Nora Aunor describes her feelings shooting a scene with ex-husband Christopher de Leon for the first time since 1986: “Same.”
But their son, Ian de Leon, was thrilled about the unexpected “family reunion.”
Nora Aunor was in a good mood yesterday, September 2, on the set of Sa Ngalan Ng Ina, a TV5 mini-series, which was taped in the town poblacion of Taal, Batangas.

PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) visited the said location again.

It’s the last day of the taping of the TV5 people (cast and technical staff/crew) there, at the said location.

The pilot week of Sa Ngalan ng Ina, which was shot in the last two weeks, is almost complete.

There are small scenes and a big political rally scene that were not filmed last August 31 due to heavy and non-stop rain on the open-air basketball court and the central stage.

Meanwhile, the next few weeks of the series will mostly be interior scenes, which PEP also learned will possibly be shot here in Manila and neighboring cities.

For the first time, yesterday morning, Director Mario O’Hara, and assistant director, Jon Red, filmed the scene with Nora and Christopher de Leon together.

Other cast members included Rosanna Roces, Eugene Domingo, and young actors from the Kapatid network Edgar Allan Guzman, Nadine Samonte, Joross Gamboa, Eula Caballero, and Alwyn Uytingco.

Also among the cast members who filmed the scene were Karel Marquez and Jay Aquitania, veteran character actors Racquel Villavicencio and Leo Rialp.

But the emotional scene of the estranged couple, Nora and Boyet, in the large church in Taal caught the attention of everyone who watched.

Their real son, Ian de Leon, was the first to rave about the scene with Nora and Boyet.

Nora and Christopher (former lovers in the mini-series) meet again, at the funeral of Ate Guy’s acting politician husband, Bembol Roco (as the town mayor) who was caught up in a bombing by rival politicians.

How did Ate Guy feel about the first scene she did, with Boyet, after a long time?”That was serious, eh. The scene was a drama…”

Was Nora nervous about her re-confrontation with “Papa” Boyet?

“Why?” Nora smiled.

“You guys really… it’s like new… it was just a scene. I didn’t expect Ian’s reaction… He was so happy, because the three of us haven’t worked together in a long time.”

The last time the three of them worked together was in 1986. They appeared in I Love You, Mama… I Love You, Papa, directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes (for Regal Entertainment), and Halimaw (“Komiks” episode), a Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). The latter was an entry for Nora’s own outfit, NCV Productions, Inc. and directed by Christopher.

“DIREK” IAN. During the dinner break, where Nora and Ian were resting and eating together in their tent, Ian and Ate Guy’s personal manager, Boy Palma, were constantly teasing the actress.

Even Nora’s friend from the States, whom Nora simply calls Manay Glenda, looked like a teenager who was “thrilled” by the scene she witnessed with the Nora-Boyet tandem.

When Boyet dropped by the mother and son’s tent during the dinner break to say goodbye after all his scenes, everyone’s attention was focused on the ex-couple, who relate to each other very well after all these years.

His personal manager, Kuya Boy, teased Ate Guy by singing a ’70s hit tune, “Betcha By Golly Wow,” whose first lines are “There’s a spark of magic in your eyes…”

It was as if Guy and Boyet’s “look” had returned, based on their scene filmed that morning.

Nora just laughed. She didn’t comment.

Ian had pictures of the scenes on his iPad.

“Oh, I wish I had just videotaped [the one taken during rehearsals earlier],” he said regretfully.

Guy has a new video camera that Ian uses. During the taping, Ian was photographed behind-the-scenes.

“[My son] is really into that, and his shots are beautiful; I’ve seen them before.

“He could be a director if he takes it seriously,” said Ate Guy.

“Mommy wants to, she said we’ll make a movie, huh?” “He’s the artist,” Ian said seriously again.

“Maybe I should go to a workshop so I can do better.”

Ian was happy with the whole day’s taping, and until the evening, just like his mommy. Or was it because the three of them, Guy and Boyet, suddenly had a “reunion”?

“I hope there’s always a project, that we can do together,” Ian just wished.

RELIVING SUPERSTAR DAYS. A large part of the PEP interview with Nora was also about her hosting of the musical-variety show that the public watched for more than two decades, Superstar.

The program aired from 1968 to 1989.

“That’s where I stayed [for a really long time]…” Guy pointed out. “That’s where [Ian] came out.”

Ian remembers his first guest appearance on Superstar, during the early ’80s, “I sang, ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,’” with his body straight as he singing.

“Matet [also], when he was young, would go around [the studio], walk around,” Guy recalled.

She continued, “I like [the show], because, first of all… you’re kidding, he’s a Superstar, my talent fee there was [first] P25,000.

“It used to be, Nora-Eddie Show,” she said.

Guy had just won Tawag ng Tanghalan in 1967 and was just starting to become famous as a singer when the program started at KBS (Kanlaon Broadcasting Studios) in Pasay City.

Nora’s co-host on that program was the late ’70s balladeer Eddie Peregrina.

