MANILA, Philippines - ?I told Mrs. Flaminiano not to call him, but she did. She should not have involved my father in our problems,? said actor Gabby Concepcion, whose father Rollie died on Tuesday night.

Gabby said Rollie?s fatal heart attack could have been caused by depression over the fact that his son was involved in another court case, this one filed by the actor?s own manager, Rose Flaminiano.

Rollie, who was under medication for a heart ailment, had complained of chest pains while driving along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Lourdes Memorial Hospital in Sta. Mesa, around 10 p.m. He was 72.

?She kept calling him,? Gabby told Inquirer on Thursday night. And he always wanted to know what was happening to me, even if I kept it from him. He was hurt by the things she told him.?
Flaminiano last week filed a P22-million lawsuit against Gabby for breach of contract. It was her response to a letter that Gabby?s lawyer Raymond Fortun sent on Sept. 9, requesting that their five-year management contract be rescinded.

Gabby claimed inconsistencies in the contract, which he signed in January 2008. Flaminiano took charge of Gabby?s show biz career when the actor returned from a 13-year residence in the United States.

?My father took it very badly. He did not need to be disturbed that way, not by me or by anybody,? said the actor.

Gabby?s mom, Maria Lourdes, or ?Baby?, said Rollie was a very emotional person. ?All that stress was not good for him,? she told
Inquirer Entertainment on Friday during a visit to the wake.

(The elder Concepcion?s remains lie at the chapel of the family-owned O.B. Montessori de San Juan, on P. Guevarra St., San Juan. Burial is set this afternoon at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.)

Baby said Rollie was ecstatic when Gabby came home in March. ?At the time, Rollie already knew that he was a walking time bomb. But he had prayed hard for Gabby to come home one day,? she said.

In any case, Baby was sure her husband did not hold ill feelings for Flaminiano. ?He was deeply religious and forgiving,? she explained. ?I, on the other hand, feel differently. As a mother, my instinct is to protect my child. Maybe in time I?ll learn to forgive [but] she (Flaminiano) should give me a reason.?

Gabby always said his dad was the primary reason for his return. ?Work was just consequential.?

?Why would I??

Flaminiano told the Inquirer in a phone interview: ?My condolences to the entire Concepcion family. Let us respect Gabby?s father and refrain from spreading intrigues.?

She dismissed all speculation that she had caused Rolly?s passing. ?Why should I call [him]? Rolly and I never quarreled [or] discussed my misunderstanding with Gabby. He was such a nice guy.?

She is not sure she should go to the wake. ?Things are still too tense.?

As for her P22-million lawsuit against Gabby, Flaminiano said, ?Tuloy ang kaso.?

Different Gabby

?Gabby is in shock,? said Regal producer Lily Monteverde.

?He is downtrodden,? agreed Seiko producer Robbie Tan.

The two film producers talked with Gabby at the wake.

?He looks tuliro,? said Tan, ?not the usual Gabby, the one who?s always smiling and charming. His eyes were red.?

The actor?s friend, Nadia Montenegro, said Rollie had several clogged arteries, and that only 25 percent of his heart was functioning properly.?

Monteverde recalled: ?I know that Gabby was the one who encouraged his dad to take a holiday in Palawan. He didn?t expect this would happen so soon after Rollie?s return.?

She pointed out that Gabby was bound to be profoundly affected by his dad?s passing. ?Gabby is very attached to his family, especially his dad,? Monteverde explained

?In a previous interview, Concepcion told Inquirer Entertainment that he had considered staying in the US for good.

?Then my dad got sick. Sabi niya: Uuwi ka ba? If something happens to me, baka pagsisihan mo. (He said: Are you coming home? If something happens to me, you may regret not being here.)?

Big risk

In that interview, Concepcion insisted: ?Family always comes first for me. I need to accept everything that happens while I?m in the Philippines because I?m here for dad.?

Flaminiano recalled that Concepcion was initially reluctant to come home because of two pending cases, bigamy and falsification of public documents.

?Gabby risked a lot in coming home,? said Tan.

Monteverde added, ?[But] even though Gabby was involved in a lot of controversies when he was young, his father remained friendly with all the producers. He was always smiling.?

Tan described Rollie as ?no-nonsense when it came to business?he was easy to talk to, easy to deal with.?

Filmmaker Elwood Perez, who directed two movies (?Miracle of Love? and ?I Will Wait for You?) that starred Gabby and were produced by Rolly, said he enjoyed working with the Concepcions. ?They were ideal producers, hands-on, but never heavy-handed. Very generous. We shot in Europe and the US and all the time we were made to feel we were part of a family on vacation.?

Favorite son

Tan pointed out that the young Gabby always obeyed his dad and then-manager Lolit Solis.

?When Gabby shot movies for my company, Seiko, I noticed he would always bring home pasalubong for his dad, usually expensive, imported food that knew his father had never tasted.?

Montenegro also described Gabby as daddy?s boy, Rollie?s favorite among the seven Concepcion children. ?They?re very close. Before leaving for work, Gabby would kiss his dad?s forehead. Upon returning from taping, he would pass by his dad?s room. If his work wraps up early in the morning, he would make sure to eat breakfast with his dad.?

Too trusting

?If Gabby gets involved in intrigues, it?s because he?s too trusting,? Monteverde said.

Rollie was just as trusting, added Tan. ?He never meddled in his son?s career. He would always turn things over to Gabby?s manager at the time, Lolit Solis. That?s why I think he was very concerned when Gabby had a falling out with his new manager.?