As told to Alex Y. Vergara

Portrait by Rupert Jacinto
Reproduced from the coffee table book A Celebration of the Filipino: Portraits of an Era

The three of us—myself, the late architect Gerry Contreras, and Pitoy, were always together that people we knew started calling us The Three Musketeers. With Gerry and Pitoy now gone, I’m the only one left.

Of course, I was much younger than the two. But for some reason, our friendship and barkadahan clicked. Since I was the youngest, I became their driver-cum-bodyguard-cum errand boy every time we felt like aimlessly wandering in the mall. For a time, many of our common friends began to wonder where on earth we were on weekends.

Now, it can be told. Pitoy, Gerry, and I would often troop to either Greenbelt or Gateway to watch an afternoon movie. The man who made a name for himself selling glamour was himself as simple and as easy to please as the ordinary moviegoer. Like a bunch of kids, he and Gerry would wear shorts, t-shirts, and baseball caps, as they nibbled on popcorn and hamburger inside the cinema. For his age, Pitoy could eat almost anything. Wala siyang diabetes.Walang high blood. Walang bawal!

My first encounter with Pitoy was over the phone. I was in New York, and he was in Manila trying to send a parcel containing one of his bridal gowns to a US-based Filipino client.

He didn’t want to talk to just any employee. He demanded to talk to the owner of the cargo company himself. And that happened to be me. Pitoy said, “O, I’m trusting you with this package, ha. It better reach its intended recipient in one piece.” Thankfully, we were able to deliver on time, and that was the start of our regular business with Pitoy.

It wasn’t until several years later that we personally met in Manila. I made it a point to visit him in his shop. For some reason, he grew very fond of me. He would call me and ask me if I wanted to come with him to this and that place.

Before long, we became a threesome when Gerry started joining us. I didn’t mind occasionally driving for them because I learned so many things from the two. They, especially Pitoy, never run out of amusing stories to tell.

Knowing what I know now about the man and his incredible body of work, I really believe that he should have been declared National Artist. Of course, I feel sad now that Pitoy has finally passed away. But for me, the real Pitoy, the simple, child-like Pitoy, had already left us years ago. —Johnny Valdez, owner of Johnny Air Cargo

Pitoy Moreno was always concerned with his models. He was very strict when it came to our work, sticking to the schedule, and our look—on and off the ramp. But he was also very caring. In my case, he was like the eyes and ears of my parents when I was modeling for him, especially when we were out of the country. Naku, pag ’di niya type ang boyfriend mo, he’d call your parents. Diretso talaga!—Crispy Sta. Maria, model

It was so much fun traveling with Pitoy. If we were excited, he seemed doubly excited for us to learn, especially if were traveling for the first time in a certain place. I remember him always saying, “enjoy the trip, iha, look around, learn, learn about the people and their culture.” He always wanted the best for his models, even when it came to our hotels and receptions. It took a lot for him to get angry. His anger was usually show-related. But he never really lost his cool for long. Pigil pa rin. After that, wala na. He was always back to his usual jolly self. —Gladys Dueñas, model

Pitoy and I met through a common friend, Ado Escudero, more than 40 years ago when they visited me in New York where I was based then. Since our initial encounter, every time Pitoy visited New York, he would always make it a point to stay with me. Alam mo na, I assume, nagtitipid. I didn’t mind because I enjoyed his company.

Pitoy was so madaldal and his stories were so animated. Even though I wasn’t based in Manila anymore and didn’t know half the people he was talking about, he always managed to come up with engaging stories. He would fill me in and regale me with all the chismis about certain matronas. We always found ourselves laughing into the wee hours.

When I decided to return for good to Manila as a retiree in 1996, we became much closer. Soon after, I became president of the Philippine General Hospital Medical Foundation. And one of the first friends who came to my aid, as I tried to raise funds for Philippine General Hospital (PGH), was Pitoy. No questions asked, he agreed to stage a benefit fashion show for the foundation at the then Westin Philippine Plaza.Some people say he was kuripot, but he was never kuripot with his time. That was how generous he was.

Since I had all the time in the world, Pitoy and I plus a few other friends also started traveling together to Europe and going on cruises. Boy, did we have fun! And when I say fun, I’m referring to side trips and other escapades not fit for printing in a family newspaper.

During one of our trips, we got way laid by a bunch of thugs in Athens to this seedy girlie bar. Could you imagine three old gay men cornered in a place where you would least expect them to be? Not only that, the drinks were incredibly overpriced. Pitoy and I decided to make our escape, but our third companion was so engrossed with the evening’s show that he got left behind.

