Thank GOD it didn’t rain on our parade!!! Weather was predicted to be 90% rain on Sunday, and possibly a storm (July 24) and maybe a few showers the day before (July 23)…FUN PHILIPPINES is so grateful the sun happily came out both days, with just a little bit of dark clouds hovering late Sunday afternoon.
The huge street festival on Bathurst & Wilson celebrated Filipino culture, delicious eats and smashing music. Grateful to all who came and joined in the fun – a record breaking crowd showed up – reportedly 250 thou on Saturday, and an additional 150 on Sunday!
Government support was felt as MPs Ya’ara Saks, Marco Mendicino, Ahmed Hussen, Councilor Pasternak and our very own Rechie Valdez came in full force.
The biggest buzz was about DARREN ESPANTO. He came, He saw, He conquered. (According to Plutarch, these words were used by Julius Caesar to succinctly describe one of his victories. In Latin, the words are “veni, vidi, vici.”)
What a Saturday Night Fever! At 8:55 pm when Darren was leaving the stage, the fanatics started dispersing – running to the nearest eateries. It was SRO at Republica, the line reached 2 blocks. It was tough to grab dinner – thanks to my dear cousin Joesel Madrid who went to Kabalen, got us some combo plates and sat at the TFC tent.
At 9:30, the stage lit up again. Oh, wow, MAMMA MIA!!!! The ABBA REVISITED Canada!!!! We found ourselves going back to the center aisle with our all-access card and orange VIP bracelet! The screaming devotees started dancing, the massive crowd unified as the famous lines of the Dancing Queen reverbed. You can dance, You can jive, Having the time of your life, Ooh, see that girl, Watch that scene, Digging the dancing queen!!!
SAM MILBY was the Sunday attraction. SAM, with another SAM (Sam East – which my publisher Tess C referred to as “Our Miss Manila!”) had good chemistry, I enjoyed their Q and A. It was about 5:15 when Sam M kept looking at the skies (now grayish), “Naku, we’re praying it won’t rain!” he said.
Was SAM M a total performer like DARREN? Sam M can’t moonwalk, but he sure was the big charmer – the ladies drooled and gushed and the shrieks vibrated to an intensity 10. Her was the MAN!!!!
In a capsule, how was the street fiesta?
I have never seen so many hundreds connect at a disconnecting era when still, the mandate was still on for some distancing. One thing was certain though. FUN PHILIPPINES brought back the real fun after almost 3 years of pandemic isolation. Congratulations!!!!
It is July 26 now, 2 days to my dearest Ate Sue’s (SUSAN ROCES) 81st birthday. As my gift to her fans, freinds and followers, I am reprinting a small part of my series on her (STAR IN PARADISE) that was published in Screen Stardom many years ago – let me show you how it all began – how Jesusa Sonora became the Movie Queen SUSAN ROCES….
The intro then read: The strange – but true; for truth is always strange, stranger than fiction! – Byron
Among the success stories in the local filmdom, it is hers that brilliantly stands out. It is therefore with great pride that we present the life and
loves of this great actress starting in this issue.
Here is the first chapter…
ROSES, LOLLIPOPS AND CINDERELLA
“What a baby darling!” the doctor exclaimed proudly at the first
sight of the newly-born baby.
These words he repeated gladly with an air of suffused optimism to his wife as she herself viewed the infant. The date: July 28, 1941.
The place: Harrison Hospital in Pasay City. The time: Five o’clock in the morning. The doctor was also the father of the newly-born Baby
Levy-Sonora, Susan Roces to us.
Baby Darling weighed ten pounds – the biggest baby the hospital had
yet delivered. Because of her size, Mrs. Sonora had almost lost her
life.
“She’s indeed a baby darling,” Dr. Sonora once more stated excitingly that very night when he won a meaty sum at Jai Alai that was more than enough to pay for their hospital expenses. Baby Darling was believed then to be gifted with some kind of fortune – a luck that was not bequeathed to herself alone but shared with others. That was how Susan got her first pet monicker. She was instantly nicknamed Baby Darling because of her cute features, abounding health and special charm.
Susan’s father was a former resident physician of a hospital in Cincinatti, Ohio who belongs to the deeply religious and conservative
Tongoy-Sonora clan of Bacolod City. Their ancestry dates back to Cabeza Juanito Tongoy, one of the first five biggest sugar planters of
the province. Dr. Jesus Sonora was the son of Jose Sonora and Jovita Tongoy, the Cabeza’s daughter.
