The day I had Isko tightly under my grip

IF a picture speaks a thousand words, then the accompanying photograph speaks much of how I completely had the Manila mayor under control in manual combat once upon a time. Quite luckily for the neophyte movie thespian, however, the scene was just a put-on act I executed to demonstrate the kind of action needed during the shooting of “Exploitation” in the scenic hills of Sagada in Bontoc, Mountain Province. If it were for real, then scores of my comrades in the revolutionary struggle, who were just standing innocently by, would have readily come to my rescue and do my opponent in. Upward of Sagada is Mount Agid, reputedly second in elevation to Mount Apo, and it was there back in 1987 that I had my initiation of fire with Ifugao New People’s Army members, who at that early stage were already shouting chants for the liberation of the Cordilleras.

My original choice of leading lady for the movie was a charming morena who had the face to launch those thousand ships, if Helen of Troy were a Filipina. I am talking about Precious Hipolito, whom I spotted while shopping in a construction supply shop in New Manila. Hailing from a buena familia in Novaliches, Precious was agreeable to do some needed skin shots for the good of the movie, but she expressed great misgivings doing those scenes with Isko. In the end, Michelle Ortega got the role of a frigid wife that drives her husband, played by Isko, to seek rest and relaxation in the idylls of the Mountain Province locale. Here he meets the sweet seductive Igorota, played by Priscilla Almeda, to assuage his manly frustrations. That’s all there was to the photograph here.