A few minutes before the mass started at the funeral wake of award-winning screenwriter and novelist Lualhati Bautista in St. Peter Chapels along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, a tall man in black long sleeved-t-shirt and pants with two emissaries in tow came into the chapel.
He was Chito S. Roño, the director of two of Lualhati’s award-winning scripts and box-office hits “Dekada ‘70” and “Bata, Bata Paano Ka Ginawa?”
Chito immediately went to where Bautista laid in state to pay his last respects not only to a dependable writer, but most especially, friend of long standing.
“Hindi ko makakalimutan si Lualhati sa lahat ng aming pinagsamahan sa pelikula (I cannot forget Lualhati in all our shared undertakings in the movies),” said Roño who came with friends Warren and Edwin.
According to Chito, Ine—Lualhati’s pet name—was the quintessential screenwriter who gave her best in all her creative endeavors.
Bautista died of lung cancer at 77.
She was interred at the Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches today, Friday, February 17, 2023.