ABS-CBN pays tribute to the Comedy King

It was a touching tribute that ABS-CBN prepared for Dolphy when the mortal remains of the Comedy King was brought to Kapamilya network, his original home when he started his long and storied career in television. The legendary comic icon started his career via the defunct show Buhay Artista where he shared the billing with his partner Panchito Alba.

Dubbed as Salamat, Tito Dolphy: Pagsaludo sa Hari ng Komedya, the tribute looked back on the colorful life and career of the Comedy King. A Holy Mass was held which saw Piolo Pascual singing the entrance song “Hindi Kita Malilimutan.”

Among the Kapamilya stars present during the Necrological Service were Maricel Soriano, Vhong Navarro, Jong Hilario, Dawn Zulueta, Richard Gomez, Coco Martin, and Gerald Anderson.

Among those who delivered eulogies were ABS-CBN president Ms. Charo Santos-Concio, Marichu Vera Perez-Maceda (whose father Dr. Jose Perez gave Dolphy the break in Sampaguita Pictures), Victor de Guzman (the eldest son of comedian Teroy de Guzman who became Dolphy’s director in Home Along Da Riles), Nova Villa (Tito Dolphy’s leading lady in the ABS-CBN sitcom) and Ms. Zsa Zsa Padilla, who ended her touching eulogy by singing “Through the Years” which brought tears to the eyes of those watching the proceedings at the Dolphy Theater as well as to those watching the live telecast on TV.

We’d like to commend ABS-CBN for an organized conduct of the whole affair, despite the very short time to prepare for it. Plus, they allowed GMA 7 and TV5 to do coverage as well. We saw Susan Enriquez of GMA and Jeff Fernando of TV5 at the Dolphy Theater doing their chore for their respective stations.

Tito Dolphy will forever remain in the hearts of people whose lives he touched in his storied career that spanned six decades and 13 Philippine presidents. He is a true icon, a consummate artist. He deserves to be conferred the National Artist Award but even though this has not materialized, he will forever be a national treasure for all of us. He made us happy when he was alive and we were saddened when he passed on to the next life. But we should rejoice in the thought that once in our lives, Dolphy, the Comedy King, shared his enormous talent and goodness of his heart to inspire us all.

The Comedy King is dead. Long live the King!

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Vhong Navarro had the chance to work with Comedy King Dolphy in “Home Along Da Riles” several years ago. But he was not in town when Tito Dolphy died last Tuesday. He was on a trip to Korea and he was saddened when he heard the news of the comedy king’s death.

“Nakakalungkot kasi when the plane touched down at around 10:30 p.m. and I opened my cellphone, I received all the messages about Tito Dolphy’s death,” said the teary-eyed Vhong when he was interviewed by the media at the Dolphy Theater at the ABS-CBN compound the other day.

What are your fond memories of Tito Dolphy? “The fact that we were always together when we were doing Home Along Da Riles. Para sa akin memory iyon, the best memory ko iyon,” said Vhong. The last time they did a show together was a guest role in “May Bukas Pa” where they played father and son. “It feels good to work with Tatay Dolphy because he treats you like a son. That’s why I call him tatay. I started calling him Tatay when I joined the cast of his sitcom Home Along Da Riles. Since then I’ve always called him Tatay and until now.”

What words of wisdom did your Tatay Dolphy share with you? “He told me that laughter becomes infectious. He also told me that whenever I have a problem, I should leave it at home when I go out to work. As a comedian, you should leave your worries at home because you can’t use it in your job to make people laugh. It only becomes a burden,” said Vhong.

“Kaya di ba ang sarap magpatawa? Ang galing mong magpatawa pero ang hindi alam ng tao na ang nagpapatawa na iyan ay may mas mabigat palang problema. Kaya nga nalulungkot ako pag hindi siya nanalong best actor sa mga ginagawa niyang pelikula. Bakit? Kasi ang best actor ba para sa drama lang? Paano naman ang mga komedyante? Kung tutuusin mas mahirap ang magpatawa,” he intones.

How would he describe the experience working with Tito Dolphy? “He was a very caring person. I felt that when we worked together in his sitcom. Management wanted to take me out of the show. He fought for me so that I would be retained. When it was explained to him why management decided to get me out of the show, it was Tito Dolphy who broke the news to me and explained to me the reason. I didn’t want to leave the show even if management says so. I wanted to stay with Home Along Da Riles to be with my idol and the rest of the cast because we consider each other family on and off the camera,” Vhong related.

Now that Tito dolphy is gone, Vhong says he and the rest of the young comedians like Smokey Manaloto would like to continue Tito Dolphy’s legacy.