KAIBIGAN, KAMAG-ANAK, KAPATID. Nomar Pardo—son of a mestizo father, Ramon (Nomar's name is Ramon spelled backward), and a Filipino-American-Italian mother, Maria Luisa—inherited his good looks from his parents. He was good-looking enough to be an actor, and indeed he wanted to become one when he was younger.

"Gusto niyang mag-artista," recalls his kababata, Tata Panerio, who was two years Nomar's junior. "Gusto niya dancer, kasi magaling talaga siyang sumayaw na bata. Napakalambot ng katawan ni Nomar noong time na 'yon. Siya nga pambato namin. Magaling kumanta, 'tsaka masayang tao. Mahilig siyang mag-joke-joke."

Nomar spent most of his adolescence in Davao, under the care of his father, Ramon (who at that time had long been separated from his mother), and his stepmother, Sitti Suhara Yahya, a Muslim princess. For college, Nomar enrolled in a computer science course at the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial College in General Santos City, in the province of Cotabato. But Tinseltown's bright lights were too alluring for Nomar to resist.

Ramon Pardo recalls that his son Nomar asked permission to go to Manila, saying: "Gusto ko makita 'yong suwerte ko doon."

So, in 1986, the 19-year-old boy set off for the big city, where Ramon had already arranged for Nomar to stay with his distant relative and friend, the singer Pilita Corrales. Asia's Queen of Songs, called Mamita by her family, welcomed the young boy into her home.

Lotlot de Leon—estranged wife of Monching Gutierrez, Pilita's son with Eddie Gutierrez—remembers the 13 years that Nomar lived with the Corrales family.

"Kahit saan mo utusan 'yan, kahit sa'n pa dalhin ni Mamita... Personal things ni Mamita, siya nakakaalam. Siya lahat nagkakarga ng gamit ni Mamita. Puwede siyang all-around-bodyguard, kaibigan, kamag-anak, kapatid, ganoon siya."

In 1990, Lotlot starred in the sitcom Mag-Asawa'y Di Biro, together with Monching, Pilita, and Eddie. It was here that Nomar had his first acting role, Lotlot says: "May talyer do'n, 'tapos may tatlong mekaniko. Isa si Nomar do'n. Mahilig talaga siya sa showbiz."

Nomar also became a part of the musical-variety show Awitawanan, hosted and produced by Pilita, with the Reycards—Rey Ramirez and Carding Cruz—as co-hosts. But Nomar eventually realized that being an artista was not for him, according to Ramon Pardo: "Ang gusto, behind the camera, sa production. He told me that."

Indeed, it was behind the camera, behind the star, that Nomar shone. He started working as personal assistant to Pilita, and occasionally to Monching.

Says Lotlot of Nomar: "Ano 'yon, e, NPA—No Permanent Address! Kumbaga, kung kailangan namin siya, nandoon siya sa bahay namin... Ang priority niyan si Mamita. 'Tapos, pag wala namang trabaho si Mamita, at si Monching may trabaho, sasamahan niya si Mon-sa shooting, sa lahat."

In a phone interview with YES!, Pilita describes Nomar as a capable P.A.: "He's very good at that kind of job. He was a fast learner." She adds that what she would never forget about Nomar were his funny antics: "He was very good at imitating baklas."

Working and living with the Corraleses, Nomar earned the trust of the whole family.

"Pag walang pera si Monching noon, siya ang tagaakyat kay Pilita," Lotlot reveals. "'Auntie, penge namang pambayad diyan. Walang pera si Mon.'

Iyong ganoon, 'yong didiretso siya sa lahat... Halimbawa, mga kasambahay, hindi maka-approach kay Pilita. Siya magsasabi no'n. 'Kailangan ng pera ni ano, kailangan ganito, may problema si ganyan...' Naging confidante siya ni Mamita."