‘Parang premonition’: Coco Martin on last moments with Jaclyn Jose

Three days after Jaclyn Jose passed away on 2 March due to a myocardial infraction or heart attack, her Batang Quiapo co-star Coco Martin, also a director in the action-drama series, still couldn’t believe that the one he considers the reason he was able to cross over from indie movies to mainstream TV is already gone.

“Ang hirap lang tanggapin kasi hanggang ngayon parang nakaka-shock, parang ang hirap iproseso na hindi mo pa maintindihan kung totoo ba talaga itong nangyari. Kasi Wednesday lang kaming magkakasama ’tapos ngayon, eto na (It’s difficult to accept until now; it’s shocking, like it’s difficult to process, while you still don’t understand if it’s really happening. Because just last Wednesday, we were together, and then now),” Martin said in his eulogy.

The actor-director led his colleagues from the staff and crew of Batang Quiapo to the production company behind the show, Dreamscape, and the network that carries it, ABS-CBN, in giving a tribute to the late great actress on the second night of her wake last Tuesday at the Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City.

Martin then recalled that he and his fellow director Kevin de Vela had noticed something unexpected in Jaclyn while taping some of her crucial scenes. They took note that the Cannes-winning actress was going against the toughness of her character as Chief Dolores Espinas. She instead showed unusual softness to the point of crying in the scene where one of her inmates, Bubbles (played by Ivana Alawi), is released from jail.

So, De Vela had to ask for another take and afterwards talked to Jose, who gave this reason; “Kasi nalulungkot ako, isa-isang nawawala ang characters, isa-isang nag-aalisan (Because I’m sad, one by one the characters disappear, they leave).”

For context, Martin explained in his eulogy why Jose felt that way: “Na-attach na s’ya sa buong grupo sa kulungan. Napamahal na nga sa kanya pati mga nakakulong, e! Kasi ’yung mga nakakulong, part na ng family namin. Kung tutuusin sa mga artista, pag sa kulungan ang eksena mo, parang di mo gustong magtagal kasi medyo maraming proseso. Siya, napamahal sa kanya. Nagustuhan na n’ya ang ambience doon (She got attached to the whole group taping their scenes in prison. Even the real prisoners had gotten fond of her because they’re already part of our family. As a matter of fact, actors don’t really enjoy taping in a prison because the long process it takes. But Jaclyn, she grew fond of people there. She liked the ambience there).”

He added that Jose showed the same attachment of a mother to her child when they were doing the scene in which the lead character he plays, Tanggol, is finally freed from the same prison. After much hesitation, thinking “isa sa pinakamahusay na aktres sa buong Pilipinas at buong mundo, kukuwestyunin mo ba? (one of the best actresses in the whole Philippine and the whole world, are you going to question her ability),” Martin found the courage and timing to discuss the scene with the veteran actress he calls Mommy Jane. Jose’s real name is Mary Jane Sta. Ana Guck.

To his relief, Martin’s point was well taken by Jose, who even apologized to him. They even ended their taping day with their usual practice of saying I love you to each other. “Kasi sobrang lambing n’ya sa amin. Mahirap ipaliwanag. Parang anak n’ya talaga kami doon sa set (She’s utterly affectionate to us. It’s hard to explain. She really treated us on the set like her own children).”

On 19 February, Martin remembered asking Jose to accompany him to the Senate for the ongoing hearing of the Eddie Garcia Bill that aims to alleviate the working conditions of people in the entertainment industry. He disclosed that Jose said no at first because she didn’t bring a dress fit for the occasion, so he had one of his people buy a dress at Zara for his Mommy Jane.

After the event, Martin was supposed to drop off Jose, but on the way to Jose’s house, the actress said she’d buy beer from a convenience store. Martin volunteered to have one of his people buy beer instead. Then they drove to Jose’s house and had a drink.

“Nag-reminisce kami,” he said. “Pinagkuwentuhan namin mula no’ng kung paano n’ya ’ko tinulungan hanggang sinabi ko na, ‘Mommy Jane, sa totoo lang, kung ano man meron ako ngayon, kung ano man ang nangyari sa pamilya ko, kung ano man ang inabot ko sa buhay ko, lahat ’yun dahil sa ’yo (We reminisced. We talked about starting from the time Jaclyn helped Martin until Martin said, ‘Mommy Jane, to be honest, whatever I have now, what happened to my family, whatever I achieved in my life, all of them are because of you).”

“Kasi ikaw, dahil sa ’yo, ikaw ang nag-convince sa ’kin na pumunta ako do’n sa ABS-CBN, do’n sa show na binibigay sa ’kin ni Direk Andoy. Sobra akong nagpasalamat sa kanya (Because you were the one who convinced me to go to ABS-CBN to check out the show that director Andoy Ranay was offering to me. I’m utterly thankful to her).”

