Fernando Poe Jr. created a mythical landscape in the Filipino Western where all conflicts were a struggle between good and evil. [photo courtesy of U.P. Film Center]

STRANGELY enough, there is little I know about Ronnie Poe, the real-life FPJ. Unlike his best friend Erap, whose life is an open secret, Ronnie Poe has managed to remain a mystery man even to his fans. The few facts that are known about him only help his image: as a teenager, he stood as padre de familia to his mother and siblings following the death of his movie actor father, Fernando Sr.; he is still married to Roces after all these years; he is an award-winning actor and director; and he is a loyal friend. True, there have been rumors of indiscretions with a variety of women and drinking binges, but unlike Erap who would even revel in such tales, Ronnie Poe has preferred to remain tight-lipped.

Lately, I have been introducing FPJ to my children. But it is proving to be quite difficult. I realize that you have to grow up with FPJ to really appreciate him. The problem lies in the difference between my children’s image of him and the legend that I keep in my head. They don’t see him as the ageless hero that I do. Yet I have to concede that while he helped me grow out of my boyhood, his films did not help me deal with adulthood. His most memorable movies did not deal with fatherhood. Or, let’s face it, with being a grandfather, a role my children think he should be doing now. After all, aren’t the maidens-in-distress in his past films now doing grandmother roles?

Even Clint Eastwood, the “American” FPJ is not afraid to show his age. His roles take him to emergency room because of heart attacks. In Eastwood’s latest film, he even undergoes a heart transplant.

	In his films, FPJ liked to spout nuggets of folk wisdom, especially to young people. [photo courtesy of U.P. Film Center]

But then perhaps it’s not fair to compare FPJ with Clint Eastwood, whose famous line, “Go ahead, make my day” could not have been uttered by the king of Philippine cinema. That line and the attitude that went with it belonged to another hero of Philippine movies, Erap.

FPJ and Erap may have been the best of chums on- and off-screen, but their public images could not have been more different. Even in the films they made together, Erap was the bomb about to explode while FPJ always kept the coolest of heads. As FPJ showed a mastery of restraint, Erap burst into rampages, getting him into a lot of trouble, which added excitement and complications to the plot. Erap would be the one who would cross the line, the one who would be temporarily tempted by the Dark Force. FPJ would always be the one to enter the hornets’ nest to save Erap, so that they could fight side-by-side until the final victory. It was a tandem that had enthralled moviegoers for almost two decades. The question now is if Ronnie Poe would be willing to reprise that role in the real rough-and-tumble world of politics. Or maybe, what he is waiting for is for Filipinos to say, please fight.