besides the obligatory mention of the pope’'s death, it'’s all nora aunor these days among the kababayan around here.
for nora, the only living filipino actor who could be nominated straighfacedly to become national artist, was arrested late wednesday by the los angeles international airport police on suspicion of possessing a redneck narcotic, the lowly shabu.
airport screeners reportedly found some 8 grams of methamphetamine from the fiftyish actor’'s carry on bag. they also allegedly found what was described as a crudely put together glass bong not so subtly wrapped in a t-shirt in her bag.
let me quickly succumb to this facile impulse and point out the obvious. classic sacred and profane mix. this happenstance of the death of the supreme pontiff, a beloved figure in our national soul, and the arrest and inevitable ruin of nora, a much more adored figure.
nothing discordant about this coincidence. this for the true blue pinoy raised in a country of the headiest mix of the numinous and the impious. the virgin madonna and the harlot. the mourning and celebration, being not mutually exclusive or incompatible during the philippine holy week observance.
on instant messaging, i asked a friend back in manila how the electronic media was covering this incident. i only had nora'’s story in mind.
my friend stunned me with his reply. he described how the current highest rated newscast in the country (24 oras of GMA 7) treated the headlines of the day.
first, it had the entertainment news presenter, in body hugging knit blouse and skimpy skirt, talking about the reaction of nora’'s former husband, another actor, on her arrest.
thereafter, the same presenter announced with much fanfare that on that very same night, just an hour after the newscast, a new teleseries will debut in their network, a reworking of mars ravelo’'s campy comics classic darna.
from there, the perky presenter handed the baton to the somber lady anchor, wrapped in a schoolmarmy black suit. she then talked about the pope'’s funeral plans. all in a day’'s work at a philippine newsroom.
la aunor (the adulatory moniker her fans insisted on calling her) was initially booked at the van nuys jail although she was quickly released early thursday after posting a $10,000 bail. she will be arraigned april 21.
i can see in my mind now an enterprising pinoy documentarian drafting like crazy the storyboard of his new work recording for posterity the downfall of one of the last true stars from the golden age of philippine cinema (was there ever?).
first, the documentarian'’s establishing shot, a pan across st. peter’'s basilica square overflowing with mourners.
then comes his tasteful recreation, an indoor shot somewhere in the papal apartments. this would feature somebody acting as the camerlengo, the chamberlain of the holy roman catholic church, calling out the christian name of the deceased pope.
overheard: karol wotyla, karol wotyla, karol wotyla. after these calls and without any response from the now lifeless pope, we shall hear the camerlengo say, in italian, of course, the pope is truly dead.
then jump cut to the los angeles county airport courthouse. the bailiff would then call out la aunor by her real name. nora cabaltera villamayor, how do you plead?
from there, in rushes a slew of clips of nora aunor'’s memorable lines from her illustrious filmography.
my brother is not a pig (from minsan may isang gamu-gamu). i did not kill anybody (from the flor contemplacion story).
inevitably, it would end with that indelible rant from ishmael bernal's classic himala.
walang himala...walang himala. tayo ang gumagawa ng sarili nating himala. (there are no miracles; we create our own miracles.)