“When Edo [Peregrina’s nickname] died, it became the Nora Aunor Show. My talent fee was still the same, it didn’t increase.

“Well, the number of viewers has increased, there can’t be enough people [inside the studio] — it was still in Pasay at the time.

“I was also increased [in talent fee], about thirty (P30,000).

“Then, the number of people watching [the live studio coverage], reaching out to the streets, has really increased.”

At about that time, Nora was being dubbed a “superstar” because of her so-called “phenomenal” rise to fame.

From inside the studio, “Our show had to go out, because we couldn’t do it inside the studio,” Ate Guy recalled.

“When they saw it was really bad, they called [the show] Superstar,” Nora said.

That was in 1970. The person behind the program, when it started, was the producer Ms. Kitchie Benedicto.

FROM KBS TO BROADCAST CITY. With the large audience — it was impossible to count the number of people who flocked to the small KBS studio in Pasay City whenever Superstar had a show — the station needed a bigger venue.

“I didn’t even “I can show, [or] sing, that’s it,” Nora said.

To avoid mobs from fans, and the possible consequences of an accident, Nora said, “They’ll hide me until the show is over. I’ll come out at the end. “I’m going home then.”

From KBS Studios in Pasay, Superstar had a bigger home, also in the early ’70s, in Tandang Sora in Quezon City.

KBS Channel 9 built large studio facilities here, which became Radio Philippines Network or RPN-9.

Apart from Ate Guy’s Superstar, the network’s banner shows, for the longest time, were the sitcom John En Marsha by Dolphy and murdered actress-comedienne, Nida Blanca, where child actress Maricel Soriano also got her start.

It was also on RPN-9 that Janice de Belen started and the teleserye that can be considered one of the origins of Filipino viewers’ passion for soap operas, Flor de Luna, which ran for several years, until Janice became a virgin (and was also replaced by another “Flor”).

But Nora, as Superstar host, remained. Martial Law was declared by former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, but her program was the only one that did not was taken off the air.

When President Marcos was ousted from office, through the EDSA People Power Revolution, Superstar was still not gone, but the Cory Aquino government sequestered Broadcast City, with two stations operating there: RPN-9 and IBC-13.

The said stations and broadcasting companies remain sequestered.

That is why Nora’s Superstar show was affected in the early years of that sequestration.

THE END. In mid-1989, there was talk that the — then and still today — “longest-running musical-variety show,” Superstar, would be gone.

Nora reportedly had a meeting with the RPN-9 management, then headed by Mr. Dennis Cabalfin.

“What I was told was, ‘Everything will be gone, but Superstar, not me,’” Ate Guy recalled.

I held onto it. I said, ‘Who started Channel 9?’ That was my only question.

“When Channel 9 started. Who did Channel 9 compete with Channel 2 for?

“Channel 2 offered me a triple, I just moved, but I didn’t accept.”

But Channel 2 then was under Banahaw Broadcasting Company (BBC), which is different from the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN whose operations were suspended by the Marcos government when Martial Law was declared.

“My loyalty was to Channel 9 then,” Guy still said.

“On Superstar… that’s where I got married, that’s where I had children. How many years was I there? Twenty years, non-stop!

“The management wanted, at that critical time, to make changes to the shows and time slots of RPN-9.

“Because then, there was La Aunor [the long-running monthly drama special, Ang Makulay Na Daigdig Ni Nora]. Then, Superstar is weekly…”

“He [Dennis Cabalfin] said, ‘Hey, what if we make Superstar once a month, and the drama weekly, La Aunor?’

“I said, ‘No way… ‘no way.’ I didn’t agree. ‘Get rid of everything…’”

Now, Nora laughs when she thinks about the incident.

“When I got home, I said, ‘I guess I gave the wrong answer…’ Because that’s what I answered.

“Because, they just flipped it,” Ate Guy realized.

“Before, the drama anthology [and Superstar was weekly] was once a month. They just flipped the schedule.

“I guess I made the wrong decision; I guess I acted on my pride again… resentment, everything,” Ate Guy confessed.

SUPERSTAR BEYOND TIME. Nora also has no regrets because of the truth about the situation.

“Because, I know, they’ll give it to me, but they’ll also find a way to make it go away. Because, they want that time,” he said.

Superstar’s time slot is Primetime Sundays, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Superstar last aired on October 1, 1989.

A few months later, the program was continued, under a new title, The Legend… Superstar!, telecast on IBC-13. But it didn’t last more than two years.

In the mid-’90s, Nora Aunor decided to produce a monthly musical special, Superstar Beyond Time, also on RPN-9, which was well-received by televiewers and advertisers.

It aired for more than a year, until the singer-actress decided to do more shows and concerts abroad.

“We even taped some of them on [SBT] that we didn’t air,” Guy added, while now planning his treatment to restore his [temporarily] lost singing voice.

Meanwhile, just like in the heyday of her superstar-actress, Nora is in her element in her television drama, with the upcoming October 2011 airing of Sa Ngalan Ng Ina for TV5.