Laurels to remember

Superstar and National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Nora Aunor died last 16 April. Did one of her favorite leading men have to follow so soon?

This was what happened to Victor “Cocoy” Laurel last 14 June. He went ahead of us at age 72. (His sister Susie also passed last April and was actually lying in state near the Heritage chapel where Nora’s wake was held.)

As we all know, Cocoy was the grandson of Philippine President Jose P. Laurel. He was president during the war and it was a position Laurel didn’t want, especially since his administration was dubbed as “the puppet government.”

His wife, the former Paciencia Hidalgo, in fact, refused to live in Malacanang and opted to stay in the Laurel home in Paco, Manila. The only family member who joined President Laurel at the Palace was his son, Jose III.

After World War II, President Laurel was even tried “for collaborating with the Japanese.” It should be noted, however, that there could have been more deaths among Filipino civilians had he not cooperated with the invaders.

Serving as president was a sacrifice for him. Fortunately, it was eventually proven that he was not a Japanese collaborator and was released from incarceration. In time, he was acknowledged as a former President of the Philippines. The name of the street fronting Malacanang was even changed from Aviles to Jose P. Laurel to honor him.

A brilliant man who believed in the importance of education, President Laurel established Lyceum of the Philippines in 1952. He set up its campus at the old grounds of San Juan de Dios Hospital in Intramuros.

Tragedies upon another

The Laurels were among the wealthiest families in the country early in the 20th century. The family was so rich that they used to own that stretch of Tagaytay ridge.

They only lost it after settling legal fees when a family member got involved in a murder case. It was all about defending one’s honor. The Salvador son was acquitted. But in the process, they had to sell that prime Tagaytay property.

Tragedy continued to hound the Laurels. In 1967, Cocoy’s uncle, Arsenio “Dodjie” Laurel, a champion car racer, became the first casualty of the Macau Grand Prix, which he had previously won twice — in 1962 and in 1963.

One of Cocoy’s cousins, Banjo Laurel, also got involved in a crime of passion. In 1960, Banjo wed one of Manila’s loveliest women, Erlinda Gallegos, an alumna of Nazareth School, which is now part of the National University campus. Erlinda’s younger brother, Freddie Gallegos, is Nova Villa’s husband.

On 16 August 1965, Erlinda and customs agent, Armando Silva, were found dead in her Paco apartment. Banjo’s name was implicated in the case even if he and Erlinda were already separated by then.

Cocoy’s father, future Vice President of the Philippines Salvador Laurel, handled Banjo’s case. In the end, it was proven that Banjo had nothing to do with the crime. He later became Tanauan mayor.

The tragedy didn’t end there. In 1970, Banjo, already a widower, was engaged to be married to fashion model Gilda Garchitorena (the aunt of Anjo and Jomari Yllana). He was supposed to visit her in her Camarines Sur hometown, but his helicopter crashed on the way to Bicol. That was on 12 January 1970. He didn’t survive the accident.

And then, in the early 1980s, Cocoy’s younger brother, Kristipi Laurel, was on his way to the store for some small purchase when the wall of their compound suddenly collapsed as he was passing by. Kristipi lived for several more years after the freak accident, but, sadly, was bed-ridden till the end.

Cocoy’s own tragedy happened when he was still quite young. His right eye supposedly had a problem. The only medical remedy was to have it replaced with a glass eye.

The fact that his eyes were not of the same size (his real eye was the smaller one) was immediately noticed by the public when he joined show business. But it didn’t matter to his fans. For Cocoy Laurel was the handsomest actor of his generation.

Filipino Romeo

Before officially joining showbiz, he was chosen as the Romeo of the Philippines. His Juliet was Lotis Key, who later became Dolphy’s inamorata.

In 1971, Premiere Productions got him to be the leading man of Nora in Lollipops and Roses, which was shot in Los Angeles, California. The third wheel there was Don Johnson (later of Miami Vice fame), who was paid $500 for playing support to Cocoy and Nora.

Cocoy’s rise to fame was swift. During the 1972 Bb. Pilipinas contest, members of a women’s liberation movement picketed outside Araneta Coliseum. They denounced beauty contests for exploiting women. In that group was Gemma Cruz, herself a former beauty queen.

The protesters were discouraging the public from buying tickets and watching the pageant. But since it had been advertised that Cocoy was performing at the event, no protest group could stop his fans.

He sang “Betcha By Golly Wow” by the Stylistics. When the organizers realized that the crowd couldn’t get enough of Cocoy, he was even asked to assist previous winner, Vida Doria, in crowning the new queen, Armi Crespo.

In 1972, today’s Box-Office King and Queen contest was called Mr. & Miss Philippine Movies. Cocoy was crowned Mr. Philippine Movies. Nora was Miss Philippine Movies, but was a no-show. She had earlier figured in a vehicular accident and had to be confined at the Sta. Teresita Clinic in D. Tuazon in Quezon City.

Cocoy made only less than a dozen films. But his leading ladies were among the most prominent women in showbiz. Aside from Nora, he was paired with Vilma Santos, Hilda Koronel, Marianne de la Riva and Margie Moran.

In Love Song (with De la Riva), he played a mute, which is a difficult role to portray. He attacked the role with subtlety and that impressed viewers all the more.

Cocoy was ahead of his time as an actor. During his era, matinee idols didn’t engage in kissing scenes. But he did — first with Marianne de la Riva. With Margie Moran, he even did an underwater kissing scene.

By the time he worked with Nora again in Lollipops and Roses at Burong Talangka, he was already doing long torrid kissing scenes (with a minor American actress) that were integral to the story. Cocoy was not only an actor. He was an artist.

His best film was Ishmael Bernal’s Till Death Do Us Part — opposite Hilda Koronel. Based on komiks, its story was written by Carlo Caparas. Jose Mari Chan did the musical score. Playing support to Cocoy and Hilda was Marissa Delgado, who won her second FAMAS for this movie.

Cocoy, of course, dabbled in stage plays here and abroad. He was part of Miss Saigon. He consistently impressed the audience with his performances. One thing you can say about Cocoy — he gave his all at everything he did.

Artist in every sense

In 2013, I met him in the gym. I was surprised that he seemed to have shrunk. As it turned out, he met an accident eight years earlier while doing the musical play The Miraculous Virgin of Caysaysay. That left him with a serious spine injury.

During that meeting, I told him that my favorite song was one of his compositions: the theme song of the movie Ang Uliran (Imelda). Very few people know the song and he was thrilled that I was familiar with it. But I don’t think he was pleased when I sang it. Polite as always, he never showed his displeasure as I mangled his musical composition. Hey, it’s a difficult song!

Had it not been for that accident (its complications led to his passing), Cocoy could have done more work in showbiz. He was a great singer and could have kept singing. A former Vicor artist, his first album was Cocoy Live!

Outside of show business, he painted, which was one of his great passions. Like in anything he did, he was good at it.

So, it was truly tragic that his health condition prevented him from contributing a lot more to popular entertainment. His illness may have forced Cocoy to sit on his laurels, but he was never forgotten till his last breath.