The day Pilita came along

I miss my evenings with Pilita Corrales. That was decades ago when she would light up our homes with songs that she delivered bent precariously backward, making us hold our collective breath (let her not fall, Lord!) during her one-hour TV show which she opened with her heart-warming rendition of what would become her signature song, A Million Thanks To You — The day you came along with your song, my heart began to sing, dear. A million thanks to you, my love…

“Most of the songs that I recorded are memorable,” according to Pilita when asked to name only 10. “Every song became memorable, even those that I did not record but sing only in my shows, like If I Never Sing Another Song with which I always close my show.”

The truth is that Pilita has recorded and sung so many songs, hundreds and hundreds of them…in Visayan, in Filipino, Spanish and in English…that she has lost count. But A Million Thanks To You (composed specially for her by Alice Doria-Gamilla who, Pilita recalled, “was paid P50 for it”) is the one that sticks to her name like a stamp, no wonder it was chosen as title of a fund-raising concert for MARE Foundation, Inc. (headed by former Sen. Dr. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito-Estrada) on Thursday night, Nov. 13, 8 o’clock at the Fiesta Pavillion of the Manila Hotel. (Directed by Calvin Neria with Louie Ocampo as musical director, it also features as guests Pilita’s daughter Jackie Lou Blanco, Sarah Geronimo, Martin Nievera, the Wing Duo Nikki Ross and Angie dela Cruz, Chad Borja, Basil Valdez, The CompanY and possibly Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.)

“It’s one of my most-requested songs,” noted Pilita, “including Pipit, Kapantay Ay Langit, Matud Nila and a few others. The audience always expects me to sing them. They were all big hits.”

Another Pilita Corrales classic is What Name Shall I Give You My Love, one of the songs written for her by George Sison who, correction please, didn’t compose Rene Novalles’ 1984 Metropop entry A Smile in Your Heart which George predicted would win.

“There’s also Smile (composed by Charlie Chaplin),” added Pilita, “which I love because it’s a very meaningful song,” proceeded to sing part of it, …smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking…

And how many times did she experience her heart breaking? How many hearts did she break without perhaps her intending nor meaning to?

“Ay, marami!” exclaimed Pilita without elaborating or mentioning names which are public knowledge anyway, including her first husband Gonzalo Blanco (Jackie’s father), a deceased top actor at Premiere Productions, Amado del Paraguay, Eddie Gutierrez (by whom she has a son, Ramon “Monching” Christopher) and the current, probably her last/lasting love Carlos Lopez. Instead of destroying her, the heartbreaks and the heartaches only deepened the emotion she conveys with her songs --- yes, in her unique “back-breaking” fashion (more on that later).

“What lessons have I learned from falling in and out of love?” Pilita asked. “Well, not to love with all your heart and soul. The problem is that I cannot love half-half, it’s all or nothing at all. If you make a mistake, blame nobody but yourself. But I never regret over anything. Ngayon, solo flight na lang tayo,” adding in haste, “but with Carlos, of course!”

Asked what would be the theme song for failed relationships, Pilita joked, “What goes up must come down.” Then she laughed and laughed.

As a mother, Pilita’s heart-breaking experience was when Jackie was kidnapped by her own father and brought back home from traveling around the world (Hawaii, Canada, etc.) with the help of the Interpol. The controversy landed Pilita and little Jackie (then only a year old) on the front page of a Philippine broadsheet.

“Later on,” related Pilita, “when we opened his (Gonzalo’s safe) to look for some documents, we found a clipping of the newspaper which he secretly treasured. Because of that incident, a law was enacted that a child may not be allowed to travel abroad unless accompanied by both the parents or, if not both, at least with the signed permission of the parent not traveling with the child.”

In passing, Pilita hinted at the failed marriages of her son Monching (and Lotlot de Leon), and daughter Jackie (and Ricky Davao). “That’s why I worry about Janine,” one of Monching and Lotlot’s children, “because she has a boyfriend (Elmo Magalona) now. I always pray that Janine and my other grandchildren will not go through what I have gone through. You know, I always wanted Jackie and Ricky, and Monching and Lotlot to be together forever, but then…” she shrugged instead of finishing the sentence.

Besides her songs that earned her the title Asia’s Queen of Song, Pilita considers as among her most precious possessions her awards, especially the honorary degree of Doctor of Music conferred on her by University of the Visayas “for her dedication to the performing arts and her love for Cebuano music (that) should be emulated especially by the Filipino youth,” noted UV executive vice president Jose “Dodong” R. Guillas who recommended giving Pilita that honor.

Oh yes, why does Pilita have to bend backward when singing?

“I bend because that’s how I can reach a high note, not toward the right nor to the left but backward,” explained Pilita. “It is not a gimmick at all.”

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