When he noticed that Pitoy and I had already left, our friend began rushing toward the door, but several burly men were blocking his path. I shouted at them from afar that they better let him go or else I would call the police.

Pitoy who was by then already outside the bar outdid me. Like a distressed woman, he began screaming in a loud, shrill voice: Pulis! Pulis! Pulis! No policemen came, but the bad guys quickly let our friend go, thanks to Pitoy’s shrill voice and quick thinking. —Dr. Greg Alvior, president, Philippine General Hospital Medical Foundation

He wanted us always dressed even for a fitting. Not naman fashionably dressed, but at least well put together. Whether it was before or after the show, you need to look presentable whenever Mang Pitoy was around. Sometimes you would think, ’di siya nakatingin sa ’yo during rehearsals, but later on you’d be surprised. He would call your attention for something he didn’t like or wasn’t satisfied with. —Izza Gonzales Agana, model

I’ve known Pitoy Moreno for more than 40 years. We often bumped into each other not in socials, but as fellow judges in beauty contests. We eventually became close. Over the years, together with Dr. Greg Alvior, we also became constant traveling companions.

I guess it’s been written often enough how thoughtful Pitoy was to his friends. I and a select group of people never fail to get Christmas gifts from him like his delicious bowl of buko salad and bottle of lengua de gato cookies. His family and loyal household staff continued with the tradition, as Pitoy’s gift-giving went on even after he was already confined in the hospital.

I was witness to how secretive Pitoy was when it came to hiding his age. Greg and I were traveling with him in Romania sometime in 2001, when we learned that we had the same question in our minds: how old could Pitoy be? People, even those who knew him for a long time, couldn’t say with certainty his actual age.

Since Greg and Pitoy shared the same hotel room, we hatched a plan of finding the truth for ourselves. While Pitoy was sleeping, Greg would try to get hold of his passport to see his date of birth. While most of us would simply leave our passports lying on top of the table, Pitoy didn’t. He would keep it tucked inside some secret place where no one except him could find it. Needless to say, Greg failed in his mission.—Dr. Danny David, retired cosmetic surgeon

Despite his sweet, harmless demeanor, Pitoy Moreno had a feisty side. And I’m not talking about how strict he was with us models being on time or wearing the right accessories to go with a certain dress or outfit during a show.

The object of his taray could include ordinary people who had incurred his ire. We were at a mall in Hawaii and I remember Pitoy trying to buy ice cream from a woman who was attending to quite a number of customers all at once.

Since Pitoy was so small, he could barely be seen behind the glass countertop. When the woman finally attended to him, she gave him a rather small serving of ice cream, which Pitoy probably felt wasn’t worth all that wait.

In an even and very pleasant voice, he was asking while holding his ice cream cup if that was it. Instead of trying to appease Pitoy by adding even a small shaving of ice cream to his cup, the woman said in a sassy American way: “Yes, that’s all you’re going to get today, honey!”

I don’t know if the word honey or the fact that he waited for so long only to get a measly serving of ice cream got to him. Nag-panting ang tenga niya!

To our shock, he turned the ice cream cup upside down and, as if he was scribbling with a marker, made a mess on the glass countertop. Before the woman could react, Pitoy gave her a mouthful: “You’re ugly! You belong somewhere else. You don’t belong to an ice cream parlor. You belong to a funeral parlor!”

The poor woman didn’t know what hit her. Pitoy then left in a huff. But after that, when we try to recall that incident, tawa kami nang tawa, including Pitoy. After work, Pitoy never took himself seriously. To us models, he was never a prima donna. —Carolyn Masibay, model

Pitoy was very organized during those fashion shows. Although he had a soft voice and an easy smile, he could be quite feisty, too. You wouldn’t want to provoke him because he was capable of fighting back. He was also a very faithful friend who would go out of his way to visit you, call you, or invite you over to his house in Malate for lunch or dinner. He was also known among his younger, single muses as a matchmaker. Although he never openly discussed his sexuality to us, he could easily sniff out who was gay back then when coming out of the closet was a rarity. If ever you were in doubt or wanted to make sure of the man you were about to marry, I’d say the best person to go to was Pitoy. For some reason, he had a way of finding out just by looking at the guy. —Conchitina Sevilla Bernardo, one of Pitoy Moreno’s former models and dear friends whom he worked with for decades as part of Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc.’s executive committee