MANILA -- The year 1993 was a memorable moment for Aiko Melendez, who starred in the hit movie "May Minamahal," which was shown during that year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

Melendez acted alongside Ronaldo Valdez, as her father, who taught her a lot about the business.

"Alam niyo ba 'yung mga linya namin sa ‘May Minamahal’, most of it came from Tito Ron. 'Yung isang scene doon na iiyak ako, sabi niya, ‘mahal mo ba?’ Wala sa script 'yun ‘batukan kita eh!’ siya yun,’ she said.

Off-cam, Valdez was such a funny man, Melendez said. "Napaka-alaskador ni Tito Ron, as in minsan nakatulala ako, tapos bigla na lang susulpot sa tenga ko, huyyy!"

Another memorable off-cam moment she had with Tito Ron, as she fondly calls him, was when cast members took home trophies in an awards night -- except for Melendez.

"You know how he consoled me during the awards night, sabi niya, 'Aiko, okay lang 'yan. Sa mata naming kasama mo magaling ka.'"

They continued to work together for an episode in "Maalaala Mo Kaya" and her anthology special with ABS-CBN.

Admittedly, Melendez said she was in total shock when she heard of the passing of Valdez. And while the family and the industry are grieving, she prefers to relive the good and fun memories with him.

"Hindi lang dahil nakatrabaho ko siya, pero malaking kawalan sa industry natin ang isang Ronaldo Valdez," she said.

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