TUMAUINI, ISABELA--I hate to call them bold stars--those nymphets who bare their bodies onscreen--but in the past or even now, I still toe the line of the consumerist's tag to sell a product.
For the moment, though, let me employ the term sexy actress to one of the daring stars of the mid-80s--Vida Verde.
Vida Verde who?
Vida Verde who was launched in the movie "Nene" with George Estregan, Ricky Davao, Daria Ramirez, among others, directed by Erastheo Navoa.
It was a hit on days when the nation was in political turmoil and the public was mired in escapist entertainment, one of them, erotic films.
According to Vida— Catherine Mejia in real life— her launching film beat a comedy fare which starred the iconic Eddie Garcia. "Napatunayan ko talaga na malakas ang pelikula ko at totoo ang sinabi ng prodyuser ko na natalo ang pelikula ni Eddie Garcia. Sabi rin sa akin ng mga kapatid ko. 'Cathy, ang dami-daming nanonood ng pelikula mo.' Gusto kong makita ang ebidensiya. Ang ginawa ko, nagsuot ako ng bonnet, nagbigote ako para hindi ko makilala ng mga manonood. Puno nga ang mga sinehan na inisa-isa ko (I believed that my movie was a hit that my producer told me I even toppled the box-office record of Eddie Garcia. My siblings said, 'There are many who are watching your film.' I wanted to prove it. What I did was to wear a bonnet. I put on a moustache so that the audience wouldn't recognize me. All the movie houses where my film was showing were all full-packed)," gushed Vida at her house the second time I went to this town.
The other films of Verde are "Katawang Lupa," "Desperada," "Casa," "Katalik" etc. which were all blockbusters at the time of the so-called "pene" (a short-cut term for penetration, meaning actual sexual intercourse) movies.
"Pero wala akong (I don't have) a pene," she would reiterate again and again even during those days. "Kahit dobol, wala (Not even double to show public copulation)," she stressed.
In her many starrers, now National Artist for Film Lino Brocka would credit her as a good actress. Lino really said that during the time I was running around with him as his business manager--the still missing TV host, entertainment journalist, starbuilder and talent manager Boy C. de Guia--always tagged us young movie writers then Lhar Santiago, Danny Vibas, Pilar Mateo, Ronald Mendoza (Special People so-called) to wherever the progressive director was.
Vida is now a Senior Citizen living peacefully in this community.
"Kung hindi ako umalis sa showbiz, siguro, palabuy-laboy ako kung saan-saan sa Maynila (If I didn't leave show business, I might be loitering around Manila)," chuckled Verde before heaving a sigh of relief.
Why not?
The private Catherine is currently the caretaker of her family's beautiful, concrete and spacious ancestral house by the river located in Barangay Arcon where she served as a kagawad (councilwoman) for one term.
This was after she was healed of breast cancer in the early millennium.
She tried to embark on public service but ended up frustrated.
As usual, despite her health condition, Vida was the problem solver, troubleshooter, lifesaver and shock absorber of all concerns, including medical, and grievances of her constituents anytime of the day even in her sleep or rest time. "Naku, ayoko na. Akala nila, madali ang maging pulitiko (I don't like it anymore. They thought being a politician is easy)," she opined without elucidating or articulating the exact and real causes of poverty and deprivation.
According to her, she plunged into politics because of her idealism and giving in to the request of her fellow villagers but realities on the ground rendered her limited and short-changed.
It must also be the kind of filial leadership her late military dad led. "Mahusay siyang magpatakbo ng pamilya kaya lang, ayaw niya ng pulitika (He was good in managing a family but he disliked politics)," she recalled.
My meeting with Verde was a reunion of sorts not only as an actor who is a subject of a writer but as a friend and a housemate.
It was in the mid-90s when she was homeless that I took her in and her three-year-old daughter Ina Coronel (daughter of a now retired general of the Philippine National Police) in my house in 9th Avenue in Murphy in Quezon City.
The mother-daughter stayed with me for more than a year.
It was a colorful domestic assimilation, though, of familial care and sometimes, squabbles over some home traditions.
Ina is now a flight stewardess at the Etihad Airways and her mom is indeed proud of her.
Ina lived here until her college days and even became Miss Tumauini.
While the daughter is abroad, Vida is the guardian if not a surrogate mom of John Joel Coronel, a Grade III pupil.
Out of ten siblings, all of them girls, Verde and another one is here while her other sisters are spread out--one in Santiago City in this same province, one in Olongapo City, two in Manila, three in Alaska, one in Texas.
Before I went here, I had a couple online interviews with Vida for my two consecutive digital entertainment shows which prompted me to pay her a visit and offered her a film project from a story by visual artist and writer Bon Labora. More of this in my forthcoming columns!
Shorts: Actress Carla Abellana is yelling about the shocking charge on her with a local credit card. Carla is complaining about the exorbitant charges she has discovered in her account which she described as "heartbreaking" and added that she's "losing hope." Abellana has to settle a P600,000.00 surcharge which she finds ludicrous. In her social media posts, it's not known whether her BDO Mastercard charges were unauthorized or not. Anyway, the actress of GMA Network's "Stolen Life" in crying out loud about the situation...While Carla is disappointed about her transactions, Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon are contented with their respective acting careers which made them shout joyfully and mirthfully on their promotional campaign of their 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival teamup project in "When I Met You in Tokyo." The first leg of their promo is Vilma's bailiwick, Lipa City where fellow stars Tirso Cruz III, Kakai Bautista, Cassy Legaspi and Darren Espanto had joined them...King of Talk Boy Abunda paid his best friend Kris Aquino a visit in the US. According to Kris, Boy cried when he saw a number of medical needles pricking her body during a treatment procedure for her autoimmune complications...Querubin Gonzalez won 2023 Miss WBO Top Model of the Philippines. She is scheduled to compete in the Top Model of the World contest.
Photo Captions: Vida Verde (Photo Credit: Bon Labora); Carla Abellana (Photo Credit: Carla Abellana's Facebook); Boy Abunda and Kris Aquino (Photo Credit: Kris Aquino's Fscebook); Querubin Gonzalez (Photo Credit: Albert Figueras' Facebook)
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