Martin recalls his last 27 hours with dad Bert

“As my dad suddenly started to fade, I whispered to him, ‘We love you, Dad, we love you so much and we will never forget what a great father you were to all of us.’ On March 27 at 3:37 a.m., Dad started his journey. He was 81.”

It was probably at once the longest and the shortest 27 hours in the life of Martin Nievera, the last moments he spent with his dad, Bert Nievera, at the Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas where Bert spent in semi-retirement with his wife Carol.

The longest because Martin and his twin sister Vicki savored every moment of it, wishing it would last forever; and the shortest because, before Martin and Vicki knew it, their dad drifted into eternal slumber.

Dubbed as Johnny Mathis of the Philippines, a title given to him after he won the “Johnny Mathis of the Philippines” search of the original noontime show Student Canteen, Bert died of multiple organ failure due to sepsis on March 27. He would have turned 82 on Oct. 17; born part-Igorot in Baguio City where he grew up joining amateur singing contests.

“We raced against time to be with Dad during his last moments,” Martin, 56, recalled in an exclusive interview with Funfare. “It was the biggest race I had ever taken in my whole life.”

Bert’s ashes have been cremated and will stay in Las Vegas for now.

Bert with Martin and sons Ram, Robin (with ex-wife Pops Fernandez) and Sandino (with ex-girlfriend Katrina Ojeda).

“It’s not yet decided where his ashes would be interred,” said Martin who flew to Las Vegas two days before his dad passed away. “According to my dad’s Las Vegas family (Martin’s mom, Conchita Razon, was Bert’s first wife. -— RFL), Dad didn’t want anything sad. He didn’t want the usual funeral and eulogies. He wanted friends and family to just get together and sing and laugh. Kind of what Dad wanted for everyone when he was still alive.”

Unlike Martin (who takes in stride his “Mr. Loud Mouth” title, given to him by the late Bob Castillo who, with your Funfarer, was the first movie journalist to interview Martin back in 1980, arranged by Bert himself), “Dad was a man of very few words. Even when we were kids and he would scold us, it was never a long verbal beating. As a parent, he was usually the ‘good cop,’ so our punishment and sentence was almost never long and sometimes forgotten so we could continue doing fun things together. He was the coolest dad around.”

And unlike most singers, Bert didn’t sing his children to sleep.

“But I do remember Dad singing while we were trying to sleep.”

With that, Martin launched into a sentimental trip down Memory Lane.

“Back in the day in San Francisco when we were just starting out as a family, we could not afford our own house or apartment so we were house guests of a friend who gave us the downstairs of one of those cookie-jar-looking houses on Second Avenue near the Golden Gate Park. My twin Vicki and I slept in one room on one small bed while our baby sister Rachel was in a crib next to Mom and Dad’s bed which was a fold-away couch. Our rooms were separated by a glass door so every night that dad would be practicing, we would fall asleep to his voice singing like Johnny Mathis and Frank Sinatra.

Martin, Vicki and Rachel with their half-brother Lance.

“When we moved to the Philippines many years after living in Hawaii and Concord, Dad gave me a choice. He said, ‘Stay in America and try your luck in Hollywood or come to the Philippines and let me help you start living your dream.’ I think by now you know the choice I made.

“Shortly after recording my first album, Ryan Cayabyab wrote me a song titled The Best Gift. This song became a lullaby Dad and I would share and hand down to our children and so on and so on. This song best describes the gifts my father has left me, the best gift being the gift of song.

”Ever since I joined this business, the only thing I wanted to do was make my father proud that I followed in his footsteps and that is exactly what I plan to do for the rest of my life.”

When Martin learned that his dad was ill, he dropped everything and, that’s it, “raced against time” to be with him in Las Vegas.

“When we first found out that Dad was sick, we were very concerned,” related Martin. “Then, we got a report that he was getting better. So we had a bit of a sigh of relief until not even a day passed when Carol, Dad’s wife, called. It was no longer a text report from the hospital, it was a call and a very concerning one at that. Dad had taken a turn for the worse. No details were given, only certain choices that needed to be made. This was serious.

“So on March 25, right after ASAP, I booked a flight to Las Vegas for Vicki and I while my sister Rachel in Florida did the same. We were racing against time.

“When we landed in LAX, we realized we had like four hours to catch our connecting flight to Las Vegas so we cancelled that flight and ran to a car rental place and rented the fastest and safest car and drove instead. This way, in my panicking mind, I was in control of time avoiding possible delays that come with air travel.

“We drove non-stop and made it to the hospital in record time. I don’t think I have ever driven that fast in the history of all my Los Angeles to Las Vegas travels. The good news is we made it and got to spend the last 27 hours and a half with Dad.

The billboard for Martin’s Las Vegas show on April 28 dedicated to his dad.

“In those few hours, we all said our silent goodbyes and shared prayers. I then held my father’s hand and sang a little to him. I then said the goodbye for all those who could not make this journey in time and told him not to worry, because we would all take care of each other. Then, as he suddenly started to fade, I whispered to him, ‘We love you, Dad, we love you so much and we will never forget what a great father you were to all of us.’ On March 27 at 3:37 a.m., Dad started his journey. He was 81.”

Choking a bit, Martin continued as soon as he recovered himself.

“Dad was blessed with family and good and loyal friends. His passion to sing was unmatched and unstoppable. He would sing for anyone anytime anywhere. Although we will miss our father terribly, I am so happy for the angels in heaven for they are now one balladeer stronger.”

(Postscript: Martin was back in Manila last Sunday. He will return to Las Vegas for his dad’s memorial on April 27. The next day, he will have a concert and his guest is the Society of Seven, the group with which Bert performed for years mostly in Hawaii. “We are dedicating the show to my dad,” said Martin.)

Isabelle’s baby born a week too soon

The name still not revealed, the first son of Isabelle Daza and husband Adrien Semblat was born a week too soon…on March 31 at 1:22 p.m. at the Makati Medical Center. The boy weighed 7 lbs. and 3.1 kgs. and measured 49 centimeters.

‘I was originally due to deliver April 7 but I had to undergo emergency Caesarian section because my baby had a triple-cord coil,’ Isabelle told The STAR. ‘His umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around his neck so my doctors, Dra. Becky Singson and Dr. Abe Marinduque, decided to open me up since there were more complications like low amniotic fluid. I’m so grateful to my doctors.’

The baby is Arian like his Lola Gloria Diaz who celebrated her 67th birthday last Thursday, April 5.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare. or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)