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| Congressman Monsour Del Rosario |
Earlier this year when Monsour del Rosario has just been named “Taekwondo Man of the Year,” the only non-Korean who’ve so far won the title, he excitedly told us in an interview in his office in Congress that he he was doing an action film entitled “The Trigonal: Fight for Justice” and that with it, the return of action movies to the local screens seemed imminent.
As Monsour has also done another action/fantasy flick, “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids,” which won as Best Short Film in 2016, his belief and excitement that action movies are indeed on their way back to the Filipino moviegoers’ consciousness and way of life was emboldened. The fact that Monsour was a popular and established action star before he forayed into politics made his comeback to acting even more meaningful to him.
Although Monsour has found public service a calling as meaningful as his previous occupation - acting - but it excites him whenever the chance to appear before the cameras presents itself. Actually, he has three movies in his agenda when we had that interview. The third one is another genre - love story! - under the direction of Joel Lamangan. Billed as “Because I Love You,” it is produced by Arnold Vegafria’s ALV Productions.
If action fascinated Monsour from the start of his acting career, it was because of Bruce Lee. “He was my idol, he was my entry to martial arts. And I loved watching Chinese kung-fu movies,” he revealed. He even has a large foster of Bruce Lee’s “Way of the Dragon” movie behind his chair in his office in Congress.
Interestingly however, Monsour was actually an unlikely person to be an actor. A native of Bacolod City, he said “I didn’t speak Tagalog well, and I had no inkling on how to act. But these could be learn, I was told.” His Korean mentors in Taekwondo pushed him into acting because they wanted him to personify Taekwondo on the big screen. They wanted him to promote this martial art sport through his movies. “The told me they wanted the country and our people to know about Taekwondo and wanted me to show my skills on the screen. I somehow succeeded.”
This was validated when he was given the honor of being the first non-Korean to be given the honor “Taekwondo Man of the Year” in 2017. Monsour was also a Taekwondo Olympic Medallist (he was the first Filipino to win a medal in the ASEAN Games (1986) and Sports Hall of Fame awardee.
Monsour’s last movie before doing “The Trigonal” was “Bagong Dugo,” in 2014, which co-starred with Mark Gil (his last film before he died), Alvin Anson, Joem Bascon, Ian Ignacio (his first movie), Ian’s father martial artist Levy Ignacio among others.
In “The Trigonal,” which has for writer-director Vincent Soberano (himself an eight-time Muay Thai champion and MMA coach for most of China’s top UFC fighters today), Monsour plays Sensei Mike Vasquez, the martial arts master of the lead character Jacob Masa (played by theater actor and Taekwondo black belt Ian Ignacio).
In the story, Jacob is being lured to an underground fight-to-death event called the “Trigonal” where he could win a million dollars. However, his pregnant wife Annie (Rhian Ramos) is strongly against it, urging him instead to just focus on his martial arts school in Bacolod. But Jacob is pushed into the world of drug-induced underground fighting run by a cold-blooded ex-MMA fighter.
With a vacationing Chinese Wushu champion (played by Sarah Chang) as his ally, and the support of his childhood martial arts master (Sensei) Jacob faces his deadliest ever fight!
Also in the cast of “The Trigonal” are Epy Quizon (as a detective), Christian Vasquez and Vincent Soberano in a special role. The movie is distributed by Viva Films, in cooperation with Cinefenio Film Studios, RSVP Film Studios and PIAYA. It opens in Philippine cinemas on Sept. 26.
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Tidbits: Happy birthday greetings today, Sept. 15, go to Margie Moran Floirendo, Madonna Tarrayo, Bobby Martino, Jo Gomez, Nick Ablaza, Nina Ramos, Cherie Querol Moreno, Francis Valderama, Jr., JR Pajaro, Gani and Ruby Ann Buenaflor, Geraldine R. Tan, Marichi Nabong, Sonny Ola, Mabel Ferrerà, Evelyn Fuentabella, Jazmine Angelo, Rufus Isaiah, Angel Freking, Jillian Bueno, Dulce Baybay of ABS-CBN Foundation and noted musician Emy Munji. Sept. 16: Mayor Len Len Oreta, business unit head Lui Andrada, Irene Marcos Araneta, Emeellee Mercado Coronel, Janno Gibbs, Tommy Abuel, Yolly Crisano, Millie Reyes, Betty Malong, Rica Bagatsing, Rex Paul Cruz, Belinda Mejia, Norma Cobarrubias, Beth Lugtu, Joel Mejia, Arlene Silan-Vigilla, Lee Soliman, Donald Tapan, Romy Posadas and Janet C. Bordon…Sept. 17: Fr. Francisco Mendoza, Aiza Seguerra, Doris Leelin, Rommel Foronda of San Francisco, California, Dr. Marcelo Villarosa, Sharon Lara Victorino, Albert Marcelo, Matthew Zulnaga, Cecille Novales, Justine Amores Martinez, Becky de Liano, Grace Yague Martinez of New York, U.S.A., Grace Reyes-Coronel, Will Ashley, Luigi Pumaren, Glophet Pag-Ong turns 26 and Francine Prieto…
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