Susan Roces would have turned 85 this 28 July had she not left us for good on 20 May 2022. Even when there was still Covid when she died, fans and friends still trooped to her wake at the Heritage Park to pay their last respects to the Queen of Philippine Movies.

Today’s millennials and Gen Zs still remember her as Lola Flora in Coco Martin’s FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano on ABS-CBN. But older generations surely recall her glory days as one of the biggest movie stars in the country.

At the peak of her popularity, everything she did was news and duly reported in the papers and fan magazines. No, television did not have entertainment news yet at the prime of Susan Roces’ career.

Besides, she was Miss Goody Two-Shoes and the articles written about her were mostly about upcoming film projects. Those would have been ho-hum for television.

There was a time in the mid-1960s, however, when tabloid headlines read: “Susan Roces elopes with son of Soc Rodrigo.” For the benefit of today’s young people, Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo was one of the greatest senators in the history of Philippine politics. His image was spotless and never did he ask stupid questions in the august halls of the Senate. His junior, Francisco “King” Rodrigo, is the husband of Boots Anson Roa-Rodrigo.

But going back to Susan’s elopement story. The whole episode started when she and her friend, Pempe Rodrigo (one of the children of Senator Rodrigo), figured in a vehicular accident. Mercifully, no one got hurt. But Susan and Pempe still ended up at the precinct for questioning. It was Pempe who was driving and Susan was just a passenger.

It was bedlam at the police station. Susan Roces, after all, was there – in the flesh. Since there were so many kibitzers at the precinct, news reporters had a difficult time getting details of the accident.

Some newsmen couldn’t even confirm why Susan was there at the police station. When told that she was with one of the children of Senator Rodrigo named Pempe, some of the irresponsible reporters came up with their own conclusion. They were in a rush to meet their deadlines and no longer bothered to check facts.

And so, this was the story they filed: Susan Roces eloped with Senator Rodrigo’s son. But since they were in a hurry to run away, they met an accident on the road. What the reporters failed to verify was the gender of Pempe.

Pepe and Pempe were popular nicknames for Jose back in the day. One of the superstars from the pre-war to the post-war period, in fact, was Jose “Pempe” Padilla, the uncle of now Senator Robin Padilla.

Susan did get into a car accident with Pempe Rodrigo, all right, but the given name of this Pempe was Josefina. She’s a girl and there was no way Susan was going to elope with her!

Of course, Susan Roces did elope eventually, but with the most macho figure in Philippine entertainment, Fernando Poe, Jr. Their elopement happened on 16 December 1968, followed by a church wedding at the Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills on Christmas Day of that year.