DIDITH REYES IS NOT EXACTLY A PAUPER AND HOMELESS

As a tribute to one great singer, Didith Reyes let me publish these stories about her.

MANILA, Philippines—It’s 8:30 p.m., Thursday, the first night of Didith Reyes’ wake at the Mount Carmel Church in Quezon City. The memorial chapel is alive with animated talk among her friends and peers in the music scene.

“We should be playing her songs here,” says Norma Japitana, former vice president of Vicor Records. “Should we put a sampaguita garland on her?” asks Claire de la Fuente. “Ang ginaw-ginaw, pahinaan naman natin ang aircon,” pleads another singer, Eva Eugenio.

Claire had earlier retrieved Didith’s remains from a funeral home in Biñan, Laguna, where the latter was found dead early Wednesday in a friend’s house. An autopsy revealed that Didith died of a heart attack, aggravated by a ruptured pancreas.

“Sabi ni Boss Vic (del Rosario) walang mag-aasikaso kay Didith, so pinapelan ko na,” Claire explains.

Employed

Contrary to earlier reports, Didith wasn’t exactly a pauper, or even homeless. She had been employed since 2006 as a receptionist at Reyes Haircutters on Anonas, Project 2 in Quezon City and was renting a room a short distance from the shop.

Her last day of work, according to Marlyn Abaigar, a cashier at the hair salon, was Dec. 2. “Nagpaalam, pupunta raw siya sa Laguna.”

What happened in Laguna in the days leading to her death is sketchy. A friend of Didith’s who came to her wake suspects the former celebrity singer had quarreled again with her former live-in partner, whom she earlier sued for domestic violence and who was recently found guilty by the courts. “Kaya may pasa sa mukha,” the friend surmises.

“We’re here to help in whatever way [we can],” says Vic, former boss of Didith’s record label, Vicor, whose entire back catalogue is under his control again. “We hope to re-release the three albums she recorded and give all the royalties to her son.”

Only 59

“She’s 59, not 60,” clarifies a man who bears a striking resemblance to Didith. “I know; I’m her only brother, Virgilio. My nickname is Bar and I’m one year older.” Bar starts talking about Didith’s childhood and how she showed signs of wanting to be a singer.

It turns out that their parents, Luis Sta. Maria and Juanita Avenilla, had them adopted by a spinster, Fanny Raquel-Santos when Bar was 7 and Didith, 6. “We were born in Tondo but grew up in Makati with Fanny,” says Bar.

“We treated each other as real cousins and spent time together during family reunions in my grandmother’s house in Makati, where they lived,” confirms Francis Raquel-Santos, a lawyer and one of Fanny’s nephews. “Bata pa lang siya, mahilig nang kumanta. And she was very pretty. When she became famous she would always send us front-seat tickets to her concerts. She acknowledged us as her family.”

Another revelation: Didith, known as Helen Sta. Maria in real life, was actually named Delia.

“That was her real name, Delia Sta. Maria,” says Bar. “Binago na lang niya later, naging Helen. Ang nakakatuwa, kung paano siya naging Didith. Nung high school siya, may lalaking sumusundo sa kanya na naka-Volkswagen. ‘Dit-di-dit’ ang tunog ng busina. Dun nag-umpisa ang palayaw niyang Didit. Nilagyan na lang ng ‘h’.”

Fanny, Bar says, gave Didith a good education, starting at Paco Catholic School. In high school, she attended Sta. Isabel College, but was expelled for appearing as a commercial model on TV. In college, she enrolled in Fine Arts at St. Scholastica’s College, but dropped out.

Bar continues, “She loved to sing Connie Francis songs. Ang ganda-ganda niya nung bata, parang anghel. Matalino rin si Delia. I was her bodyguard when she became famous, kaya lang, hindi ko ma-control. Pag guesting sa Student Canteen, ang slot niya 1 p.m. pero five minutes to 1, nasa bahay pa kami. Marami din siyang napapasukang trouble, maraming kaaway. Sabi ko nga noon, dapat bigyan niya ako ng baril…”

Only son

Didith’s only son, Arnold Victor “Arvi” Reyes, is busy attending to guests at the wake. But he finds time to put in his own recollection of his mother’s journey as a singer. “I was 6 when mommy became famous as a solo singer. My father Victor worked as an assessor at the Quezon City Hall. He was also an architect. I guess he didn’t want her to work, so they had differences that led to separation in 1974.

