Remembering Tito Dougs
MANILA, Philippines—It is ironic that talent manager Douglas Quijano passed away when local show business is besieged by all sorts of scandals.
That’s because in times of trouble, whether professional or personal, for his talents and industry friends, he invariably provides the voice of reason, said filmmaker Jose Javier Reyes. “He lends sanity to an insane business.”
Quijano, who would have turned 65 on July 24, died of a heart attack on Saturday. (He is survived by three siblings.)
Reyes recalled a crazy period in his own life, when Quijano was neither judgmental nor patronizing. “He just understood.”
“He was always calm and candid,” writer and fellow talent manager Alfie Lorenzo said. “When we disagreed, I’d be screaming and he’d just quietly listen, smiling and rubbing his tummy like a Buddha.”
Talent Janice de Belen agreed: “He was consistently fair and frank.”
Quijano continued managing the careers of De Belen and John Estrada after the couple had separated. “At a certain hour when I attend his parties, he’d whisper to me: ‘John is about to arrive, do you want to leave na?’ He knew me so well,” said De Belen.
“He was the stabilizing force in our group, Pami (Professional Artist Managers Inc.),” said Ed Instrella. “We had so much faith in him, that we consulted him about every problem.”
June Rufino, Pami president, said Quijano “had no envious bone in his body and gladly helped anyone. He was an angel in disguise.”
Quijano was a founding member and the first chair of Pami when it was formed after the Manila Filmfest scam in 1994, recalled Instrella and Rufino.
Lorenzo stressed: “He was the best manager in the Philippines. He discovered unknowns and made them big stars. He invested time, money and effort in his talents.”
Filmmaker Elwood Perez pointed out that “Quijano was instrumental in jump-starting the careers of so many people, including mine.”
Biggest discovery Richard Gomez, who was in San Francisco, California, at the time of Quijano’s passing, told the Inquirer in a phone interview: “My wife Lucy and I are very sad.”
(Gomez said he’d cut short his US visit and try to make it back home yesterday.)
Gomez recalled that he was a baby when Quijano first saw him. “He knew my mother (sexy actress Stella Suarez). We met again on the set of my half-sister’s (Stella Suarez Jr.) movie when I was a teenager.”
He described his manager as “well-loved and respected. People listened to him because he was straightforward. He didn’t mess around.” From Quijano, Gomez said, he learned “to always be punctual, to honor all my commitments and invest my earnings wisely.”
Toni Gonzaga
Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr.