NORA AUNOR: FROM SUPERSTAR TO NATIONAL ARTIST OF THE PEOPLE

Nora's kayumanggi type which the masa could identify with, paved the way for more inclusivity, away from the colonial mentality-driven star system. This was also in tune with a period of social unrest and a new sense of nationalism.

- RICKY TOLEDO & CHITO VIJANDRE

Nora Aunor, who sadly passed on last April 16, was always someone we admired for her artistry, both as a singer and an actress. Our friend, Joe Salazar, also respected her deeply and designed her couture ensembles for Superstar, her long-running television show, only passing on the job to Chito and other designer friends when he became busy doing the ternos of First Lady Imelda Marcos and the Blue Ladies.

The very fact that designers and the elite were even paying attention to Nora, who epitomized the bakya crowd of the '60s and '70s, just shows you how she became a phenomenon that revolutionized the film industry and Philippine culture, for that matter.

Born to poor parents in Iriga, Camarines Sur, in 1953, she sold water bottles at the Bicol Express Train station to help her family of nine siblings. Lessons from an aunt enabled her to develop her singing talent that landed her as a champion of the Darigold Jamboree radio contest and later a finalist in the Tawag ng Tanghalan national contest where she lost on first try but succeeded on the second in 1967. She was such a hit that she was invited as a guest for Timi Yuro's concert at Araneta Coliseum and at Pilita Corrales' TV show, An Evening with Pilita. She was also signed up by Sampaguita Pictures for an eight-picture contract and started recording albums. Soon, her musical variety show aired, becoming the longest-running show of its type on primetime TV.

She was paired with Tirso Cruz III and they were known together as Guy and Pip, taken from their most successful film which was running in the cinemas for six months, seen by more than four million Filipinos and grossing P8 million (more than P490 million today). Pip gifted her with a walking doll named Maria Leonora Theresa which became a household name and made every child want a similar one for Christmas.