On October 27 Dear CHARO turns 67.
Countless memories, maybe more than a million thoughts rush into my mind. All about this one super woman. Our DEAR CHARO.
In 1976, the day after Charo won Baron Travel Girl, she got a surprise call.
Charo didn’t recognize his voice but she knew his name. Instantly.
“Congratulations, Charo,” the voice said. “I was watching you last night. You were my choice candidate. My name is Lino Brocka.”
This can’t be real, Charo thought. It was Lino Brocka of “Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag,” the critically-acclaimed movie she wrote a paper on for Film class. Brocka continued: “My friend Mike de Leon, who was my cinematographer for ‘Maynila, Sa Kuko ng Liwanag’ is directing his first movie and he’s looking for a new face to play the female lead role. Would you like to go for the auditions tomorrow?”
The next person that Lino called was me.
“Wake up,” Lino blared on the phone as he noticed my slurry greetings – why not, the night before, Lino and I were together with some friends at an event and we all went home in the wee hours of the morn.
“You have to be at LVN now, this afternoon. I think we’ve found the new face for Itim, I think you know her – she’s the new Baron Travel Girl. Tell me what you think,” Lino Brocka’s phone call to me was urgent but tainted with excitement. “If she gets the role, I know she will, alagaan mo.”
So I hurriedly drove to LVN. I had expected to meet someone with the mannerisms of a swagger on the catwalk – and probably even drawing puffs from a long stemmed pipe after some breakfast at Tiffany’s. I went into that room looking for that made-up image in my mind when I heard a faint sweet voice calling out to me, “Baby?… Hi, I am Charo.”
Oops, OMG! Not!!!
I was so wrong. The long stemmed pipe disappeared, the heels non-existent, the coiff was devoid of a hair dresser’s mousse. The catwalk had dissolved into a soda pop nook where casual friends meet. And so I sat down near her, now very relaxed and pleased to meet a totally winsome lady. Simplicity indeed is the ultimate sophistication!
It was May 1976 when she went on location in San Miguel, Bulacan to do ITIM with Director Mike de Leon, both their film debut performances. Their first venture had won for them Best Actress and Best Director respectively in the Asian Filmfest awards in Sydney, Australia. Charo was not even invited to the event.
I remember what Ricky Lo wrote for Expressweek, dated November of 1978: “…in the middle of the night, Charo did lose her poise when she was roused from sleep by a frantic phone call. Movie writer Baby K. Jimenez, PRO of LVN Pictures and Cinema Artists, was on the other end of the line, breathlessly announcing that she won. “Yes, you won, you won!” Baby K repeated to the unbelieving Charo – the Best actress award for her role of the possessed Teresa de Leon. And that’s when Charo let out a scream and woke the whole house up…”
Was acting in the DNA of Charo?
“If my mother had not married my father, she would have been a big star like Pilita Corrales, the singer-superstar of the sixties and seventies.”
That Charo was sure of. Pilita and her Mom Nora were both blessed with silken voices perfectly suited for the romantic Latino ballads of their time. When her Mom was single, a performance of the beautiful Nora Navarro was the highlight at town fiestas and special events in Calapan. Even visiting dignitaries gushed over her. When television was launched in the Philippines in the 1950s, Nora joined a beauty contest called Miss Philippine Television and won. It seemed she was destined for stardom.
In fact, she got to perform on the television show “An Evening with Pilita” once. Her first cousin Jimmy Navarro, who was program director at ABS-CBN, gave Nora the break: a chance to perform in Pilita’s turf. She was already a mother in 1969, so she came to the ABS-CBN studios with all her children in tow.
“We bunched together, elbowed each other, and held our breaths to watch our MOM go for her dream. I vividly remember how she sparkled and dazzled under the studio lights, how her voice was cool and spellbinding. I will never forget how my father’s face turned sullen when she sang Besa Me Mucho, a Spanish love song, which was their favorite. It was to be her first and last TV appearance.
My father (a physician) would have no more of it. She returned with us to Calapan — to days of child-rearing, cooking, washing clothes, and scrubbing floors — the memory of her all too brief shining moment forever tucked in her heart. For the rest of her life, she would relive that moment again and again, squeezing out every drop of scanty contentment she could get out of it. I am convinced that if my father had not put his foot down, my MOM would have pursued show business. But she chose to be at her husband’s side. From my mother I learned the power of dreams and of self-sacrifice. They didn’t always come hand in hand.”
