The ‘hero’ in Bayani Agbayani - FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo

He doesn’t have the "basically comic" face of Dolphy and Redford White, his two role models ("Dolphy for his pakikipag-kapwa-tao and Redford for his devotion to his family"), but the poker-faced Bayani Agbayani is a comedian in his own right with his own deadpan style of delivering the punchline.

"To be honest about it," Bayani told Funfare, "I never expected to end up a comedian. I started out as a TV writer."

But today, with his co-hosting job on Magandang Tanghali Bayan (MTB) with the Zany Trio of Randy Santiago, Willie Revillame and John Estrada, and being a regular in the Maricel Soriano-Cesar Montano ABS-CBN sitcom Kaya ni Mister, Kaya ni Misis, Bayani is very visible and very audible as a funnyman. He also "stars" in commercials and it’s his face that we see in the huge Bayantel billboards all over Metro Manila.

In short, there’s no escaping him.

Opening today in Metro theaters is his co-starrer with Janno Gibbs, Viva Films’ Juan & Ted, a wacky comedy again directed by Al Tantay (also the megger of Bayani’s first-starring movie, Mana-Mana, Tiba-Tiba), which is about two simpletons wrongly accused of a crime. Thus they decide to bolt the prison before they’re salvaged and, outside while working as janitors at a school, manage to help solve the crime and ferret out the real culprits. Besides stellar credits, Bayani is also billed as the movie’s co-storywriter (well, you know, once a writer...).

"Before these two movies," said Bayani, not a tone of braggadocio in his voice, "I did bit parts in more than a dozen others since I started going ‘on-cam’ in 1996. But deep inside me, I’m a writer."

He’s a survivor of life’s hard knocks, his father having died when he, the only boy and the youngest among six children of a poor couple from Silang, Cavite, was barely three years old. It was their mom, Erlina Rogacion, who single-handedly tried to keep the family together. But at an early age, Bayani proved to be man enough by supporting himself through school.

"First, I enrolled in Engineering at FEU but I quit because I couldn’t afford the tuition fee," related Bayani. "I took the qualifying exams at PUP and became a scholar, paying only P150 per semester. I shifted to Masscom, major in Broadcasting. To earn money while in school, I worked as a crew member of Dunkin’ Donuts (Muñoz branch) during the day and went to school at night. I even worked as a kargador in Divisoria, at the bicycle store of my lola."

He tucked up a college degree in 1992 and did his practicum at GMA as production assistant in the defunct noontime show Lunchdate where he met Randy Santiago ("My mentor, the one who gave me the name Bayani Agbayani para daw may rhyme"), later absorbed as set and props coordinator by SST (Salu-Salu Together, which replaced Lunchdate) for which he also moonlighted as assistant writer while doing the voice-over as Katokling in another GMA defunct show, Katok Mga Misis.

In 1995 when his "Boss Randy" moved to ABS-CBN as co-host of The Sharon Cuneta Show, Bayani tagged along with him (follow the leader, you know), taken in as resident comedian of the show’s comedy skits. Bayani stayed on the show until it folded up in 1997 when Sharon, who was among the principal sponsors at his and wife Aleja "Lhen" Caramancion’s wedding in 1996, accompanied husband Francis Pangilinan to Boston on his year-long scholarship.

"At first," said Bayani, "nilalaro ko lang ’yung pagko-comedy just so I could entertain people. When I realized that I could make it a profession by which I could help my family, nag-serious na ako. I started doing research, studying other comedians (especially his favorites, Dolphy and Redford White) and reviewing videotapes of my shows and improving on my work."

Off camera, Bayani is a responsible husband to Lhen, loving father to Maria Thalia, turning 3, and Rosalinda, only a few weeks old. The couple, along with Bayani’s mother, live in a cozy house on Avalon Street in North Fairview, Quezon City, a property Bayani bought only last year. They moved into it after initially staying with Lhen’s folk in Tondo after their wedding and later at a modest house in Maligaya Village (owned by Redford White’s family) in Novaliches, also in Quezon City, where one of Bayani’s sisters now lives with her own family.

Although also a PUP Masscom student, Lhen met Bayani only when she herself did her practicum at GMA when Bayani was already a resident writer. The courtship was, yes, "deadpan," typically Bayani Agbayani.

"Hindi ako mabilis mag-type, so I let Lhen do the typing for me," recalled Bayani. "Maya-maya, na-type-pan ko na siya. Then, I would wait for her to finish work and drive her home. When I saw her carrying pneumatic tapes, buhat-buhat niya ’yung mabibigat na ’yon, I would help her carry them. Maya-maya, pati siya buhat-buhat ko na."

Even now that he’s making a name of his own as a comedian, Bayani hasn’t outgrown the habit of helping anybody carry things around, until an ABS-CBN executive called his attention to it. Hindi na bagay, you know.

After their wedding, Bayani "retired" Lhen into domesticity, buying-and-selling jewelry (and other valuables besides) in-between child-rearing and home-keeping.

Because he got to where he is now the hard and admittedly "unique" way (Dame Luck was on his side, you know), Bayani treasures his career and takes his job seriously, saving every spare penny for the rainy day.

"I’ve been observing stars very closely and most of them seem to squander their earnings... as if there were no tomorrows," said Bayani. "I’m learning from their experiences. When I saved enough, the first thing I bought was a small house and lot (in Maligaya Village) because my sisters and I grew up without having our own house. Nangu-ngupahan lang kami."

Not only that. Being the one earning well, Bayani has assumed the responsibility of sending to school all his nephews and nieces, about a dozen of them, and supporting family members in need.

"That’s why Lhen and I have agreed to have only two children so far," said Bayani.

Sundays are strictly family day for the Agbayanis. They hear mass together, eat out or at home and just stay together watching TV or playing games. When Bayani has to work on a Sunday, which is very rare, he brings the whole family along.

"I instill in my children the same values that I learned from my mother," said Bayani, a hero in his own way, "such as being prayerful. We never start a meal without saying a prayer."

What’s up?

• Mega Enviroclean Corporation announces the offering of its initial training course entitled Introductory Course on Toxic Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes Management on Dec. 11 to 13 at the Legend Hotel in Mandaluyong City. The course aims to equip participants with relevant information about the toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes problem, the policy responses at international and national levels, as well as knowledge on tools and methodologies for assessing risk and impact of THW on humans and the environment. A minimal fee of P3,000 per participant will defray costs for kits and course materials, including lunch and two snacks for the duration of the training. For particulars, call Rose at 415-7697.