Thursday , 28 March 2024
Liezl Martinez (from Liezl Martinez's Facebook account)

Liezl Martinez dies at 47

By Alvin I. Dacanay

The Philippine entertainment industry is mourning the death of showbiz luminary and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board member Liezl Martinez, the only daughter of veteran stars Amalia Fuentes and Romeo Vasquez and wife of actor-director Albert Martinez, who lost her eight-year battle with cancer—first, Stage 3 breast cancer; later, Stage 4 lung cancer—last Saturday.

An official statement on the Philippine Entertainment Portal website (PEP.ph) last Saturday said, “Anna Lisa ‘Liezl’ Sumilang Martinez, peacefully passed away in her sleep at 6:15 this morning, 14th of March 2015. She was 47.”

“Liezl is surrounded by her beloved husband Albert; precious children Alyanna, Alfonso and Alyssa; loving mother Amalia; father Bobby; and her relatives at this time of love and grief. Thank you for your continued prayers. The family shall be sharing the funeral announcement soon,” it added.

In a radio interview, Cheng Muhlach, Liezl’s maternal uncle and father of actor Aga Muhlach, said she had been confined at The Medical City in Pasig City since March 9.

According to PEP.ph, Liezl’s wake would be held at the Heritage Park Chapels and Crematory in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

She would have been 48 on March 27.

Tributes from loved ones and colleagues, as well as expressions of condolences, poured in hours after news of Liezl’s passing circulated on the Internet.

Albert posted on his Instagram account a picture of him smiling and a hooded Liezl looking upward and pouting, which, as of late Saturday afternoon, received more than 1,800 likes and over 480 messages of condolences.

“She was a wonderful mother who devoted her entire life to our children. I have three wonderful kids because of her,” the photo caption read.

“She was a supportive wife, who stood beside me in every endeavor, big or small. I am grateful to her. I owe everything to her. I have a successful career and happy home life because of my wife Liezl,” it added.

On her Facebook (FB) account, actress-screenwriter-cancer survivor Bibeth Orteza wrote, “I lost a friend to cancer just a few hours ago—no, wait. What am I talking about?”

“You only lose someone you don’t intend to ever remember again. And my friend, well, she’s unforgettable. An amazing woman who chose a wonderful husband, with whom she raised three great children—warm, caring and loving, not bitter, not arrogant, not spiteful,” her post read in part.

“Fare thee well, gentle woman. Godspeed. I didn’t lose you; you are in my heart.”

Commenting on Orteza’s post, prize-winning director Jose Javier Reyes wrote, “You just succeeded in making me burst into tears with sheer sadness over the loss of one fine lady.”

Other celebrities who expressed condolences on social media included Lea Salonga, Ruffa Gutierrez, Coney Reyes, Jim Paredes, Maxene Magalona and Nadia Montenegro.

Liezl first earned fame as a child actress in the late 1960s and early 1970s, appearing in such films as Portrait of an Angel, Europe Here We Come!, Liezl at ang 7 Hoods, Anghel ng Pag-ibig and Poor Little Rich Girl. Many of these starred her mother.

She later emerged as a teen star in the 1984 film Ibulong Mo sa Puso, but her career was interrupted when she eloped with Albert, a popular matinee idol then, in the mid-1980s and moved to the United States.

Liezl occasionally appeared on film and television after she and her family returned to the Philippines.

Her last film appearance was in the 2010 film Rosario, which was directed by her husband.

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