m. The concert will raise funds needed for a liver transplant to save the life of nine-month-old Gaia Bianca Pasamba.

Gaia was born on June 7, 2005 to Giorde and Ybeth Pasamba, who waited for 12 years to finally become parents. Not quite two months after her birth, Gaia was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a serious disease of young infants which results in the inflammation and onstruction of the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the intestines and causes severe liver damage.

The cause of biliary atresia is not known. The only treatment for long-term survival is a liver transplant. Pediatric transplants are still not done in the Philippines. Gaia’s surgery will be performed in Singapore by Dr. KC Tan, whose specialty is liver transplants.

But surgery is urgent and has been set for early April.

The concert on March 29 hopes to raise the balance. Martin Nievera and Louie Ocampo have cleared their busy schedules for the event and are performing free of charge. A sold-out performance will guarantee that Gaia’s liver transplant will be paid in full.

Martin Sings for Gaia is a joint production of The Peninsula Manila and Big Mouth International.

Tickets for Martin Sings for Gaia are now available at all Ticketnet outlets in all SM malls and are priced at P2,000 each. Seats are on a first-come, first-served basis.

For inquiries, call Six Sigma at 829-9514 to 15 or visit www.gaiabianca.com

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You may e-mail me at [email protected]