Priests who are showbiz

In my very long writing career, I’ve received an odd assortment of feedback from various readers. But this one stands out. Please read on.

Dear Mr. Butch:

God bless!

Congrats for your interesting article on Eat, Bulaga! (published last month). I am a priest in San Beda College, Manila, 80 years old, semi-invalid and an avid fan of Eat, Bulaga! I like Jimmy Santos and Ruby Rodriguez. Both are “big.” Francis Magalona (may you be with God!) studied in our school.

I also like the Sexbomb girls, especially the six singer-dancers: Rochelle, Jopay, Weng, Monic, Evette and Izzy.

I felt sad when Toni Gonzaga transferred to ABS-CBN, but I’m glad she seems to be doing well.

I also felt sad when there occurred some misunderstanding between Malou Choa-Fagar and Joy Cancio because of ex-Sexbomb Sugar. Everyone there was a loser, especially the Sexbomb Girls. They disappeared from Eat, Bulaga! I hope and pray they are okay.

Fortunately, I have a VCD of the Sexbomb Girls dancing and singing, even competing with the Baywalk Girls and D’Bodies; they’re as good, even better than South Korea’s popular five-girl group Wonder Girls (Nobody But You) and Sandara Park. Congrats again and God bless you!

Fr. Odilo M. Reyes

O.S.B.

Don’t you find Fr. Reyes cool? This letter he sent me suddenly reminded me of some priests who became, well, showbiz, so to speak.

Fr. James Reuter, who still writes a Saturday column for this paper, was also showbiz — having been mentor to the likes of June Keithley, Celeste Legaspi and other alumnae of St. Paul College. The way I know it, however, Fr. Reuter chose to stay off-stage/off-cam since he basically was a director. I find it unfortunate that I’ve never met him personally to this day. But I know he is revered. (I also regularly follow his writings.)

I haven’t met Bob Garon either. Well, he used to be Fr. Bob Garon. But in spite of the fact that he was a priest, he was actually the original crush ng bayan when he had a counseling show in the late ’60s to the early ’70s. In time, he married Emy and they have two daughters. In the ‘90s, they both had a debate show in the late slot of RPN-9.

Of course, there was Fr. Sonny Ramirez — the most showbiz of them all. Detractors said that he displayed too much histrionics in the way he conducted his priestly duties. Not only did his homilies at the Santo Domingo Church border on the theatrical, he also had his TV shows, where he would sing at times.

I wasn’t a fan in the beginning, but I began to adore him when I finally met him in person. He turned out to be the most down-to-earth person and in many instances I would forget that he was a priest. I now miss him and his many colorful stories. But most of all, I miss his kindness, a virtue that sadly not all priests have.

And then, there’s Fr. Robert Reyes, the running priest, who tries to call attention to his protestations by, well, running. On several occasions, we found ourselves as guest panelists in talk shows in the past. If ever we had any disagreement between us, it was his fight against the so-called sex films. In the late ‘90s, he rallied against sex movies. I didn’t like that because at my age I don’t appreciate other people dictating to me what I can watch and what I can’t.

Today, the local movie industry is hardly breathing. There’s nothing to fight about.

But I will always admire Fr. Reyes for fighting for causes he believes in (even if we don’t necessarily agree with each other all the time).

The state of our nation isn’t exactly the most ideal at the moment. Many of the social ills that have plagued this country are still there. I guess Fr. Reyes should start doing warm-up exercises, pick up his running shoes and start running again.