THEY say only the good die young. So when news broke out on March 2002 that then young actor Rico Yan was dead, everybody thought it was a hoax. He just turned 27 years old that time and was at the peak of his career.
Born Ricardo Carlos Castro Yan on March 14, 1975; he was more than your average actor. He was also a model, host, spokesperson and entrepreneur—with a degree in Marketing Management from De La Salle University to boot. He was the grandson of Amb. Manuel Yan, the former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Ambassador to Thailand, Indonesia and United Kingdom. His clean, preppy, rich and boy-next-door persona was made him popular, and he made numerous films and TV shows with ABS-CBN/Star Cinema. Yan was also paired with actresses Judy Ann Santos and Claudine Barretto (the latter became his girlfriend).
His biggest break in showbiz was when he became part of the youth-oriented TV series, “Gimik” in 1996. He later on had other highly rated shows such as “Mula sa Puso” (1997) and “Saan Ka Man Naroroon” (1999).
Rico was on vacation when he was found dead by his friend, actor Dominic Ochoa in his hotel room in a Palawan resort on March 22, 2002. There were speculations that drugs were involved, but rumors were quickly dispelled by an official autopsy. The real cause of his death was cardiac arrest, due to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis while Rico was asleep.
Last Monday, March 14, was supposed to be Rico’s 41st birthday and Claudine came to visit his gravesite at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaque, together with her son (with actor Raymart Santiago), Santino.
In her Instagram post, the actress posted a photo of her laying flowers on Rico’s tombstone, and wrote: “Happy happy birthday RY.”
