Armpit Hair and Drug Overdose - "...Dolphy was all set to marry Pilar, but her father intervened. Worldly-wise himself, Carlos Pilapil didn't exactly welcome the idea of having another Lothario for a son-in-law. She had his daughter guarded by older siblings until she had shaken Dolphy out of her system and out of her heart and life...Later, Pilar would plunge into a more serious romantic affair & this time with a famous politician who would be the father of only daughter Pia, who is now married to former model Gerry Gonzalo. (Pilar is fondly called Lola Pretty by Gerry and Pia's kids.) The 1970s was the peak of Pilar Pilapil's career. She had a Thursday night drama anthology for ABS-CBN Channel 4 called Ala-ala which was cut short by the proclamation of Martial Law in 1972. On the big screen, she was paired with some of the country's top leading men...Around this time, she also became quite controversial because she was the first & and so far the only & actress to have grown hair in her armpits. Back then, whenever she was interviewed on television about her armpit hair, she would say that she forgot to shave them one day and decided to just let it all grow. But now, she openly admits that she did it to accede to the strange fetish of the man in her life then. In 1977, she hit the headlines after figuring in a drug overdose. She was suffering from insomnia then and had to take Semicon. One day, she swallowed one too many pills after she had trouble getting to sleep and "maybe because I wanted to make an exit because of what was going on in my life then..." - Butch Francisco, The Philippine Star, 13 October 2001 (READ MORE)
Regaining Identity - "...Life's journey is never easy. There are certain circumstances beyond our control that allow one to falter, thus losing face, if not lose personal identity along the way. This book is not merely about me baring my soul to everyone but, more importantly, it's how I rose to the occasion and conquered myself. Regaining my identity, my true self with the guidance of the Divine..."Love answers all behavior" and it all starts in the family. Growing up with an abusive father and a submissive mother was a little too difficult to bear for a young girl but, in retrospect and speaking now as a parent, I understood everything. It made me a person, a better mom to Pia. And yes, all the characters you meet in the book are for real. My beloved aunt Filomena who raised me for the most part was such a character. She was very religious, always dragged me to church. Ironic, I grew up with somebody who died a virgin and I turned out the exact opposite. I love my hometown! Nowadays, I visit friends and relatives as much as I possibly can...The Pilar Pilapil Foundation was conceived in 1997. We minister mainly to unwed mothers, abused women and children, substance addicts and more. We have had several programs since we started, like medical and dental missions, gift giving and community outreach. Our Ministry house in Apas, Lahug, houses our Praise Church and a school for street children. We aim to help communities and households through faith and the love of God. Currently, we do not have that much supporters. Hopefully, with this book out we would be able to gain more friends and generous souls so that we can continue our noble mission. In fact, all the proceeds of this book go to the Foundation..." - J.P. Laza and Rycky Pilapil, The Freeman, 13 July 2006 (READ MORE)
Cinderella and Prince Charming - "...The youngest of six girls (with four brothers after her) recalled that childhood, spent with a spinster aunt since age five, with an overtone of bitterness toward a father who, she insists, didn’t love her, citing an incident when she was 14 and starting to be "mischievous" with the guys: She obeyed terrified when her father, depressed after losing his job at a tire company, summoned her to his room and, she narrated, "shut the door behind me and I learned just how very cruel my father could be." What that "cruelty" was she didn’t elaborate. But after that incident, she says, "My life was never again the same"....And she fell in love with, you guessed it, older men, first with Dolphy (who, according to some sources, she almost married) and then with a man whom she identifies only as Doy, father of her only child Pia who married a handsome blind model. Pilar recalled that on their first meeting, the man Doy tried to seduce her ("...the fact that he was proposing sex without romance was a big turn-off to me..."), so she ran out of the back entrance and down the stairs because the elevator of the apartment building was out of order, much like "Cinderella running away from my Prince Charming." Well, to make a long story short, Pilar fell deeply in love with the man Doy, "even though he was married with several children," convinced that "I believed I learned to love him, and I believed that he loved me," foolishly desiring that they would be together forever even if she knew that that could