It was in 1992 when I first felt how to be star struck. I was 14 at that time, the period when my sister and I were still both hooked to Ora Engkantada on RPN 9 and FPJ sa GMA on GMA 7. Since my father is a loyal Fernando Poe Jr. fan, we had no choice but to watch FPJ movies with him or lose our only tv viewing time every Saturday. I think I have become a fan as well. I have memorized the plot, characters, and even the dialogue in many FPJ movies, a natural course for someone who had watched the weekly airing of his movies for years.
A national election brought me a step closer to Da King. It was summer of 1992 when he went to Sta. Rosa, Laguna to campaign for his best friend, Joseph Estrada who was then running for the Senate. On that memorable day ( at least in the life of a fan like me ), he was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt, paired with a blue jeans and a pair of familiar Ray-Ban sunglasses we usually saw him wear. He was waving and smiling at us, even shaking the hands of people who managed to reach him. FPJ appeared the same in person as on the screen. He really had the look of a true action superstar. He was tall with a light brown complexion, and a killer smile that stole the hearts of millions in the Philippines. That I was speechless when I saw him was an understatement. I was actually “lost” when that rendezvous happened. Had I not regained myself, I would have followed him and his convoy to the next town. I can’t help but smile whenever I look back to that day of summer, the day a huge star came down to brighten our then sleepy town.
I was not in the Philippines when he died in 2005. I was then finishing a Chinese Language and Culture course in Taiwan. But like many FPJ followers, I was extremely surprised. His demise was sad and unexpected. His supporters were not ready to lose an icon who had become part of their entertainment culture for almost five decades. A clip of his burial on CNN was my last glimpse of FPJ. And like that fateful summer of 1992, I was not just speechless, I was “in the dark” for having lost a cultural icon whose presence on the big screen had successfully immortalized lives of underrated heroes of the country, an honest and principled law enforcer, an ordinary man searching for justice, a Muslim devoted to his faith, a poor athlete with nothing but honor, and a blacksmith whose courage and goodness saved his town from evil.
As loyal FPJ fans continue to commemorate his birth and death anniversaries, may this country find a new kind of inspiration from the stories of ordinary but dignified people portrayed by Da King in his films. People whose lives clearly speak of the goodness and resilience of Filipinos who are still searching for that elusive “ tuwid na daan”.