Susan’s mother, the former Purificacion Levy, was a French mestiza
and a niece of the proprietors of La Estrella del Norte. Susan is the second child in a family of five, four girls, one boy. The eldest is Bennett, then Susan, then Rosemarie, followed by Teresita and Jose Mari.
Of the five, only Bennett and Jose Mari are not identified with the movies though Bennett had a walk-on part in Susan’s Romansa sa World Fair. Bennett works in an office in the city while Joe is enrolled at Jose Rizal College, the same school that Rose and Teresita are attending.
HER EARLIEST YEARS
On the set of”Si Siyanang at ang Pitong Tsikiting,” Susan’s recent film, she was her happiest self running with the youngsters in the cast and playing pranks on them off the cameras. Her actions were conspicuously showcased in I-wish-I-could-go-back-to-my-youth manner. This Susan affirms. “Of course, who does not want to be young again? Those days are memorable to anybody. Those are the days of sweet innocence and
carefree moments… “
Susan loved to play with her mom and big sister. Bennett conducted their plays then. Everytime they played bahay-bahayan together with a friend, SUSAN was always designated the role of Cinderella and they, the rich sisters.
“As Cinderella, I was expected to clean the house, help them dress, serve them food, and do all the dirty work thereabouts. My birth was perhaps an omen, for a few months later, war broke out and one of the first to suffer was my father, who was ceptured by the Japanese in Bukidnon. The regiment in which he was a medical corps officer was later transported to the Capas concentration camp.
Before the Japanese came, we left Pasay City to live in Bacolod at the Victoria’s Sugar Central. My father was stationed in the Visayan area that time.” Susan recalls.
Later with Dr. Sonora in Capas, they had to go to Manila in a sloop known as batel. Baby Darling was about a year old then and her presence in the boat proved harrowing to the sailors and other passengers. Their boat almost capsized due to strong waves and threatening water spouts.
“The sailors blamed it all on my endless crying from thirst.”
According to Mrs. Sonora, Baby Darling was able to walk before
her first year and at the same time speak broken but audible statements.
“In the morning, she loved to hand the newspaper to her Dad. She was very cariñosa,” this, from Susan’s mother.
Baby Darling called the newspaper “peryodi”.
And before she would kiss her Dad, Baby Darling had the habit of asking first, “Have you washed your face?” To which the doctor would respond a cheerful yes!
Baby Darling was especially fond of bananas, the señorita
type. One banana was enough to change her mood – from worst to best. “As a little girl, I was temperamental and sensitive. My Lolo Jose knew how to appease me when I was boiling mad. He would take me to a secluded corner of the dining room with a bunch of bananas before me.
A dozen of them was enough to put me to sleep right where I sat.”
When Baby Darling was almost four. her parents were amazed to
know that she was interested to play violin. Hence, they
looked for a violinist who could teach her. The professor was surprised to
find out that the young girl could pluck the strings like some of his teenage students.
“Such a rare talent!” the professor blurted out in great admiration.
“This girl will be popular someday!” A prophetic statement.
One of the first playmates of Baby Darling was her godsister
Estela who was older than her by six years. Estela found Baby
Darling easy to get along with inspite of her youthfulness. At this
time too, Susan began to show one trait in her – once she did something, she made sure that she had done it to the best of her abilities.
It was in Iloilo where Baby Darling had her first schoolings. She
had her kindergarten training at the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus College. She was only four but quite smart. The very personificatin of Shakespeare’s Portia – young in limbs, in judgment old.
(Let me see if I can present to you the next episodes)….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATE SUE! WE LOVE AND MISS YOU.
*******
And here is what you will expect this August. PIDC’s Summer Festival will have 3 main segments: 1) PIDC “Miss / Mrs. Philippines-Ambassador” beauty pageant on August 7, 2022 at Premiere Ballroom & Convention Centre, Richmond Hill, Ontario; 2) PIDC “Gala and Fashion Show Event” on August 11, at Premiere Ballroom & Convention Centre; and 3) PIDC “Mabuhay Philippines Festival” on August 13 & 14, at the Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto City Hall. This segment will include cultural, musical performances & entertainment, community associations public parade, and Santacruzan( culture-based) procession on August 14, 2022 (Sunday) at 2:00 pm.
And you heard it right, Ms Joey Albert will be the main stellar headliner. See you there!