"Magkababata kami ni Jaclyn Jose sa Novaliches (We were contemporaries)," quipped Ariel Henson, a character actor, director, talent coordinator in the local movie industry.
"First year high school si Jaclyn at Grade Five naman ako. Pero kuya na ang tawag niya sa akin (She was in secondary school while I was in elementary grade)," recalled Ariel who paid his last respects to Jose, Mary Jane Guck in real life, at the Arlington Memorial Chapels in Araneta Avenue in Quezon City.
According to Henson, he and Jaclyn went to the Metro Manila College (MMC) in the 80s.
"Nag-aral si Jaclyn ng pagka-teacher pero second year college lang ang kanyang natapos dahil nag-artista na siya (She took up Education until her second year because she already became an actress)," informed Ariel.
"Taga-Samar-Leyte ang nanay ni Jaclyn. Aling Linda Santa Ana ang pangalan niya. Malapit ako kay Aling Linda (Her mother Aling--an address to an older woman--Linda was from Samar-Leyte. I was close to Jaclyn's mom)," he said.
"Si Jaclyn naman, malapit 'yan sa nanay ko, kay Marcela Henson. Lagi sa bahay si Jaclyn. Barkada talaga kami (She was close to my mother. She was always at our house. We were really peers)," he added.
Both Ariel and Jaclyn worked in the movies and they saw each other a lot in the sets of screen projects they made, one of them "Mulanay Sa Pusod ng Paraiso" (1996) directed by Gil M. Portes for Teamwork Productions.
One unforgettable anecdote Henson remembered about Jaclyn was her spat with fellow actress Tanya Gomez whom she starred with in "Chikas," a youth-oriented film directed by William Pascual for Baby Pascual Films and Associates.
But the incident didn't happen in the shoot of the film which also featured Rachel Ann Wolfe, Lovely Rivero and Karla Kalua, but off-cam.
"Nagkagalit sina Jaclyn at Tanya dahil kay (They had a misunderstanding because of one man) Tata Esteban," recounted Ariel who referred to Tata, the director as Steve Paolo, the actor.
"Alam ko ang kuwento r'yan (I am familiar with their story," Ariel chuckled.
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