Dear Kuya Eddie

Dear Kuya Eddie,

Marhay na aldaw po sa imo, Kuya Eddie! Good day and, yes, happy, happy birthday as you turn 80 today!

Eighty? I can’t believe it.

Parang kahapon lamang when you and company (Leila Benitez who is in blissful retirement in the US, and Bobby Ledesma who has since gone to the celestial studio) regaled us daily on Student Canteen, forerunner of noontime shows today led by Eat, Bulaga! which remains top-rated these past 30-plus years.

Back in the dorm after my morning classes, I would tune in to your program, Kahapon Lamang, and how you made me (and your thousands of followers as well) laugh and cry with the sad and happy stories of the letter-senders who sought you for solace. You didn’t disappoint us. At the end of your program, you did not just comfort the forlorn and the forgotten, the lovesick and the homesick, you virtually gave them a tight hug reassuring them that behind the clouds was a silver lining.

You knocked and the whole country let you enter their homes, including ours, with open arms and open hearts. Your voice, so full and so loving, has such a therapeutic effect on radio listeners that as soon as the now-iconic song began playing, we were all ears and all heart as you started introducing a letter-sender (usually protected in anonymity) with a soothing “Dear Kuya Eddie…”

Your program was so popular, so widely-followed that it inspired two movies, the omnibus Kahapon Lamang (with you co-starring in it, of course) and Napakasakit, Kuya Eddie (which starred Aga Muhlach and Pilar Pilapil).

You were a shoulder to cry on, the male counterpart of Tia Dely (Magpayo), a security blanket to the sick of body and of soul. You were one-of-a-kind.

Did you say that you started on radio the day Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England? How time flies! Parang kahapon lamang!

I’m feeling nostalgic as I tread down Memory Lane, helped along by what I unearthed in a little research: You were born on Aug. 25, 1934, in Iriga (now a city), Camarines Sur, to parents who were both public-school teachers…you and your three siblings grew up dirt poor with your mother single-handedly raising you after your father was killed during the war…you were twice accelerated in grade school in Iriga and graduated from high school with honors…you tucked up an AB Journalism degree from FEU where you were voted Outstanding Alumnus in 1957, and furthered your education with grants abroad for Broadcast Journalism in BBC London, farm association techniques in Taiwan, and in urban housing in Australia and Scandinavian countries.

Very impressive credentials! No wonder, when you decided to enter politics, the people rallied behind you: No. 1 councilor in Pasay City in 1963, Congressman of Rizal (First District) in 1965, Senator in 1971, and Assemblyman of National Capital Region in 1978. You were also given a Lifetime Achievement Award for Radio and Television, having been honored thrice by the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC), the Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

In semi-retirement, you continue to host Kahapon Lamang Radio over dzBB (Saturdays and Sundays, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.), a program which you happily describe as on its “2nd 50 years.”

As founding chairman of Golden Eagles Society International, the biggest organization of senior citizens in the country, you have chosen as your advocacy the recognition of Older Persons of the country, encouraging the administration to have them represented in the government.

What a full, fruitful life you are living!

Keep it up!

Do I hear a “knock, knock” on my door?

Yes, Kuya Eddie, you may come in!

Happy 80th from your fan kahapon, ngayon at bukas!                                       

— RICKY

5 foreign beauty queens were here for training

Is the Philippines becoming the “Venezuela of Asia,” having produced several winners in beauty contests abroad and now being recognized as a good training ground for aspirants not only on home ground but also from other countries?

Five reigning Southeast Asian beauty queens were here (they left yesterday) for an intensive training under Gouldian, namely: Miss Universe Myanmar Sharr Htut Eaindra, Miss Intercontinental Thailand Patraporn Wang, Miss Grand International Thailand Parapadsorn Disdamrong, Miss Earth Thailand Sasi Sintawee and Miss Tourism International Thailand Warankanang Wutthayakorn.

They underwent rigid training in health and fitness, pasarela, hair and make-up, wardrobe planning, “pictorial projection,” dance workshop and Q&A routine. They were also trained on motivational talks, social etiquette and promotion of heritage and tourist spots in Las Casas Filipinas Acuzar in Bataan and Tagaytay.   

Gouldian is a Filipino pageant training group composed of seasoned pageant correspondents coming from different professions in various fields headed by Pawee Ventura, founder of Missosology Organization in 1999. They are the same team that trained 2014 Miss Myanmar May Myat Noe (featured in Funfare last April 16) who eventually bagged the 2014 Miss Asia Pacific World crown in Korea. Missosology is the foremost and world-renowned online pageant magazine and portal with over 95 million page views per month and 3.7 million unique visitors from over 20 countries. The group has been invited by various international pageant organizations to cover their events.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)