He almost stole the trophy from Gabby Concepcion

I still remember the day – night actually because it was, in fact, an awards night: the 15th Gawad Urian at the CCP Little Theater.

The most memorable moment of the evening was Richard Gomez’s acceptance speech. It was his first acting award (Best Actor for Carlitos Siguion-Reyna’s Hihintayin Kita sa Langit) and he cried a bucket as he thanked everyone who had anything to do with his life and his career – with special thanks to his beloved Lola Lydia (who passed away only a couple of years ago).

Prior to that, Carlitos Siguion-Reyna let out a deafening "Yahoooo" in his excitement as he accepted his first Urian Best Director trophy.

There were a lot of other sidelights that unfolded on stage that night of the Gawad Urian.

Off-stage, Lolit Solis and I were having our own little drama. Those were happy days with Gabby Concepcion and she was still managing his career then.

Lolit had committed Gabby to attend the Urian awards that evening. He was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for Makiusap Ka sa Diyos.

Up to the last minute, Lolit kept saying that Gabby was showing up. He had a shooting in Antipolo, but would leave early to be there for the Urian.

When the category for Best Supporting Actor finally came, it was Gabby Concepcion who was declared winner – and he wasn’t there.

It turned out that Lolit never had any intention of making Gabby show up at the Urian that evening because she was afraid he would lose to a fellow nominee: Terence Baylon (for Ipagpatawad Mo), who was all of seven years old. If Gabby was going to lose anyway – especially to a child – he might as well save his face and skip the awards.

I didn’t speak to Lolit for months after that and all throughout our one-sided cold war (I was the only one who was angry), Bibeth Orteza and Ali Sotto were trying to patch things up between the two of us.

Looking back, Lolit really had reason to worry about Terence Baylon being included in the list of Best Supporting Actor nominees. The kid really gave a good fight in spite of the fact that he was up against adult competitors in that race.

The first time I saw Terence Baylon was in Laurice Guillen’s Kapag Langit ang Humatol, where he played the young Jeffrey Santos. It was a short role, but I remember being impressed with him – especially with his soulful eyes.

Produced by Charo Santos’ now defunct Vision Films, Kapag Langit ang Humatol (starring Vilma Santos, Richard Gomez and Gloria Romero, who was deliciously wicked there) was Terence’s first movie. Watching him in that film, you could tell that he was born with acting talent. As Rosa Rosal once told me, "It’s either you have it (acting talent) or you don’t." Terence Baylon definitely has it and he clearly displayed this in his debut film.

The following year, in another Laurice Guillen movie, Viva Films’ Ipagpatawad Mo, Terence was cast in a very important role as Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon’s autistic son. It was a very difficult part, but Terence was able to immerse himself into the character so well that most viewers really thought he was a special child.

In that year’s awards race, he was hailed Best Child Performer in the FAMAS, Star and FAP Awards. In the Gawad Urian, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor since the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino doesn’t have a category for Best Child Performer.

And that night of the Urian, Terence showed up in a crisp barong Tagalog and was playfully running up and down the steps of the CCP Little Theater like any regular kid for most part of the awards presentation. That was the first and the last time I saw him in person and this was in 1992.

Last Sunday, I saw him again when Jojo Gabinete invited Ronald Constantino, Aster Amoyo and this writer to dinner at Wan Chai in Tomas Morato to reintroduce us to Terence who is now 21 and towering at 5’9". The soulful eyes are still there – plus matinee idol looks that would be perfect for leading man roles.

During our dinner conversation, we found out that he bowed out of show business before the mid-’90s and returned to his native Cebu to resume his studies. After tucking in a business degree at the San Jose Recoletos, he went back to Manila to work in a discount card company and was all set to continue his life in anonymity until Jojo (who also charts the career paths of Diana Zubiri and Juliana Palermo) spotted him recently at the Red Ribbon branch in Shaw Blvd.

And now he would like to try his luck in show business again and although these days aren’t the most lucrative in the movies, I believe that we still have room for one more – especially for somebody as talented as Terence Baylon, the brilliant former child star, who once became a threat to Gabby Concepcion.