His books reflected, among others, the influence of the pioneering Virgie Moreno, his famous and controversial mentor and film aesthete way back in the early ‘70s at the University of the Philippines’ Film Center that used to offer a subject called Cinematic Arts in the Philippines. From there, he moved over to Mowelfund to trailblaze the teaching of filmmaking to wannabes at the time, the likes of Raymond Red to Lav Diaz and Brilliante Mendoza.