“Kuwento ni mommy, early in their marriage, she was working as a car sales rep and one day a friend asked her to jam onstage at Calesa Bar [Hyatt Hotel]. Maganda ang response ng tao and someone in the audience asked her to try singing full time.”

Starting out, Didith joined Circus Band and Time Machine—two of the top groups that played on the Roxas Boulevard club strip.

Unforgettable

Willy Cruz walks into the chapel. The composer of Didith’s 1975 breakthrough hit single, “Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi” (lyrics by Ernie de la Peña) vividly remembers how he first gleaned Didith’s star potential. “I caught one of her performances with Circus Band—either at Rino’s or Flame on Roxas Boulevard. The band started its set with Didith singing ‘Summertime.’ Iba yung kinakanta niya sa standard repertoire ng Circus. With her stunning looks, I thought she was the perfect choice to sing ‘Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi.’”

Monster hit

The song was written as theme for a movie of the same title, starring Charito Solis. Willy was the movie’s musical director and also worked at Vicor as head of Artist and Repertoire.

Norma recalls that the record label was looking for a singer to interpret the movie theme song. One of the names that cropped up was Didith’s. “At that time she was already singing solo at El Bodegon,” says Norma. “I went there and told her. She was excited, so I brought her to Vic. She recorded the song and it became a monster hit, nasundan pa ng ilang singles.”

Claire, who says she was still in high school when “Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi” was playing on radio, concedes that Didith was a cut above the rest. “Idol ko siya. Her voice is unique, iba ang timbre, very sexy and cool. When she was in her prime, kainggit-inggit siya, she was really number one lalo na sa performances. She was the epitome of a perfect singer, beautiful, makinis, at ang ganda ng boses. Kahit na pang-jukebox ang kanta niya, when you listen to her, class na class ang dating. Kung hindi napabayaan ang boses niya, she would still be a star.

Didith, a certified celebrity from the mid-to-late ’70s, went suddenly out of the limelight in the ’80s.

Arvi: “May mga shows pa siya sa mga lounge until early ’90s. Naging inactive siya starting mid-’90s. Ano man yung naipon niya, naubos din.

Francis: “When I became a lawyer, she would come for legal advice. She had two houses in Kapitolyo, Pasig, and a couple more in other places. She lost all of them. [I suspect] she was exploited left and right, top to bottom, by some men she had relations with. Plus, she couldn’t handle success.”

Willy: “Sabi ko nga kay Arvi, ‘I know your mother is a very sensitive person, an artist madaling masaktan. She was probably just looking for true love, but because of her looks, many took advantage. Maybe then she took to drinking. Alcohol can really ruin your voice.”

Didith Reyes may have died in sad circumstances, but the whole industry remembers her significant, if brief, reign as one of the country’s most gifted singers.

Vic: She ushered in a new breed of divas. Bago nagkaroon ng mga Jukebox Queen, before Imelda Papin, Claire, Eva Eugenio, si Didith ang nagsimula ng trend.

Gratitude

Eva admits getting her break when Didith left OctoArts (after Vicor): “Ang laki ng dapat kong ipasalamat sa kanya … Humahahanap ang OctoArts ng kakanta ng tulad ng style niya. Alam ko marami pang kanta na para sa kanya pero sa akin pina-record.”

Willy: “No matter what she was to other people, mahal ko siya and I respect her. I owe her a lot. I may have opened doors for her, but she did the same for me. She gave me the confidence to write Tagalog lyrics later on.”

Best of all, they agree, she had a big heart.

Norma: “She was so generous. One time she went to the house and brought so much fresh fish, hindi isang banyera kundi isang small truckload! It came daw from her boyfriend’s fishpond. I ended up giving fish to my neighbors.”