“RAMON”

“RAMON” was a documentary film feature presentation which was broadcast over GMA News TV Channel on October 25, 2020.

The said feature was about the late actor turned Senator of the Republic of the Philippines (who came from the province of Cavite) Ramon Revilla, Sr. who died on June 26, 2020 at the age of 93.

The documentary was directed by Bryan Revilla, a grandson of the late actor and senator. Bryan is the son of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., one of the children of the elder Revilla.

Among those interviewed in the documentary were his children: Marlon, Andrea, Strike, Bong; grandsons Bryan and Jolo; his nephew Angel Bautista; Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Jeffrey “Epi” Quizon, and Portia Ilagan.

This blogger can describe his following views on the documentary in the acronym RAMON:

R

Ramon Revilla is not his birth name. His real name is Jose Acuña Bautista whose nickname is Peping. The name he became known by the public is his screen name he used as an actor when he joined show business through Sampaguita Pictures, one of the major film production companies during those days.

When he first ran as a Senator in the 1987 Elections, confusion marred his campaign because he registered his real name as a candidate for the position. The voting public did not know then his real name and they recognized him only for his screen name. He lost the elections.

In 1992, he registered as a candidate using his screen name already and ran under a political party. In the previous one, he ran as an independent candidate. This time he won and served his term from 1992 to 1998.

He ran and won for re-election for the same legislative position which is national in scope. He served for another term (his second) from 1998 to 2004. Senators in the Republic of the Philippines are elected by the nation’s voting public at-large.

A

Agimat, the Filipino translation of the word “Amulet” in the English language, is his monicker. When he made a comeback as a movie actor in the 1970s, he played the role of screen characters who are possessing their respective amulets. During his second wind as a movie actor, he concentrated on these roles because he had been away for too long and does not want to appear in villain roles.

The characters he played in reel life were hero and anti-heroes. Even if he played the latter, he made sure that these characters had redeeming factors towards the end of the movies and gave moral lessons to the audience. These roles made him famous and these gave him a solid niche as an actor.

In real life, he can be described as having amulet because he had survived major surgical procedures at his old age which surprised his relatives and friends.

M

Movies are the world of Ramon Revilla, Sr. whether playing the role as a leading man during his younger days or an action and dramatic actor during his adult years.

The film clips that were shown in the documentary, among others, were “Nardong Putik”, “Pepeng Agimat”, “Hulihin Si Tiyagong Akyat”, “Kapitan Eddie Set”, “Dugong Buhay”, “Pepeng Kuryente”, “Anting-Anting: Agimat Ni Lolo” and “RP Nine O”.

Most of these movies were made under the banner of his own film company called Imus Productions which office is based in Cavite. There were times that his children and his grandchildren played roles in these movies.

O

Occupation. Before he became an actor, he worked as a gasoline boy in their family business. The gasoline station was located in his home province. It was there he was discovered as an actor for Sampaguita Pictures.

As an actor, he appeared at the movies made by his mother studio. Later, he appeared in movies made by different film companies.

When he quit acting, he worked in the government service as an Intelligence Officer at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) which is under the Department of Finance (DOF). Here his previous movie roles as an action star came in handy in preventing a shoot out at a pier between two groups.

He later became a movie producer at Cavite Pictures with fellow investors and later found his own film outfit which is Imus Productions. The latter is being run by members of his family with their respective tasks or roles to play.

Aside from being the outfit’s producer, he also worked as an actor, writer and director. As a writer and a director, he uses the name Jose Yandoc as his monicker. Even if he has his own company, he also appeared as an actor in other film companies.

When he entered the field of politics, he served as a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines for two consecutive terms (a total of 12 years of service as a national legislator) as mentioned earlier. He was known for being the author of “The Public Works Act” which is a landmark law during his tenure as a national legislator.

After his term at the Upper House (another term which is being called for the Senate), he was appointed as the head of a government agency called Public Estates Authority (PEA).

N

Native Son of Cavite. Peping or Ramon is a person who will always be known as a son of his home province of Cavite. He had been a resident there since his birth on March 8, 1927.

He spent his growing up years, earned his livelihood and established business ventures aside from movies and raised his very own family in Cavite.

Upon his death, his wake and burial was done in Cavite, a province located in the Southern Luzon Region (or Southern Tagalog Region) in the Republic of the Philippines.

Most of the films he appeared as an actor and produced under his own film  company were shot in Cavite.

The chosen images which were used for this online feature post as our visual aids were taken from the following selected online resources as our valuable materials for references:

• pep.ph
• en.wikipedia.org

That’s all for now.

Until the next feature post.

Happier Days Ahead To All Of Us!