In the March 2003 issue of YES! magazine, Ms. Amalia Fuentes's home was featured. She was then 58, and she said she didn't feel like 58. And she revealed her secret.
Below is the actual article published in the said issue of the country's number one entertainment magazine.
The secret, she says, is contentment. These days, grand titles such as movie queen or Elizabeth Taylor of the Philippines do not interest her one bit. To grab her attention, call her a promdi.
And she has good reasons for being happy with that tag—with all of them having to do with Tali.
If you want to see Amalia Fuentes these days, chances are, you will not find her in her famous brick house in New Manila, or in any of her other fabulous homes in the metropolis. You have to go all the way to Tali beach in Nasugbu, Batangas, where she owns a two-story rest house nestled on a 5,000-square-meter hilly lot. It's worth the three hours of travel time. Not only is the view breathtaking; Amalia's legendary hospitality makes the visit grand.
"Basta nakasilip ako ng chance, 'yong wala akong business or commitment sa Manila, dumarating ako dito," she admits. "Minsan one week ako dito, minsan two days."
Despite the costly maintenance—P7,000 a month on the average, excluding repairs, homeowners's fees, electricity, and the staggering water bill—she still finds life in Tali simpler. "Dito, kahit wala kang pera, puwede kang mabuhay," she says. "Wala kang pera, magtanim ha. Meron ha nang konting ulam."
Amalia learned about Tali beach in 1959 from a former suitor. This suitor's family happened to own the entire beach property and was then already bent on developing it into a resort. The suitor, seeing that Amalia was a nature tripper, brought her to Tali.
It was love at first sight—with Tali, if not necessarily with the suitor. Amalia says the old Tali reminded her of her days in Toril, Davao City, where she lived for three years, between the ages of 10 and 13.
Toril was inspiration; Tali was foresight. Sensing a good investment, Amalia set aside some of the money she was earning from acting and staked her claim on a 2,000-square-meter prime lot, paying the owners P7 per square-meter. She was then 20 and a mother to three-year-old Liezl.
"I was one of the first na nakabili ng lupa dito," says Amalia, clearly proud. "Pioneers kami dito. No'ng dinala ko dito 'yong dalawa kong kapatid, sabi nila, 'Naku, Nena, ang feeling namin sa'yo para kang si Magellan na naka- discover ng Pilipinas.' Kasi ang mga dinaanan namin, hindi ganitong patag na. Rough roads talaga! But when we arrived naman, it was so pristine, as in napakagandang lugar. Siguro apat pa lang ang bahay dito. Right away I made up my mind that I was gonna have my rest house built here."
But the building of the house—originally made of nipa—came a year later.
First, she planted.
"Nagtatanim-tanim na ako pag weekend," she recalls. "Dadalhin ko ‘yong Volkswagen, magpa-park ako do'n sa favorite spot ko ngayon—where I view the sunset—and that's where I would sleep. Gusto ko lang mataniman muna ‘yong lote. Pag nagtanim ako, puso sa sides, because I knew I was gonna build my house in the middle."
In 1960, in between shots, Amalia started building her rest house. She wanted to and she needed to: showbiz life was stressful! Plus, she wanted the young Liezel to develop a sense of country living. "That experience in Toril stood out in my memory. Na ‘yon bang survival? Para kang nasa jungle."
