Award-winning veteran director Maryo de los Reyes passed away Saturday night after suffering from a heart attack, leaving show business saddened and shocked. He was 65.
His brother Manny de los Reyes confirmed his demise in a Facebook post.
“To all our relatives and friends it is with great shock, disbelief, pain and extreme sadness to inform you that my brother Direk Maryo J. Delos Reyes has recently passed away. The entire Delos Reyes and Jorolan families are mourning his loss and request all to say a prayer and especially the media to be respectful of our current grief and sorrow at this time,” it read.
De los Reyes was attending a friend’s birthday party in Yugo Restaurant at Dipolog City’s Dakak Park and Beach Resort in Zamboanga del Norte on Saturday night. He was dancing at around 10 pm when he suddenly collapsed. He was immediately rushed to Dr. Jose Rizal Memorial Hospital but doctors failed to revive him.
Born October 17, 1952 in Sta. Cruz, Manila, de los Reyes was a former seminarian. His teachers and advisers saw in the young Maryo an undeniable talent for the arts as he mounted plays in school. They told him he can still serve the Lord outside of priesthood by inspiring others.
Pursuing his louder calling, de los Reyes majored in Film at the University of the Philippines-Diliman where he secured a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication.
While working on his degree, he became an active member of premiere theater group, Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA).
In 1979, de los Reyes made his directorial debut with “High School Circa ‘65,” starring Eddie Rodriguez, Charo Santos-Concio and Liza Lorena, among others.
His first breakthrough, however, came five years later with the release of iconic teen movie “Bagets” that also launched the careers of Aga Muchlach, Herbert Bautista and William Martinez.
Thereafter, de los Reyes became one of the most prolific directors in the industry, coming out with “My Other Woman” (1990), “Sinungaling Mong Puso” (1992), “Linlang” (1999) and “Red Diaries” (2001), among many others.
He is most noted for the movie “Magnifico” in 2003, which won the prestigious Crystal Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival the following year. The dramatic film also etched the career of acting prodigy Jiro Manio.
Another notable film was “Naglalayag,” which starred Nora Aunor and Yul Servo in a complicated May-December affair. The gripping drama won nine major awards from the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival Awards. It also won major awards from the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards that year, including a Best Director award for de los Reyes.
His last movie was Star Cinema’s “The Unmarried Wife” in 2016, which won lead star Dingdong Dantes the Best Actor of the Year award from the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation Box Office Entertainment Awards.
Active in the teleserye scene as well, de los Reyes worked for GMA and ABS-CBN for various drama series including “Habang Kapiling Ka” (2002), “Mga Anghel na Walang Langit) (2005), and “Munting Heredera” (2011) to name a few.
His final complete television work was GMA’s “Someone to Watch Over Me” (2016).
De los Reyes was supposed to direct the station’s upcoming drama series “Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka,” starring Yasmien Kurdi and Mike Tan.