In September of 2016, Charo and I were at Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi, Lido di Venezia, Venice, Italy for the International Film Festival. In the morning of Sept 8 (the eve of the premiere of her competing film Ang Babaeng Humayo), actually our 3rd day there, we walked on the busy street of Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta to explore. After about 20 minutes, she took a break reaching for a chocolate gelato as she sat down and looked at the neighboring Piazza San Marco. The day before, there was a buzz at Ristorante La Tavernetta where we lunched, near the festival quarters scene. Director Lav Diaz, who’s considered a rock star in European film festivals scenes, was already starting to get raves on his project and the desire to watch this was in the air.
Then we both remembered she had to be back at Club 73 by the beach for some interview. It was getting really hot and she didn’t think we could walk back for another 30 minutes. She suggested a bus ride.
We walked to a major ACTV autobus (that’s how they call it there) stop and there was a line. I asked if she’d rather take a cab, “No, it’s OK”. When the next bus came, it was full, I dropped 6 Euros in the farebox and we ended up standing near the driver. I advised her to hold on to the straps and she gave me the I-am-Ok look. Each time the bus braked, she would sway to the left and sometimes to the right to her amusement.
(Charo is so simple – as Direk Lav Diaz puts it, walang erre and so humble. I have always seen that side of hers. In Mindoro during the shooting, she’s never a DIVA. During chow time, she sits with everyone and waits for her turn to get coffee and rice. She sweetly asks for patis or suka and would compliment the caterer. One lunch time, she made lambing and requested for another piece of sweet banana. “She does not impose – what a nice lady. We were all so scared at first thinking that we might not live up to her expectations. Yun pala, ang bait niya!” from assistant director Hazel Orencio.)
Anyway, so there we were on the autobus. After 15 minutes, majority of the passengers began to head for the exit as the bus screeched to another halt. The seats behind Charo got vacant and so I told her to grab the seats right away and she readily did. She pulled me tight to her and we shared the space. But the driver instantly called out looking at us, “No, Signorina,” and was showing us out, “Here, stop!” he said in broken English.
Charo and I laughed so hard – we realized we had arrived at our destination! Ha ha ha. “We accomplished something new today, we learned to take the percorso dell’autobus (bus route) by ourselves and standing pa,” she gamely said.
Later, after dinner at Valentino (OMG, they have the best tiramisu and Charo enjoyed eating her favorite clams with pasta, the seafood bass also super delish) we returned to Hotel Excelsior (where all participating stars are billeted during festivals). We thought we saw Mel Gibson at the lobby but the crowd was crazy.
Oh and remembering that glorious/victorious night and that premiere too. After retreating to our hotel, when I was still in that glory-hang over zone, having witnessed the gala night when Charo and the entire cast/crew were given a long standing ovation and later reaping the highest award, I looked closely at Charo as she took off her mascara and getting ready for bed. There was no smile on her face and I got so worried.
“Naku, we have a problem,” her tone was sad. “It’s gone, OMG!, we can’t buy it here huh…” She was holding to an empty pack of chocolate kisses, she eats 2 to three pieces usually before sleeping – like it’s some kind of a napping dosage. You would think she’d still be talking movies, laurels, awards etc. I told her we would buy as we soon as we get to Canada for the TIFF. She was still pouting like a kid as she turned on her ipad, a sign that she’d be playing some tunes. But her lips started to curve into an approval and widened into half a smile at the sound of Joe Mari Chan as she sang with him “We’re all just merely passing through, doing what we can do in a lifetime…”
What else hasn’t she done though? Charo is always open to challenges. “I did para-sailing with flying colors!” but said no to a zipline adventure in Niagara Falls then.
These days, Charo is still a popular name in the acting awards derby, and will always ask, MAALALA MO KAYA?
Sweet Smell of Pinoy Success
NPA (no permanent address) yet but they will have one location soon. Collectively. I mean this group.
The brands and names are music to our palates (di ba we call them to order?): Baked by Lyn Rivera (cashew boat tarts, caramel cheese ensaymada); Belish (by BethOcampo/Lida Marasigan (mini puto cake, suman malagkit); Butter Than Yours by Menchie Marzan Tigas (ube butter, buttery mamon/cheese mamon); CooLasas by Paz Marfori (perfectly cooked lechon kawali and crispy pata with your choice of ulam sauces like dinuguan, bicol express, kare kare, etc.); Einna’s Cakes by Annie Cadavona (assorted hopia, artisan biscocho); Jackie’s Creative Cakes by Jackie Isip (ube white chocolate mousse, gourmet sylvanas); Maria Maria by Maria Sioson (authentic Nueva Ecija kalamay monggo and ube); Nayon 37 by Jim Perez (assorted yema, crinkles – chocolate and ube); Pocket Bites by Janet Lim/BLaserna (sansrival bombs, food for the gods and kalamansi squares, gourmet empanada); Tummy Fillers by Cherry Poblacio/Erwin Bansil (unique embutido with sauce and cheese, beef in creamy mushroom sauce that tastes like lengua).
