A movie about the Philippines’ boxing champ didn’t surprise the movie press. It was which production company that did.
Many of us thought the biopic would be underwritten by Star Cinema, an affiliate of ABS-CBN, in which Manny Pacquiao had once a stint as host of a short-lived reality TV with boxing as platform.
It took Pacquiao though to rekindle Rose Flaminiano’s passion for producing movies. FLT Films International has not been active in movie producing for nearly three years. Its movie was the quintessential bad movie called You and Me Against the World with Robin Padilla and Kris Aquino.
“When I decided to quit movie producing, it’s not because I had anything against it. It has always been in my mind to go back to the movies. But my real estate business was keeping me busy. And it so happened that it was successful, so I decided to stick to it for a while.”
Rose was so busy that she could not even find time to watch television. Yes, until one day, just to while her time away, she turned on the TV set. There it was, the boxing bout between Manny Pacquiao and Mark Antonio Barrera. But, what she caught was already the tail end of the bout.
“It was not Manny’s victory that caught my attention,” Rose Flamiano says. “What impressed me was the sight of people milling around him and then raised him up. Manny was all blood, sweat, and tears while waving to the crowd. I had this surging feeling within me.”
There was instant rapport between Rose and Manny when they finally met. She immediately told Manny of her plan to sign him up to a three-picture contract. The first film will be about his life, but with another actor playing Manny. The other two films will star him with big stars.
Showbiz, much less doing a movie, is not a new experience for Manny. He has appeared in several films in the past. In fact, in Lisensyadong Kamao, which was produced by Violet Films and released two years ago, Manny played the lead role. Unfortunately, it didn’t do too well at the tills.
Though excited about Rose’s offer, Manny didn’t grab the chance right away. Instead, he told her: “May laban pa ho ako kay (Eric) Morales sa January. Paano ho kung matalo akong muli (I have a fight with Morales in January. What will happen if I lose)?”
Without batting an eyelash, Rose told him that wouldn’t be a problem. “Win or lose, paninindigan ko ang pangako ko sa ‘yo (I’d stand by my word).”
Star Cinema came into the picture after Rose went to watch the fight between Pacquiao and Morales. In the cinema, she was seated beside Cito Alejandro, then president of ABS-CBN. Of course she had no idea who the guy was. Gabby Lopez would join in later. Alejandro broached the idea of a co-production venture which Lopez affirmed.
Upon Manny’s return from Las Vegas, he also decided to invest his own money into the movie.
With the number of producers offering her to co-produce Pacquiao’s movie, Rose says she need not spend a single centavo to produce it. “But I told ABS-CBN I’m keeping my promise.”
The choice to have Jericho Rosales play Manny is hers. It was Star Cinema who suggested that Bea Alonzo play Jericho’s leading lady. Which Mrs. F, as well as Manny, thinks is a perfect paring.
