Faces of the News: Leila Benitez

Leila Benitez, who died at age 89 on April 9 in the United States due to complications from the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was dubbed the “lady dean of ‘Student Canteen'” — a reference to the noontime TV program for aspiring amateur singers she cohosted with Eddie Ilarde and Pepe Pimentel.

From 1959 to 1964, “Student Canteen,” aired by Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN), was considered “the most popular daytime program of its era.”

The book “Kapitan: Geny Lopez and the Making of ABS-CBN” noted that Leila, “a member of the prominent Benitez family which produced a UP (University of the Philippines) president and a senator … was a product of convent schools and a US finishing school; she had an aura of energy and class.”

For Ilarde, “she was one of the best. She was very articulate. She read a lot, had many opinions; she’s witty.”

Benitez earlier hosted the noontime radio show “Lunchtime” on dzBC, a station owned by Jim Lindenberg who was regarded as the father of Philippine television.