My readers in this column, View from Calumpang, must be bewildered and perplexed with its title.
Here's the beef.
In 1975-76, or some 50 years ago, I was working as movie scriptwriter and assistant director in the movie company Joseph Estrada Productions Inc.
I was 21 years old, and well into my twin careers in newspapers (journalism) and the movies. I started writing professionally for Liwayway at age 13.
Lito Lapid, now a senator, was one of the stuntmen in the movie "Huwag Mong Dungisan Ang Pisngi Ng Langit" which starred Joseph Estrada and Alma Moreno. The film was directed by Augusto "Totoy" Buenaventura, who was the favorite director of then San Juan Mayor Joseph Estrada. The script was jointly written by Buenaventura and myself.
We were shooting in Sapang Bato in Angeles City, and sometimes, in Bamban, Tarlac. The location was unforgiving--scorching heat under the noonday sun; sometimes, heavy rain and flash floods.
Under the rain, the 4 of us were huddled together under one big umbrella with the Arriflex camera in the middle: Joseph Estrada, Alma Moreno, Direk Totoy and myself. Meanwhile, Lito Lapid, the crew and other actors took shelter under the trees and frail tents.
As assistant director, I prepared the vouchers or shooting tickets of all lesser actors and stuntmen. These were their pay. Senior stuntmen are paid P50 per day, while junior stuntmen get P30.
When my daily shooting report reached the JE Productions office in San Juan, Mang Isyo (Sim Pajarillo), the overall production manager, would disallow the P50 per day that I reported should be paid for Lapid, and change it to thirty pesos!
I would fight tooth and nail for Lito Lapid's 50 pesos, with Direk Totoy backing me up. Whenever Lito jumped from a height of three floors of a building, with his life on the line, I would pay him P300.
Senator Lito Lapid never forgot this little anecdote, which really happened.
So that when he became a big actor and I was given the opportunity or big break by Lea Productions to finally become a movie director, Lito acceded to be directed by this newcomer.
The film was "Kambal sa Baril," a local western-type movie in 1982 where Lito Lapid played the role of twins. Lito had two leading ladies in this movie. One was Wendy Villarica. The other was Laarni Enriquez, a promising newcomer then, for it was her first movie as a leading lady.
A couple of years later, I directed Lito Lapid again in Amazaldy Films' biggest box-office hit, "Ben Tumbling, A People's Journal Story" where he played opposite Vivian Velez. It was one of the big hits of 1985.
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