The King is Dead, Long Live DA KING!!!

How Time Flies.

It's already been three years
since FPJ passed away,
December 11, 2004.

Last night,
I shut off my DVD player
to watch this special from ABS-CBN:

Say what you will about the crass commercialism
and obvious opportunism of Channel 2
(the horrid Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2),

but when it comes to
heartfelt historical event programming,
with well-researched archival footage,
and world-class production values,

the Lopez Network is far and away,
the Philippines' Best.

The Kapamilyas beat the Kapuso wannabes,
hands-down, knockout, no contest,
when it comes to TV specials and documentaries,
and this Tribute to FPJ was no exception.


And coming at a time when the network,
our staunchest defenders of Press Freedom,
once again is waging an undeclared war with Malacanang,
there is more to this special than meets the eye.


If there was any doubt,
the last montage of last night's special,
as the credits rolled,

had FPJ, in his gruff, inimitable way,
delivering, from the grave, these memorable lines of dialogue:

"Ngayon lang ako nakaramdam ng ganitong klaseng poot."

"No man is above the law,
and you'll find that out sooner or later..."

"Kahit anong gawin mo,
lalabas din ang katotohanan!"


Coincidence?
I think not.

ABS-CBN, ASTIG!!!



In September of 1972,
President Marcos made sure that the first TV/Radio network
that was shut down was, yup, ABS-CBN.

This FPJ Special certainly
was a big fat dirty finger not-so-surreptitiously
thrown Pasig River's way.

Should GMA formally declare Martial Law,
I'm positive that history will repeat itself...


Say what you will about ERAP,
but you won't find a deeper, truer, friendship,
neither in showbiz nor in politics,
than the one he was lucky to have with FPJ.

Their intertwined lives were and are,
dramatic and cinematic, larger-than-life,
and Shakespearean in their ultimate tragedy.

To see the deposed President genuinely smile
while reminiscing about his BFF,
was genuinely touching.





Say what you will about Ate Vi,
I Love You Lucky Vi, former 3-term Lipa Mayor Vi,
and now Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto;

but she really is our Meryl Streep,
and maybe, our Hillary Rodham-Clinton as well.

To hear her waxing sentimental about
the old-school leading man and true gentleman that was FPJ,
was certainly moving.




I went through my own FPJ phase when I was a kid;
I remember dragging my yaya to the Ideal Theater
on Avenida Rizal to watch "ALUPIHANG DAGAT",

I'm not sure now if I just wanted to see Elizabeth Oropesa
walking around wet and braless on the beaches of Batanes,
(I was a pretty perverse pre-adolescent, I think)

but that scene in the film with FPJ
lashed to two gigantic sharp-edged rocks on the beach,
thrashed by the crashing waves,
is as iconic as the most masochistic Mel Gibson images.



Oh,
and I have that MP3 of
FPJ and Sharon Cuneta's duet of
"Kahit Konting Pagtingin/Kamusta Ka".

Don't laugh.

It's gooood!



Charo Santos,
now a head honcho of ABS-CBN,
made five movies with Da King,
and made a sentimental journey to the FPJ Studio building,
where all of FPJ's movies are safely stored.


I do wish some of those would find their way to DVD,
digitally remastered and all:

my favorite Alupihang Dagat,
FPJ's kiddie movies with Nino Muhlach, Matet, and VanDolph,
and his classic serio-comic confrontations with Eddie Garcia.



And finally,
no Tribute to FPJ would be complete
without a nod to his big-budget commercials
for our National Drink, San Miguel Pale Pilsen!

Maybe SMB can take a cue from all those
dead Hollywood stars "resurrected" in brand new TVCs,

and use CGI to have Fernando Poe Jr.
enjoying a beer with Manny Pacman Pacquiao!

ISA PA NGA!