never happen. One of Pilar’s poignant recollections of the man Doy was when he fought with his wife (unidentified in the book) and he stayed with Pilar for one week: Midnight came and my helper used the intercom and told me that Doy’s two daughters were downstairs. I went down to see them while Pia (then only about three years old) and her dad were fast asleep. As we talked, his daughter told me, "You finally found what you wanted." I replied, "It’s not a matter of what I want, it’s a matter of how many people get hurt in the process. There are eight of you, nine including your mother. There are only two of us." They both became quiet and asked if they could see their father. I led the elder daughter to our bedroom upstairs and she woke her dad, saying, "Dad, mom is already home." He woke up and told me, "Mama (our term of endearment), I’ll go home first." I guess you and I have an idea what happened to that "affair to remember..." - Ricardo F. Lo, The Philippine Star, 27 February 2006 (READ MORE)
Ekstra, The Bit Player (2013) - "...We screened the edited materials of the film yesterday (without the ending) and the performance of the entire cast is something we are so proud of. Nobody was trying to upstage anyone. It was team work – pure and simple. A brilliant cast!!! I ended up with tears on my eyes – because I could not stop laughing and laughing with how the story was unfolding, with so many hilarious real life incidents that an ekstra has to go through. Then again, without knowing it, I found myself in tears, and this time for a different reason - because of the atrocities that TV production people have to face due to the economics of the industry, the people at the bottom of the line like the extras often end up having to bear the brunt. Time for a wake up call maybe?..." - Mario Bautista, Showbiz Portal, 18 Mar 2013 (READ MORE)
Thinking vs Talking - "...Looking at Pilar these days one wonders why she has not aged at all. The years have given her face something that wasn't there before, a strength that is the definition of classic beauty..."Oh, but I've changed," she exclaimed. "Life has turned for the better for me, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. I am more settled now. I think it's not good to look back at the past. I think I am better person in spite of my marriage having failed. I'm in the process of having that annulled...Happiness is relative. It only helps if you can be with someone who loves you and who can be good to you. At present there's no one whom I can call my own but there are several people around wanting to have relationships but I'm still somehow in the process of seeing who is the bests...there's a saying that when you think positively of something. It will come true. Yes, but there's a difference between thinking and talking. I do think about them, but I don't to talk about my plans. If its meant to happen, it will happen. It's funny because in life whenever you're ready to give up, something good happens to you, something good for you. God is really ever watching us, giving us both emotional and physical strength to bounce again. So I take one day at a time. There are many things that I would want to happen..." - Nena Z. Villanueva, Manila Standard, 17 Oct 1991, p17 (READ MORE)
Pilar Pilapil (born October 12, 1950), is an award-winning actress in the Philippines. She won as Bb. Pilipinas-Universe in 1967. She represented the country in the Miss Universe 1967 pageant. After winning the Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant in 1967, Pilapil was swamped with offers to join the movies. Her first film was the action picture El Nino (1968) with Andy Poe as her leading man, directed by Fernando Poe, Jr. She did movies with Dolphy such as Dolpe De Gulat (1969) and El Pinoy Matador (1970), among others. She won two best actress awards, one for the movie Imelda, Ang Uliran (1970) at the Manila Film Festival and another for the film Napakasakit Kuya Eddie (1986) for Gawad Urian Award 1987. She also dabbed in politics when she ran for senator in 2004 as an independent candidate but she lost. In 2006, she released an autobiography entitled The Woman Without A Face, chronicling her life in show business and in private life after she went on semi-retirement. Pilapil continues to entertain viewers via ABS-CBN's primetime drama series Ina, Kapatid, Anak premiered on October 8, 2012. Pilar Delilah Pilapil, was born on October 12, 1950 in Liloan, Cebu. The youngest of six girls with four brothers after her. She has a daughter, also an actress Pia Pilapil, to Doy Laurel. She married to Spanish journalist Michel Ponti on October 12, 1986 at the Manila Cathedral, but they divorced after. She became a born-again Christian in 1995, and married Pastor Bernie Penas on May 18, 2002. Pilapil has a foundation named Pilar Pilapil Foundation, which helps battered and abused women, among others. - Wikipedia (READ MORE)
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