With the various platforms on social media today, it is so much easier for one to achieve the so-called 15 minutes of fame. Some people on YouTube actually hit it big and make a killing financially. But the question is: How long can one last as an internet sensation?
Lucky for people like Rey “PJ” Abellana. He belongs to a generation of stars properly molded to last long in show business. His rise may not have been meteoric and was not necessarily the Daniel Padilla of his time. But, hey, he did about half a dozen Sharon Cuneta movies.
After 39 years in the entertainment field, he is still around and is, in fact, part of the hit GMA series I Left My Heart in Sorsogon. And, yes, the Leni Santos-Rey “PJ” Abellana love team is still mentioned on Facebook from time to time.
His daughter, Carla Abellana, may have more following among showbiz fans today, but PJ is still an employable actor even up to now. To have survived close to four decades in this profession is surely no joke.
Strangely enough, I never had the chance to interview PJ until only recently – for this site’s online program, This is Showbiz. My co-host Anna Pingol and I have to thank entertainment journalist Pilar Mateo for making the Rey “PJ” Abellana interview happen.
When I was told that he now lives in Mira-Nila, a gated village in Quezon City, I said to myself: How fitting! Why so? PJ is an Ilonggo from Negros Occidental.
Now, the person who planted the seeds to the development of Mira-Nila and the surrounding subdivisions Tierra Pura and Tierra Bella was an Ilongga from Iloilo, but had spent part of her childhood years in the island of Negros. Her name: Pura Villanueva-Kalaw, the very first Miss Philippines winner and mother of the late senator and MTRCB chief, Maria Kalaw Katigbak.
Pura had the foresight to purchase hectares and hectares of land off what is now Commonwealth Avenue. She must have been inspired to do so when President Manuel Quezon planned to move the country’s seat of power to Novaliches. That never happened because of the war.
Today, all that land which Pura bought cheap are now valuable real estate assets. PJ and wife Sheena are lucky to be part of such exclusive community.
For the interview, they were gracious enough to have allowed us into their well-appointed home. We were all vaccinated anyway and, at the gate, a helper greeted us with a disinfection spray gun.
After a brief chit-chat, we proceeded to the interview proper that unfolded like a linear film. Yes, he truly was born and bred in Negros Occidental. He was the product of a Hofilena-Abellana marriage – a union that brought together two prominent Visayan families.
He recalls that Joel Torre was a schoolmate. But unlike Joel, who finished his college at La Salle Bacolod, PJ went to Manila to study architecture at the University of Santo Tomas.
But armed with a nice face and a good physique, it didn’t take long before he was invited to take part in fashion shows at the Silahis Hotel on Roxas Boulevard. In the audience one time were writer-talent manager Alfie Lorenzo and Susan Roces, who was also from Negros Occidental.
Alfie immediately offered to groom him into a star. This stirred some excitement within the young PJ. But his parents wouldn’t hear of it. Alfie actually had to fly to Negros Occidental to convince the Abellanas to please, please allow PJ to enter the movies. Since Alfie took the trouble of traveling all the way from Manila, they saw the sincerity in the talent manager’s offer and allowed PJ to become an actor.
Of course, he was Rey Abellana at the start of his career. That changed when he joined the very popular Anna Liza drama series where his character was called PJ. The recall was so intense “PJ” was eventually inserted into his showbiz name.
To this day, his tandem with Leni Santos remains one of the most memorable and well-loved onscreen partnership on Philippine TV. They even made a movie together called The Punks, a musical that initially was universally maligned, but in time became a cult classic.
PJ was even surprised to find out from me that the plot of The Punks was also used later by a Hollywood film, the 1988 Sing!, which starred Lorraine Bracco. Was it just a coincidence? No one can tell.
Oddly enough, PJ didn’t end up with his Anna Liza partner, Leni Santos. He married instead another cast member, Rea Reyes, the daughter of former movie queen Delia Razon.
During our interview, PJ did admit that he had his own struggles marrying into an ultra-wealthy family. Sure, he carried both Hofilena and Abellana surnames that reeked of old money in the Visayas. But the family of Rea used to own Santa Ana racetrack that is now an Ayala development, Circuit Makati.
His marriage to Rea sadly ended. This union, however, produced Carla Abellana.
PJ married a second time that also ended in separation. His third marriage – and he is determined to make this his last – is to current partner Sheena. PJ is proud to say though that all his three marriages went through the legal process.
And, surprise, surprise! Who would have thought that he now has six children - from three different women? He has five girls and a boy.
How he was able to keep his private life from public view was such a marvel. To think that he made a career at a time when the movie press was at its noisiest and nastiest.
I didn’t get to ask him how he managed to keep most of the details of his life private. My guess is that he had always been respectful to his co-workers and even to the entertainment press. Yes, respect begets respect.
And unlike today’s breed of social media personalities (a lot of them also from mainstream show business), PJ never overshared. Maybe it wasn’t because he intentionally kept his life private. Perhaps everyone was just too polite to ask – surely out of respect. But now that we dared ask him about his personal circumstances, it was almost a tell-all. He answered all our questions with utmost honesty.
Social media personalities can learn a lot from PJ. Don’t share too much. And speak only when asked. Mystery has its own merits. In the case of Rey “PJ” Abellana, it must be the secret to his showbiz longevity.
MORE THIS IS SHOWBIZ EPISODES:
This is Showbiz #40: “Crossover Queen” Glaiza de Castro at ang bunga ng kanyang mga pagsisikap
This is Showbiz #41: Kumustahan with 70’s matinee idol Dondon Nakar ng “Apat na Sikat”
This is Showbiz #42: Ken Chan, versatile actor na; versatile businessman pa
This is Showbiz #43: Barbie Forteza, graduate na sa “teen” roles; si Jak Roberto na ang the one
This is Showbiz #44: Usapang 90’s with Angelu de Leon & Bobby Andrews
FOLLOW US ONLINE:
Facebook: facebook.com/pikapikashowbiz
Twitter: twitter.com/pikapikaph
Instagram: instagram.com/pikapikaph/
YouTube: youtube.com/pikapikashowbiz
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pikapikashowbiz
and join our Viber Community: tinyurl.com/PikaViber
