Alembong reunites with Galawgaw

If you say the word "manager" today in showbiz context, you immediately think of people like Douglas Quijano, Ethel Ramos, Boy Abunda, Alfie Lorenzo, Bibsy Carballo, Lolit Solis and many others who run and chart the careers of entertainment personalities. (Strictly speaking they are talent managers.)

Until about 20 years ago, the word manager had a different meaning colloquially. It referred to a person footing the bill (like in a restaurant, for example) or anyone paying for something on behalf of another.

The last person I heard using the word manager to refer to somebody paying the bill was Lita Gutierrez. It was in a TV interview in 1987 and she was referring to Nida Blanca as "my manager."

Lita, by then was already suffering from cancer of the cervix and she was expressing her gratitude to Nida Blanca. It turned out that Nida was paying for Lita’s chemotherapy treatments and was fondly called by common friends as "Lita’s manager."

Lita Gutierrez and Nida Blanca were actually friends for the longest time. It was a friendship that started in the late ’50s at LVN where both of them were contract stars of the studio. Even long after they had left the fold of LVN, Lita and Nida kept their friendship and went out regularly with other former LVN colleagues like Lourdes Medel, Caridad Sanchez and occasionally Marita Zobel.

According to the LVN book Doña Sisang & Filipino movies, Lita Gutierrez was discovered at the LVN Compound by Doña Sisang herself. The year was 1955 and Lita, fresh from high school in Laoag City, had found herself. a job as a receptionist in a fan magazine publication. One day, she and another girl from the office were sent to LVN to get publicity pictures from Nida Blanca’s latest film. It so happened that Doña Sisang was at the garden checking on her plants. The grand matriarch immediately saw potential in the fresh beauty of Dolores Gutierrez (Lita’s Christian name) who was then only 15. Lita was made to come back as soon as she was ready and when her Tagalog (she was raised speaking the Ilocano dialect) had already improved.

The LVN book also states that it took Lita quite a while (actually a year) to return to LVN. In fact, she had given up her position at the publication and had already moved to the Bureau of Public Libraries for another job when she finally went to LVN to meet anew with Doña Sisang.

Lita was given a three-year contract at LVN and was launched to full stardom in the film Alembong (opposite Leroy Salvador) in 1958. This sobriquet stuck with her for a long time. Never mind the fact that she was never a flirt and was actually quite conservative in her ways. (Friends swear that you cannot even make her watch soft-porn films.)

That same year that Alembong was released, she was also included in LVN’s production of Limang Dalangin (directed by Susana de Guzman) which featured some of the studio’s top leading ladies: Nida Blanca, Charito Solis, Nita Javier and Marita Zobel.

In 1959, she starred in Gregorio Fernandez’ Panagimpan which also featured Rosa Aguirre and Mario Montenegro as her leading man.

The two other films she did as LVN leading lady were Cover Girl (also opposite Mario Montenegro) and Pakipot (1960) with Leroy Salvador.

Lita went on semi-retirement when she got married (to a scion of the prominent Paterno clan in Bacolod). Unfortunately, this marriage – which produced two children named Pia and Mia – ended in separation. Later, she met and fell in love with Michael Ginsberg, an American who was then a medical student in Baguio City. She had three more children in this union: Jayson, Michael Jr. and Bianca.

In the mid-’70s, Lita became active again in the entertainment field and did the rounds of television. Since she danced very well, she became a frequent co-host of Archie Lacson in the dance show Penthouse Seven. Eventually, Channel 9 put up a regular variety program for her and Nida Blanca and this was called The Nida-Lita Show. This program usually opened with a rousing dance number featuring its two stars and was followed by a comic skit.

Lita spent the late ’70s up to the early ’80s in the United States. When she returned in 1982, she joined the cast of an early afternoon soap opera on Channel 7 and did a couple of local films.

A few years later, the cancer in her cervix was detected. It was at this point that Lita returned to her Christian faith. (She had become a Christian earlier – under the guidance of Caridad Sanchez and Nestor de Villa – but lost interest in religion for quite some time.)

In the late 80’s, she made the US her permanent base once more and became a preacher. By some stroke of miracle, her cancer disappeared.

There was a time in 90’s when Lita considered getting married again (to an American retiree). But just when the altar date was nearing, tragedy struck. Her groom-to-be died in a car crash. The American fiancé, however, reportedly left some of his fortune to Lita and this windfall gave her the opportunity to at least enjoy some of the material benefits this world has to offer. (She was said to have gone through financial difficulties during that time she was very ill in the US.)

Two years ago, her cancer returned. This time, it spread to her colon. This unfortunate turn of events deeply saddened her friends – particularly Nida Blanca who, for a while, even went into a temporary state of depression over that. Little did Nida know that she was even going ahead of her best friend, Lita.

Last week, Lita died in California with all her children around her. And now, she is with her Lord and Maker – her real Manager who provided her with very good children and some of the best friends one could every have on this earth.

She’s now also with Nida Blanca. Galawgaw reunites with Alembong.

What fun they now must be having in heaven.