At the appreciation party hosted by Fun Philippines to thank vendors and volunteers, majority of the attendees were drawn to the classy presentation of desserts properly labelled as Kainan Na. Their premiere performance as a group happened at the FP Street Food Fest where they all shared a booth which spelled boxoffice, a real sold-out. This inspired them to seal their business together as one.
“Kainan Na Inc. is a community of food entrepreneurs. Our mission is to build a network of talented home cooks and bakers and develop a support system for growing and developing the businesses through partnership and collaboration. The plan is to open Kainan Na to other small businesses who are looking for direction, guidance and support. We are still ironing out the details of the events and activities we plan to have but once the structure is in place, we can start inviting members. But here’s the scoop – we have decided to put up a store soon,” Janet, who seems to be their spokesman, said.
I was invited to their photo shoot and tv interview held by Paula Saraza of OMNI and enjoyed the casual convo.
Tummyfillers: We enjoy cooking all the time. All our day offs are spent in the kitchen. It’s a joy to hear our cp buzz for orders. Right now, advance orders na till December, what a blessing!
Belish: Actually, Janet is a close friend and she motivated us with ideas – you know how she tastes food – alam nya lahat. The good thing about this org, we help each other. Always wiith new suggestions and constructive criticism. My famous puto cake came from my sister in Vegas, she gave the recipe to me. Then we added more items like cassava, suman batangas. And you should taste my pork steak!
Nayon 37: I grew up in Nueva Ecija known for its dinuguan called tinunis with dahon ng sampaloc. But unfortuately I cannot pefect this yet as we do not have fresh tamarind leaves. My aunts love to cook and as a kid, I witnessed the process. I can stay in the kitchen for 24 hours! My best seller is YEMA, distributed all over canada incuding nova scotia, edmonton and all the way to west territories! Our goal as a group is to promote each other’s business.
Jackie’s Creative Cakes: I believe in this organization because we have the same passion in baking/cooking. We have developed the spirit of camaraderie since we joined the Fun Philippines. By supporting everyone, we will all excel together. I dream about us making it like our version of Starbucks or ala-Tim Horton.
CooLasas: This group is different – my colleagues are so positive, they make me feel like they are there for me, and that I can do it! It makes a lot of difference if you feel the encouragement. You try to do better.
Maria: The way we cook is so traditional – our kalamay customers have noticed that, we make sure that their memory of the true kalamay back home is intact. Para bang it is a taste of home, home away from home.
Baked by Lyn Rivera: Very makulit si Janet so I joined. Seriously though, I know it is better for us to merge as one, nagtutulungan! I’d like to think that I can make a perfect product by sheer patience. All we need is to put our heart into what we really want to produce.
Butter than Yours: One good thing about kainan – Bayanihan. All for one! My love for banana bread got me into baking. I just had my surgery and I had to stay home for 8 weeks so I had nothing to do. I googled the recipe for banana bread, tried it, the first one was a flop but i didn’t give up until I got it. I realized that I got the perfect Mamon when I tried it and It tasted like one famous brand mamon (but better) I said to myself OMG this is it. So I brought some to my family and friends try, and they all said the same thing “mas masarap.”
I consider myself lucky to be included in Kainan Na. I believe that we all can achieve so much if continue to support each other. For me, more than the business, I know I gained “real friends” for life in this group.
Einna’s Cakes: She’s not around at the get together (kasi busy making more orders) but we heard her HOPYA is super super sarrap among other things.
Pocket Bites: I think the most important reason why Pocket Bites products are in demand is the quality — this includes taste, appearance and uniqueness. The sansrival bomb is an original creation. No one has ever made little bite-size sansrival before.
Indeed, food not only connects us all, but it truly brings out the best in us. It brings people together on many different levels. It’s nourishment of the soul and body. The people who give you their food give you their heart. Remember Kainan Na – All you crave under one roof. Pinoy pride yan!
Looking forward to see you again in two weeks, BKJ here signing off.