Why Manay Lolit was like a second mother
I met Lolit Solis more than 40 years ago when my mom was then editor-in-chief of People magazine.
Mom had asked me to interview Gabby Concepcion, who was a rising matinee idol at the time. I don’t remember the details anymore, but someone told me I had to go through the manager of Gabby, Lolit Solis.
I still remember calling her and being surprised at how readily she agreed. We met at Casa Marcos, her favorite Spanish restaurant along Granada St. (now Santolan Ave.). She must have taken a liking to me, because not only did she arrange the interview, she even set the date and time herself. I ended up spending an afternoon at Gabby’s house in San Juan, conducting what would become one of my earliest interviews. Since then, I’d occasionally bump into Manay Lolit (as she is fondly called), and she would always have a warm smile and greeting for me when I’d see her at parties and press conferences.
But it wasn’t until 2018 that we began to see each other more regularly. Cris Roque (now Secretary of Trade) called one day to ask if I could set up a lunch, so she could reconnect with her. I happily arranged it — and from that lunch on, Manay Lolit became a regular fixture in my life.
She eventually dubbed me her “official schedule master,” insisting that anyone who wanted to meet her had to coordinate with me first. She was loyal to a shortlist of Quezon City restaurants — Mario’s, Prologue, Deogracia’s, Victorino’s, Sushi Shokunin, Oriental Palace and Super Sam — and only entertained lunch dates, always at 11 a.m. “No dinners,” she would insist, because she wanted to be home by 5 p.m. to watch her Koreanovelas.
It was also because of Manay Lolit that I met my current boss, Bacolod City Congressman Albee Benitez. She introduced me to him way back in 2018, and when ABS-CBN was shut down in 2020, Cong. Albee invited me to join Brightlight Productions, his TV and movie production company. And for this, I will be eternally grateful to Manay Lolit.
We traveled together to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Osaka before her dialysis treatments. She loved grocery shopping for fruits and chichirya, and often wore the striped T-shirts I gave her during her hospital sessions.
She only wore open-toe sandals or flip-flops. When I was in ABS-CBN and in charge of shopping for gifts for our artists and managers, she would always call me days before her birthday (May 20) to remind me to give her size 9 flip-flops.
Last year, during her 77th birthday lunch, Boy Abunda asked her to name the five people she’d like to lunch with. She included me on the list, saying I was a “happy and positive person.” My heart nearly burst with pride when she said that. Last week, for my birthday, she gifted me a jade bangle — one that matched hers.
The news of her passing on July 3 was both shocking and sadly expected. When we started spending time together in 2018, I already noticed how her health was slowly declining. When she began undergoing dialysis in 2022, it took a visible toll on her. She lost a lot of weight and complained about how inconvenient and uncomfortable her sessions were. She spent four hours a day during those sessions fighting boredom and entertaining thoughts of death. She blamed the two stem cell treatments she had for prolonging her life despite her unhealthy lifestyle in her younger years.
She’d often mention how many of her contemporaries — Ricky Lo, Ethel Ramos, Douglas Quijano — were gone. Still, those of us closest to her — Gorgy Rula, Salve Asis, Tet de Joya and I (we proudly call ourselves “mga favorite ni Manay”) — encouraged her to keep going. We told her she still had stories to tell and lives to touch. But maybe the pep talks were more for us because we didn’t want to let her go.
Generous to a fault, Manay Lolit always brought something to give — whether food, a gift from her baul or trinkets from friends she had no use for but thought others might enjoy.
The last time I saw her was on June 19. Ging Soriano had hosted a pre-birthday lunch for me at Deogracia’s. Manay looked pale and weak, having just been discharged from the hospital. Still, she made the effort to come, saying she missed us. During lunch, Tet noticed her hand was cold and shaking. We urged her to return to the hospital, which she did later that day.
After her July 1 dialysis session, she was confined again. She told her trusted companion Mel that she didn’t want to die at home — she wanted to pass away in a hospital. She must have known her time was near.
I take comfort in knowing that she is finally free from pain. I will miss her daily text messages and calls asking when our next lunch will be. I miss you, Manay Lolit. You were like a second mother to me. Our gatherings won’t be the same without you — but your humor, your stories and your big heart will remain with us always.
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