Last Thursday, my cousin June Uytiepo Torrejon Rufino texted that our good friend, veteran movie director Maurice “Peque” Gallaga died in Bacolod City. Riverside Hospital doctors said Peque died of a heart attack. Peque was my schoolmate at La Salle Bacolod (now University of St. La Salle). Although he was ahead by two years, we always get together, being members of the La Salle Theater Guild. We were in several Broadway plays including “ The King And I” and “A Man For All Seasons” (where Peque played St. Thomas Moore). But the most memorable for me was “Peter Pan” where Peque played Captain Hook. I played a pirate who kidnapped the “Lost Boys” that included Joel Torre, PJ Abellana and Ronnie Lazaro. Linda Dacanay, who eventually became Peque’s wife, played Tiger Lily while Peque’s sister Chita cast as Peter Pan. It was really fun doing that play. Our batch at La Salle is probably the most successful. Bitay Lacson and Lito Coscolluela became governors of the province. Monico Puentevella and John Orola, became congressmen, Raffy Alunan became DILG secretary. Eddie Villanueva and Munjo Guanzon, became GAB commissioners,Richie Garcia became PSC Chair while Melito Salazar became an official of the Board of Investments (BOI). What a terrific batch indeed. Peque on the other hand, excelled in the arts, making his presence felt in the movie “Oro, Plata, Mata” that launched Joel Torre’s career. He also directed the sexy movie “Scorpio Nights” and the horror thriller “Shake,Rattle and Roll”. Hasta La Vista Peque.Rest in Peace and Vaya Con Dios.
Rick Barry
I missed including Rick Barry to the list of the greatest NBA players of all time. Barry is part of perhaps the greatest father-and sons combination. He sent three of his sons to the NBA (Jon, Drew and Brent) his youngest son Scooter is poised to enter the league soon. Barry, who played for the San Francisco Warriors (now Golden State) mastered the “Granny Style” in shooting the foul shot. His “urinola” style was 90 percent accurate, second only to Mark Price (.904)
NOTES: Elvisaya is collaborating with Jhun Villahermosa, Cebu’s Frank Sinatra, in rewriting the lyrics of New York, New York. We are still in the first few lines as we started with “Stop spreading the virus, I’m running away, I don’t want to be a part of it, New York, New York, this vagabond shoes will kick the virus away.
As I was ending the column, another bad news came that Little Richard, one of Rock and Roll’s greatest icons, had died at age 87. Richard popularized such big hits like “Tutti Frutti”, “Lucille”, “Long Tall Sally”, “Good Golly Miss Molly” and “Keep on Knockin”, just to mention a few. Hasta La Vista Little Richard R.I.P.