By Ace Alvarez
Toronto, Ontario — Just like every young parent of today, Front Page Philippines TV Host Gie Alvarez and I have had a good chunk of time, too, spent on driving our children to their activities when ours were also young.

Top Photo: Pepito Rodriguez, Rosemarie Sonora and Len Alvarez in a scene in the video presentation, “My Son Was Into Drugs”, produced by Manila, Philippines’ Grace Media Services for the Dangerous Drugs Board of the Philippines.
Below: Len Alvarez with Marco Polo Garcia playing the lead role in the DDB video material cited in top photo. (A & G Photo Library/Click image to enlarge)
In the mid 80s, one activity for us was to drive our oldest child, Len, to her taping schedules.
In the photos here, Len was among the cast in the video documentary “My Son Was Into Drugs”, acting the role of the younger of the two children of parents portrayed by Pepito Rodriguez and Rosemarie Sonora. Some of you would recall, that Pepito and Rosemarie were part of what was known as Batch 66, launched by Dr. Jose Perez’s Sampaguita Pictures. They were in Philippine moviedom’s love triangle of the late 60s, Pepito Rodriguez-Rosemarie Sonora-Ricky Belmonte.
Marco Polo Garcia was in the lead role of “My Son Was Into Drugs”. Marco Polo is the son of character actor, Boy Garcia and Lucita Soriano.
Len belonged to the 1st batch of children who acted in “Batibot” — the Filipino counterpart of popular TV program for children, “Sesame Street”. Gie juggled her time as a Writer-Producer-Radio Announcer for the government radio VOP (Voice of the Philippines), to occasional voice over talent for radio commercials and dramas, to her role as a mother of two young children and a wife. I must add, those were not easy tasks.
Gie would stay for hours on the set with our daughter during the latter’s taping.
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