On Lyric and Capitol Movie Theaters in the Escolta in Manila

During one lunch time with friends on a weekday somewhere in Roosevelt Island in NYC, I heard with extreme curiosity for the first time the confessional sharing made by one of my friends who were around that time. I am not going to describe him more here so I can help protect his identity for now. Suffice it to say that those who were with me during that lunch are good friends of mine.

He narrated how at age 14 (or so), he was approached by a Chinese older guy who was probably in his 30s and married while they were walking on the sidewalk of Sta Cruz, Manila. The man invited him to watch a movie in one of those movie theatres found in Escolta. I have been to two of these theatres, namely 'Lyric' and 'Capitol' (there probably were other theatres found on that street but I have to verify this). Although built with good materials, these theatres look old and passe by the time I started watching movies there, and they're mainly used by patrons who'd like to have fun with similarly thinking other patrons from all walks of life in this part of Manila and its nearby environs. I'm not sure if I wrote about those encounters I've had in those theatres in my first book....if not, then I should find time to write about them one of these days.

Going back to my friend's story, he shared how he was led by the older guy into the bathroom in the loge section of the movie house, and he was soon being orally accosted by the man whom he just met on the street one time he was enjoying himself away from the concerns his family and his small world then had.

He shared how he was given PhP100 by the man, and they were soon having a meal in one of those restaurants in the area. I am sure I had been in that restaurant that my friend mentioned, but I can't recall its name now. That PhP100 given to my friend in the early 1960s is probably equivalent to PhP1000 as of this writing. That also started a brief relationship of my good friend with that man who turned out to be a textile dealer with a store located in Binondo, the important commercial section where numerous businesses of Chinese-Filipinos started, flourished, and went on to bring about more money into the Philippine economic system. My friend shared how the man started giving him textiles that he was also instructed to sell by the businessman when my friend goes back to his province during weekdays.

My friend did start having his selling business of textiles soon, but he was not right away paid by customers. They had to wait for cash from their agricultural products, e.g., rice, so they can get what they need and want, and in turn pay their bills, including those with my friend. My friend would soon find himself being teased endlessly by his 2 half brothers after they started wondering how he's able to buy really expensive stuff for himself. That probably got him to eventually decide to stop seeing the man with whom he probably had an ongoing relationship for at least a year.