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 four 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.

Best in RP

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.?

Walking Wikipedia

De Belen also related that Quijano was her walking Wikipedia. ?If you want to know the latest or a piece of trivia, just call him.?

Producer Lily Monteverde of Regal Films said Quijano was like a younger brother to her. ?I?d known him since the early 1970s. It?s hard to imagine Regal without Douglas.?

During the first night of Quijano?s wake at Chapel 7 of the Heritage Park in Taguig, Jomari Yllana expressed this sentiment, on a personal level: ?I don?t know life without Tito Dougs.?

Producer Robbie Tan of Seiko Films said Quijano was ?cool, intelligent? and practical. I?d ask him out to dinner, and he?d say we could close a deal in minutes on the phone.?

Close friend and fellow manager Lolit Solis joked that if ?Quijano was Mr. Amity, she is Ms Amityville (Horror) in show biz.? They met in 1968, when he was an entertainment columnist and she, a police reporter in Daily Star. ?He helped me gain access to show biz,? Solis said of her mentor.

They shared countless milestones, she added. ?He was with me when I got married, and got separated. When I figured in the Manila Filmfest scam in 1994, he immediately knew I was guilty. We kept no secrets from one another.?

Solis also recalled that they ?used to save our jeepney fare and buy banana cue and sarsaparilla instead. So we?d usually walk from the Port Area to Legarda in Manila.? Lately, she said, Quijano would chide her: ?We?re fat because we no longer take long walks.?

(Quijano was diabetic, said Gomez. ?I always reminded him to take care of his health.?)

Movie fan

Douglas was a movie fan at heart, said Lolit: ?He adored Charito Solis. He couldn?t forget Charito inviting him to dinner in her home. She cooked for him, but he said he couldn?t enjoy the meal because she made him use heavy silverware given her by [former Indonesian President] Sukarno.?

?Charito cooked her famous bangus sardines for Dougs. They were also drinking buddies,? Lorenzo said.

Quijano masterminded Charito Solis? movie comeback in ?Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi,? which he co-produced for Lyra Ventures in 1975, recalled Perez. Not many people know, Perez said, that Quijano was also a scriptwriter who worked with him in the independent production companies (Sine Pilipino and Juan de la Cruz) that they formed in the early ?70s.

?He was one of the scriptwriters of ?Bawal: Asawa Mo, Asawa Ko? and ?Isang Gabi, Tatlong Babae?? said Perez. ?He started the ?Shake, Rattle and Roll? franchise, too.?

Quijano once told Inquirer Entertainment that he was most proud of the fact that Ishmael Bernal?s ?Manila By Night? was inspired by his original concept, ?Via Avenida.?

Lorenzo said he also met Quijano in the late ?60s. ?We were opposites, like the spinster sisters in [Nick Joaquin?s play] ?Larawan.? Dougs was Candida, the good girl; I was Paula, the bad girl.? Lorenzo?s first US trip in 1979, for the shoot of Perez?s ?Pinay American Style,? was with Quijano: ?He declined two previous US trips because the producer could only bring one person and Dougs wanted us to both go.?

One of Lolit Solis? favorite anecdotes on Quijano was an interview with another movie legend, Lolita Rodriguez. ?She was having a pedicure. So, throughout their conversation, he was staring at Lolita?s feet.?

He loved Lucban

Solis said she initially found Quijano?s decision to relocate to Lucban, Quezon province perplexing. ?I thought he?d get bored soon... but he actually loved it there.?

Fellow manager and writer Ces Evangelista added that Quijano liked the ?cool climate, the friendly people, the beautiful scenery, the culture and cuisine of Lucban.?

Evangelista, who was there with Quijano last weekend, recalled that Quijano arrived at his rest home Thursday. ?On Friday night, he thought he was coming down with the flu, but he refused to be taken to a hospital.?

Solis said Quijano was the type who?d bring himself to the hospital because he didn?t want to bother other people. ?He had a stroke twice before and was in ICU, but his friends learned only after he checked out of the hospital.?

Lorenzo said, ?Dougs told me once: ?Never listen to your doctor, just enjoy life!??

Scriptwriter Bibeth Orteza related, ?When his friend (director) Ishmael Bernal died in 1996, Douglas said he didn?t want to go like him and suffer in a hospital. Dougs wanted his end to be quick. He got his wish.?