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- The 1981 Manila International Film Festival was designed by First Lady Imelda Marcos as an elaborate showcase of Filipino culture. To everyone's horror, the only film that sold to the world was a midget spy film - a miniature mockery of Western pop iconography, and a joyously naïve celebration of Filipino Goon Cinema - called For Y'ur Height Only. Its star, a two-foot nine primordial dwarf named Weng Weng, became the most famous Filipino celebrity of his generation both inside the Philippines and abroad, yet curiously, less than 30 years later, the real Weng Weng story has all but been forgotten even by those who worked alongside him. Blame faulty or selective memories, or a fad-driven culture that never pauses long enough to ask "who?", "what?" or "why?" - truth is, the story of Weng Weng has become one of the Philippines' greatest urban legends, and the wildest and woolliest of stories fill in the gaps. Stand-up comedian married to a porn actress, real-life secret agent, hit karaoke chanteur with Imelda, the flow is endless. Once the horsecrap hardens, it's almost impossible to extricate truth from fiction, the right from the rot.
It's taken me over a year, three visits to the Philippines and more than 40 interviews with the people closest to him, including his only surviving relative, brother Celing de la Cruz, to glean the following information. There are still enormous gaps, but this is the most detailed portrait of Weng Weng I am able to put together; my documentary The Search For Weng Weng is as complete as it ever will be.
Weng Weng was born Ernesto de la Cruz, the youngest of five brothers, on 7th September 1957 in Balacaran, a district of Pasay City (now part of the sprawling 17-city Metro Manila). A condition known as primordial dwarfism caused him to be born, in the words of his brother Celing, "no bigger than a coke bottle", and he spent the first 12 months of his life in an incubator. He was not expected to live. Naturally, it was declared a miracle when he did, and in a country that venerates miraculous acts of faith, it is no surprise that Weng Weng was dressed as the Christ-child figure at the head of Baclaran's yearly Santo Nino parade.
A cheerfully mischievous child, his family nicknamed him Weng Weng, an epithet usually reserved for toy dogs. He was obsessed with martial arts and trained almost daily, until his instructor contacted film producer Peter Caballes and said, "You just have to see THIS." Peter and his wife, the successful businesswoman Cora Ridon Caballes, took Weng Weng on the rounds of film producers, including Bobby A. Suarez, whose novelty kiddie films The Bionic Boy (1977) and Dynamite Johnson: The Bionic Boy Part 2 (1978) were already international hits. Suarez turned down the idea of Weng Weng as a midget Superman, but successful indie producer/director Luis San Juan, who specialized in kung fu films for the export market, cast Weng Weng in a cameo in a film whose name is now lost to the sands of time. Peter Caballes then introduced Weng Weng to the King of Philippines Comedy, Dolphy, who cast him as his kung-fu kicking sidekick in his spy caper The Quick Brown Fox (1980) and western parody Da Best In Da West (1981).
Weng Weng, meanwhile, was a frequent visitor of the Marcos family at the Presidential Palace, where he was made an honorary Secret Agent by future President General Ramos, and was presented with a badge and a 25-callibre pistol. This act may have been the direct inspiration for Weng Weng's first starring role as Agent OO in the James Bond parody For Y'ur Height Only, produced by Peter and written by Cora Caballes for their company Liliw Productions. Eddie Nicart, renowned stunt director for the SOS Daredevils, trained Weng Weng every day for three months to be a professional stuntman, and was given his first opportunity to direct.
It's hard to pin down the appeal of For Y'ur Height Only - whether it's the inadvertently genius deconstruction of both Western action films and their Pinoy counterparts, surreal pot-addled dubbing by American expats (and Apocalypse Now survivors) Jim Gaines and Nick Nicholson, or inspired casting of every Bad Guy (or "Goon") still alive at the time, and the James Bond of the Philippines himself, Tony Ferrer aka Agent X44, as Weng Weng's boss. It all adds up to an absurdist masterpiece of gloriously bad cinema, one which was sold all over the world and became one of the Philippines' most successful exports.
Weng Weng became an instant superstar, appearing on TV and at parties, film festivals, movie openings. Liliw Productions quickly cranked out a much less successful Agent OO sequel, The Impossible Kid (1982), and a modern Pinoy western D'Wild Wild Weng (1982), starring Weng Weng as a government agent known as "Mr Weng", which doesn't appear to have made it beyond the Philippines borders. There may be other Weng Weng film appearances, including a starring role in Agent OO (c.1981) and a guest cameo alongside the stick-thin Palito's character "James Bone", but even in the Philippines information is sketchy at best, if not non-existent.
As the profits diminished, Cora Caballes moved on to a political career and Liliw Productions folded. As a result, Weng Weng found himself no longer flavour of the month and without a film career. According to his brother, his family was poor before he became famous, and afterwards remained as poor as ever. In a bizarre twist of fate, General Ramos decided to put Weng Weng through paratrooper training; this time he was given a genuine Agent badge and was sent on infiltration missions where his size would been used to its maximum advantage. Thanks to the Caballes' connections at Manila Airport, Weng Weng was seen patrolling the Arrivals Lounge in the mid-Eighties in his blue uniform as the unlikeliest "Welcome To Manila" banner.