Fast-forward to 2 March: It was the Saturday Martin went to Baguio City to participate with some members of Batang Quiapo’s cast in the Pangbenga Festival. Among the participants was Cherry Pie Picache, who’s likewise an acclaimed actress and a good friend of Jose.

For some reason, Martin said in reflection, he would talk about his Mommy Jane to his Mommy Pie. “Nag-motorcade na kami. Then, gabi, nag-show kami. ’Pagkatapos ng show namin, nag-inuman kami, kuwentuhan. Pinagkuwentuhan ulit namin si Mommy Jane. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ko s’ya laging kinukuwento. Hindi ko alam kung bakit lumalabas sa dila ko na nakukuwento ko si Mommy Jane (We had a motorcade. At night, we had a show. After the show, we had a drinking session and talked. We talked about Mommy Jane again. I didn’t why I was always talking about her).”

By the time Martin had back home in Metro Manila, he got a call from Jose’s sister, the former actress Veronica Jones at around 6 p.m. to break the sad news of his Mommy Jane’s passing. Afterwards, he called up his Mommy Pie and then Cory Vidanes, ABS-CBN’s chief operating officer for Broadcast. They later met up at Jose’s house to know more about the situation.

He shared what’s going on in his mind that time: “Pakiramdam ko nagpaparamdan s’ya sa akin na hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit lagi ko s’yang kinukuwento, bakit lagi ko s’yang nababanggit. ’Yun pala may nangyari na sa kanya (I felt that she was making herself felt, which I didn’t understand why I was always talking about her, why I was always mentioning her name. Something happened to her, that’s why).”

Martin also shared what Jose always told him in their many conversations: “Kung gaano n’ya kamahal ang kanyang mga anak. Sobra. Kaya nga, sabi ko, ang suwerte ng mga anak n’ya kasi kung alam lang nila kung gaano sila kamahal no’ng nanay nila…Kasi ako, may mga magulang ako pero hindi nila naparamdam…o ’yung concern, hindi gano’n (How much she loved her children, so much! That’s why I said, her children are so lucky because if only they knew how much they were loved by their mother. I have my parents but they didn’t let me feel the concern).”

“Minsan sa buhay natin, di natin maa-appreciate ’yung tao pag nand’yan. Minsan, akala lang natin, ang kulit, di ba? Pakialamera. Pero ’yun palang mga bagay na ’yun, ’yun ang pagpaparamdam nila kung gaano nila tayo kamahal (Sometimes in our lives, we don’t appreciate the person when they’re still around. We sometimes think they are fussy. But those are their ways of showing their love for us).”

“Ako, naiingit ako kasi sana nagkaroon ako ng gano’ng magulang, ’yung over-protective, ’yung ipaglalaban ako nang patayan para sa iba, ’yung gagawin ang lahat, ’yung ituturo sa akin lahat ng lagay, ’yung magtatrabaho s’ya kahit hindi s’ya matulog, pero iniisip n’ya kung paano n’ya kami bubuhayin. Doon ako bumilib sa kanya. Kaya sabi ko nga, suwerte ng mga anak n’ya kasi siguro kung hindi man n’ya nae-express nang tama, pero sa ikabuturan ng puso n’ya, sobang mahal na mahal n’ya ang mga ito (I’m envious that I wish I had parents who are over-protective, who will fight for you till death, who will do everything, teach me everything, who will work even without rest, but will always think how to raise you. That’s where I take my hat off to her. That’s why I said her children are so lucky).”

“Maaaring minsan, siguro may mga maling pamamaraan, pero kapag ang tao nawala na, doon mo pa lang maa-appreciate. Doon mo makikita ’yung mga bagay na ginagawa na minsan hindi natin naiintindihan (Maybe her ways are sometimes wrong, but when the person is no longer around, that’s when they’re appreciated. That’s when you’ll see the things she did that we didn’t understand then).”

Jose’s own child, Andi Eigenmann spoke on behalf of her sibling and Jose’s only other child, Gwen: “Gusto lang pong magpasalamat sa lahat sa inyo, sa Dreamscape at sa ABS-CBN. Lahat ng mga taong nandito ngayon sinasabi kung gaano kami ng kapatid na si Gwen kung gaano kami kamahal ni Nanay, na lumalaki ang puso n’ya na sobra, sobra, sobra n’ya kaming minahal. Pero kahit lahat ng pagmamahal na ibinigay n’ya sa amin, naging posible pa ring magkaroon s’ya ng malaking matira para sa inyong lahat (I would just like to thank you all who are here saying how my mother loved me and my brother Gwen. She had a big heart for her to love you all as well).”

“Besides dedicating her life to me and my brother, she also dedicated her whole life to her craft. She’s been so passionate about it. Mahal na mahal n’ya rin kayong lahat. Alam ko na sobrang saya n’ya na malaman na lahat kayo minamahal n’ya, minamahal din s’ya. Maraming salamat po (She also loved you all. I know that she’s very, very happy to know that everyone she loved also loved her).”