Sis of late actress Angie Ferro rants about people who promised the actress help, no-show

Even if veteran and award-winning actress Angie Ferro was already cremated and gone to the great beyond, and her ashes were brought home for homage, her family still carries burdens of her loss.

In the afternoon of paying our—with entertainment journalist Art Tapalla—last respects to the dead at the St. Peter Chapels along Scout Chuatoco in Quezon City, it was Emma, a younger sister of the departed who accommodated us inside the chapel where Angie’s remains laid in state.

Art identified himself as a friend of Angie from way back when she was still living in an apartment owned by the Lanots—of literary giant Marra PL. Lanot who was and still is residing in the same compound with husband, progressive writer Jose F. Lacaba, better known as Pete Lacaba.

Emma remembered Tapalla finally so they had bonding of sort and he looked at Angie—Angelica Caballero Ferro in real life—in the casket and bidding her adieu.

After a few minutes, actress Nadia Montenegro came in with one of her daughters. Nadia hugged Emma and another sis of Angie.

Emma started to tell stories of the agony of Angie especially when she was still confined in a hospital. “Naku, noong mga panahong ‘yon, kailangan namin ng one hundred thousand pesos para makalabas ang Ate ko. Kung sinu-sino ang tinawagan ko, si Senator Bong Go, si Senator Imee Marcos. Naku, sabi ko, mayaman ‘yon, kaibigan ‘yan ng Ate ko, baka bigyan kami ng one million pesos (Oh! Those days, we needed P100k for the discharge of my older sister. I called many people, Senator Bong Go, Senator Imee Marcos. I told myself, she was a friend of my sister and she is rich she might give us P1M),” Emma said in an excited voice.  

“Una, hindi nagparamdam sina Senator Bong at Senator Imee. Pero later, nagpadala sila. Ang kulang, si Ma’am Cecile Guidote-Alvarez ang nagbigay. Hindi nakakalimot si Ma’am Cecile sa Ate ko, magkaibigan silang matalik (Initially, they didn’t respond. Later, they sent money. The remaining balance, it was she who sent. She cannot forget Ate because they were best of friends),” recalled Emma.

“May nagsabi na darating daw si Governor Daniel Fernando at si Imelda Papin pero walang dumating na Daniel Fernando at Imelda Papin (There were fillers that they would show up but they didn’t),” blurted out the younger Ferro apparently referring to their hospital ordeal.

Then, Emma disclosed the real score of Angie’s casket.

“Kasi, itong kabaong na ito, ipinahiram lang ito ng kaibigan ko na may memorial plan, one hundred pesos ito (This casket worth P100k was lent by a friend who has a memorial plan),” she described.

It was Nadia who represented Senator Robin Padilla who donated cash to the bereaved family.

Montenegro announced that Robin would replace the lost cellphone of Emma who was overjoyed about the pronouncement.

“Puwede namang ipagbili sa iba itong kabaong, di ba (This casket can be sold, right?),” suggested Nadia.

Meanwhile, I texted Daniel about the rants of Emma but he has still to answer back to my message.

“Baka naman ang kaso ni Daniel ay tumatawag siya sa cellphone mo, Emma, pero nawala nga ‘yon (He might be calling you on your cell phone but it got lost inside the chapel—which until now has no update yet),” I said.

Fernando was once a student of Angie in her acting workshop in preparation for filming his movies and she resided in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan under the jurisdiction of the governor. He sent a bouquet of flowers for the dead, anyway.

On her part, Imelda said she didn’t know anything about the sickbed and death of Angie. “Wala kaming pinagsasabihan na pupunta ako. Hindi namin alam na may sakit siya o patay na. Ngayon lang nang sabihin mo (We didn’t tell anyone that I would pay her a visit. We didn’t know that she was sick, or  already dead until now that you told me),” gushed Papin who referred to my advisory.           

Art and I agreed that there were people who posed as Daniel and Imelda’s emissaries who didn’t care to inform the two stars about the real situations of Angie.

Nadia, Art and I just sighed people like Fernando and Papin were used and abused sans their knowledge.