He continued to live in the family home in Baclaran, gained weight and, according to some reports, drank heavily, and developed hypertension after a severe reaction to eating crabmeat. His health declined steadily over the next twelve to eighteen months, and he died of heart failure on 29th August 1992, just short of his 35th birthday.
The Philippines' tiniest film icon is buried in a modest white marble tomb with his parents, grandparents and great-grandmother in Pasay City Cemetary. - Kristoffer King was born on 22 May 1982 in the Philippines. He was an actor, known for Verdict (2019), The Coin Bearer (2012) and Kristo (2017). He died on 23 February 2019 in Pasay City, Philippines.
- Francisco V. Coching was born January 29, 1919, to novelist Gregorio Coching and Juana Vicente, in Pasay City, Metro Manila. He dedicated his life to his family and to the art of writing and illustrating comics novels for four decades. Mostly a self-taught artist, Coching started with pen-and-ink drawings and later graduated to storytelling, via comics illustrations. His father was a novelist for a magazine, and Coching apprenticed under him at first. Under the tutelage of the acclaimed Tony Velasquez, creator of the "Kenkoy" series, Coching's first serious work was "Bing Bigotilyo," created in 1934. This was followed by "Marabini," a creation interrupted by World War II, during which he joined the ROTC Hunters, enlisting in its guerrilla group called the Kamagong Unit. In 1944 Coching met and married Filomena Navales, who became not just his wife but his lifetime assistant.
Coching's seventh creation was "Hagibis," which he created from 1947-1950. Loosely inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan," "Hagibis" proved to be so popular it was made into a film with 'Fernando Poe Sr' (Hagibis (1947)) and Coching followed it up with several sequels. "Hagibis" helped secure his fame as an illustrating artist. From "Hagibis" through "Pedro Penduko" in 1954 to "Thor" in 1962, "Tiagong Lundag" in 1966 and "El Vibora" in 1972, Coching churned out endless sagas of romance and adventure, of heroic exploits and mighty deeds that fed the popular imagination of the Filipino reader and movie-going audience. Coching was very prolific, credited with approximately 60 titles, and his works covered many genres: mystery, fantasy, romance, adventure, mythology, folklore, horror, biography, sex, drama and comedy, for example. Although from time to time he was inspired by foreign works like "Tarzan" and Louis L'Amour's western novels, Coching stuck close to Filipino local color, and today he is considered the "Dean of Filipino illustrators," his name revered in the same league as one reveres Balagtas and even 'José Rizal'.
Coching died in 1998, and his wife and children gave him a tribute at the Pasig Museum (Pasig City), where huge movie posters of Coching-written films and studio stills from LVN Pictures, Sampaguita Studios and Premiere Productions adorned the museum. The lead stars of his works-turned-movies, like Vic Vargas and Cesar Ramirez, attended the tribute. Coching helped to make the "komiks" an effective medium of verbal and visual literacy, thus promoting Filipino as national language. - Actor
- Producer
Vic Vargas was born on 28 March 1939 in the Philippines. He was an actor and producer, known for In This Corner (1982), Nueva Viscaya (1973) and Andres de Saya (1980). He was married to Rosanna Zamora. He died on 19 July 2003 in Pasay City, Philippines.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Mario O'Hara was born on 20 April 1946 in Zamboanga City, Philippines. He was a director and writer, known for Babae sa breakwater (2003), Pangarap ng puso (2000) and Sisa (1999). He died on 26 June 2012 in San Juan de Dios Hospital, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
G.A. Villafuerte was born on 2 April 1978 in the Philippines. He was a writer and director, known for Hardinero (2012), Katas: Gusto mo ba ng prutas? (2013) and Paminta (2015). He died on 29 April 2020 in Pasay City, Philippines.- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Writer
Alfie Lorenzo was born on 26 January 1939 in Porac, Pampanga, Philippines. He was an actor and writer, known for Super Mouse and the Roborats (1989), Adan Ronquillo: Tubong Cavite... laking Tondo (1993) and Alyas Batman en Robin (1991). He died on 1 August 2017 in Pasay City, Philippines.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Justo C. Justo was a writer and actor, known for Batul of Mactan (1974), I Love You Honey (1970) and Avenida Boy (1971). He died on 18 May 2012 in Pasay City, Philippines.- Fidela Magpayo was born on 29 October 1920 in Manila, Philippines. She was an actress, known for Basahang ginto (1952), Sebya, mahal kita (1957) and Hihintayin kita (1952). She died on 1 September 2008 in Pasay City, Philippines.
- Bobby Parks died on 30 March 2013 in Pasay City, Philippines.