Regal matriarch Mother Lily dies at 84

Philippine cinema icon and Regal Films founder Lily Monteverde, affectionately called Mother Lily in the industry, passed away early yesterday morning, a day after her husband of over 60 years, Remy Monteverde, was laid to rest.

- NATHALIE TOMADA

No cause of death was given.

Mother Lily was 84, a few weeks' shy of her 85th birthday on Aug. 19. Her husband, who died last July 29, was 86.

Regal From Page 1 They are survived by their five children - Winston, Sherida, Roselle, Dondon and Goldwin and grandchildren.

"Throughout her years she has not only been a mother to her children but also the 'Mother' to so many generations of Filipino filmmakers who have helped define what Philippine cinema is today," read the official statement issued by the Monteverde family.

"Even to her final years, Mother Lily served as one of the cornerstones of the movie industry, providing opportunities to filmmakers - both creative and technical - to carve their names in our popular history.

"Yet behind this veneer of accomplishment, Mother Lily was not merely a matriarch and the face of Regal Films, but a true mother to artists and workers who had the chance to know her beyond the confines of work.

"Mother Lily was surrounded by her children and grandchildren in her final hours. She was blessed to say goodbye to her closest friends and associates who bid her farewell yesterday before she left for that trip back home to the Divine Father." Mother Lily's passing is widely viewed as the end of an era, but the "legacy and pioneering achievement in Philippine cinema" of the industry pillar could never be forgotten, according to filmmaker Erik Matti in a post.

"She has helped so many," Sen. Grace Poe also said in a statement about her "Ninang Mother." "She was and will always be a titan in the Philippine movie industry." It's already the stuff of movie legend how Mother Lily built Regal. The youngest child in a brood of 12 of "copra king" Domingo Yuchu of Marinduque was first and foremost a movie fan whose favorites were Nida Blanca and Gloria Romero.

"When a Nida Blanca movie opened at Dalisay Theater, uma-absent ako sa school.