Nestor Urbina Torre Jr. (6 May 1942 – 6 April 2021) was a Filipino writer, editor, film and television director, scriptwriter, theater actor, and

media critic Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

Early life and education

Nestor Torre Jr. was born on May 6, 1942 to Capt. Nestor Torre and Isabelita Urbina with the former being a harbor pilot based in

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

. Torre attended

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

in Cagayan de Oro for his elementary, high school and collegiate studies. He also studied in the United States, attending the

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

where he obtained a master's degree in journalism, radio, and television.

Career

Following his studies in the United States, Torre taught broadcast media at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

. He also became involved in the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

becoming a director, scriptwriter and actor for theater acts. He started his career as director after he was asked by Pete Roa to direct the 1960s talk show ''Two For the Road'' which aired in

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

. Roa was the partner of Boots Anson-Roa who was Torre's mentor as a broadcast media student. The show was hosted by Elvira Manahan and Joey Lardizabal. Following Lardizabal's death, Torre became a co-host of the show he directed. The 1971 film ''Crush Ko Si Sir'' which starred

Hilda Koronel Hilda Koronel (born Susan Reid; January 17, 1957) is a MMFF, FAMAS, Luna and Urian award-winning Filipino actress. Born to a Filipino mother and an American father who was a serviceman in Clark Air Base, she has starred in around 45 films, ma ...

was directed and written by Torre. Torre went on to write screenplays for other films; among these were ''Khayam and I'' (1974) and ''Ang Isinilang Ko Ba'y Kasalanan?'' (1977). As a writer, Torre worked as a columnist for ''Mr & Ms'' magazine from the late 1970s to the 1980s. He also worked as an editor for the publication. For the

Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded bro ...

, he wrote the long-running Viewfinder column and was the editor for its Saturday Special. Torre also worked with Filipino composer

Ryan Cayabyab Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab (born ; May 4, 1954), known professionally as Ryan Cayabyab, is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor. He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation ...

. He did work for Cayabyab's first biographical musical ''Katy'' (1998) and directed ''Magsimula Ka'' where Gines Tan provided the music and Cayabyab lent music-direction. Torre also wrote Cayabyab's musical ''Magnificat''. He was also a film and television critic, with his critiques at one point being posted at bulletin boards in the offices of

for the actors and production staff to take note of.

Death

Amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Torre died on April 6, 2021 at age 78 while confined at the Santa Ana Hospital in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. The cause of his death was due to complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Torre also had a bout with a stroke three years prior to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torre, Nestor Jr. Academic staff of the University of the Philippines Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines Filipino theatre directors Filipino film directors Filipino male stage actors Filipino film critics Filipino newspaper editors Filipino columnists 1942 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Filipino writers 21st-century Filipino educators Northwestern University alumni Filipino television directors People from Cagayan de Oro