But Pancho has K to work on cam since he’s tall and has hunky rugged good looks. We had a real good time at Redgie’s party, especially with our long talk with Tirso Cruz III, Ricky Davao (the official singer of the Wednesday group) and Manny Valera about various issues concerning the film industry. Manny asked Pip how he made a comeback after his career lost its luster when his team up with Nora Aunor waned. “I owe it to Mother Lily,” he says. “For five years, wala na ko sa showbiz. Then in 1987, my wife Lyn told me. Tumawag si Mother Lily, may project daw for you. I didn’t believe her. Sabi ko, prankster lang yun. Pero kapipilit niya, I returned the call. Si Mother nga. Gulat na gulat ako. Puede ka na ba mag-shoot bukas? The project was ‘Till We Meet Again’ with Guy. So many people were against it kasi sabi nila, wala na kami ni Nora. But it became a big hit and revived my career. In 1989, I did ‘Bilangin ang mga Bituin sa Langit’, again with Guy, and that gave me my first acting awards. After that, tuloy-tuloy na ang assignments ko, sa movies at sa TV.”
He’s turning 59 in April but looks much younger than his age. “I am so blessed, first of all having a wife like Lyn who’s been very supportive all these years, and our children who are also blessings to us. The industry has been very good to me. Right now, I’m doing two movies, ‘Deadline’ with Joel Lamangan who gave me another acting award for the movie we did last year, ‘Sigwa’, and ‘Bisperas’ with Jeffrey Jeturian. On TV, I now play a gay role in ‘I Heart U, Pare’ with Regine Velasquez.”
The irony of it is that it’s his perennial partner, Nora Aunor, who’s now missing in circulation and he says he continues to pray for her so she can still make a comeback here. “Bigyan mo na ng pamasahe,” Jun Nardo tells him then urged him to sing “Tell Nora I Love Her” on stage, making him laugh.
