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Today, September 12, is the 98th birth anniversary of the late movie director and National Artist for Film Gerry de Leon. Born in 1913 in Sampaloc, Manila, as Gerardo Ilagan, (“De Leon” being his mother’s family name), he studied medicine and even placed on the top 10 in the medical board examinations before going into filmmaking. Some of his popular works include “Noli Me Tangere,” “El Filibusterismo” and “Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo.” He was conferred the National Artist Award posthumously on June 12, 1982, about a year after he died at the age of 68.—Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research