Dynasties in Moviedom, too

It was past 4 a.m. yesterday when I got a call from Pete (Jimenez) Rivera who sounded more excited than he usually is. I guess it did not occur to him to check what time it was in the Philippines since he was calling from Vancouver, Canada. I had just finished dinner (yes, at 4 a.m.) and was about to tell him so, but he cut me short.

***

“Have you heard about what happened at the Boston Marathon?” he asked breathlessly. No, I said, grumpily maybe. What happened at the Boston Marathon? Three bombs exploded at the site of the marathon, he said. Two people have been killed, and about 40 injured. Before I could ask why he had to call for that, he said, “I thought you would like to report it in the DAILY STAR. You would have a big scoop, nobody has published reports on it yet, I'm sure”.

***

Dear ole Pete. Once a newsman, always a newsman. There are still many people in local media who remember Pete Rivera (real name, Jimenez) from La Carlota who used to be a very popular radio man here before he packed up with his beautiful Eva and headed for Canada. Of course the printer's ink in my own blood began to simmer, but what could I do? At 4 a.m., the DAILY STAR was already on its way through presses, and I would have to issue the traditional emergency cry for the print media of “STOP PRESS” – and risk being late for yesterday's issue.

***

Maybe Pete remembered how the STAR had once outscooped all national and local papers when Imelda Marcos was acquitted in New York, and we were the only ones able to get the story in on that very day, thanks to an uncle, lawyer Eugenio Villanueva (now deceased), who also called up in the wee hours to relay the news, as he was in the U.S. then. Or the time when the STAR also scooped ‘em all by holding the press until the beloved Pope John Paul II was elected.

***

Of course, Pete never calls for less than an hour, and this time he almost used up two, giving me postscripts about other news items there, and inquiring about all the friends he left behind. All the while, he was also updating me on the Boston case, where the number of casualties was rising. Now, as this is being written, the fatalities had reached three, and those hurt 150. The most heartbreaking report was that about a woman, each of whose two sons had lost a leg. Of course TV viewers here are already familiar with the scenes from Boylston Street in Boston where the marathon has been traditionally held, with the panicking crowd rushing to get away from the place.

***

As if the horror of the Boston bombings were not enough, yesterday's news also carried reports about powerful earthquakes that hit Middle Eastern countries, with Iran suffering the most damage and casualties. The earthquake, with intensity measured at 7.8 had killed 40, as of this writing, and tremors were also reported in countries like Qatar, Dubai and India. Remember that we had also been getting reports of quakes in some parts of our country in the past few days? Time for us again to give thanks that they were not as strong or as destructive as those in the other countries.

***

Another big news yesterday was about the moves of the Jalosjos family to appropriate Zamboanga through what is one of the biggest dynasties in this country. Their leader is the convicted, but dominant brother, former sportsman and Congressman Romeo Jalosjos, who served a sentence for the rape of a child. Apparently the people in Zamboanga do not mind their less than savory records, because another brother who was also in politics, had been found to have a conviction he had not yet served. But now there are about seven members of the family poised to run in the May election, among them Romeo, who refuses to believe in the law banning convicts from seeking public office.

***

I guess, though, that it will be a long time before we get rid of dynasties in this country. Look, even in the Philippine movie world, we have lots of dynasties, too. Think of the Estradas or Ejercitos, like Joseph and his multi-mothered children, the Revillas led by their father Ramon, the Barretto sisters, the Gutierrezes, the Eigenmanns, and even the folks of Gloria Diaz. Why, even the late Dolphy spawned quite a dynasty, too. The Quizon kids have also swamped moviedom. I'm sure there are others I have forgotten, but, with their number, I am afraid it can be said that dynasties are here to stay.*

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