Once, in the 1950s-thru the 70s, the Philippines was a major manufacturer of fabric in the Asian region, thanks to LITTON & Co. Inc., producers of the well-known LITTON brand of fabrics. The business was started by Englishman George Litton Sr., who came to the Philippines and married a local girl, Rosa Tulod. His fabric business survived the war and became a success in the 50s, helping develop the country’s fabric industry, By the 60s decades, over 20 textile mills were operating in Mandaluyong and Pasig area, with LITTON having the largest and most complete factory built for Php 40 million.
The Denim craze in the 70s and 80s drove the demand for denims to great heights, and LITTON denims were in full color, in major magazines and newspapers. LITTON’s choice as celebrity endorser surprised many as he was over 30 years old then, quite mature, while other brands employed younger models.
Still, LITTON opted to use the action-sexy film
star ANTHONY ALONZO, as he was perhaps, the most visible actor around,
with some 30 films under his belt, shot from 1980 to 1985 alone. This meant
that Alonzo had quite a major exposure on the silver screen, as well as on
videos. In fact, within this 5-year period, he won the 1982 FAMAS Best
Actor Award for Bambang and , he triumphed as Best Actor
twice at the Manila Filmfest for Bago Kumalat ang Kamandag (1983)
and Moises Padilla Story: The Missing Chapter (1985). He would win again
in 1987 for Anak ng Badjao, making him the second most awarded Best
Actor in the filmfest, after Christopher de Leon.
Born as Antonio Viana Hernandez (2 Apr. 1948) in Quezon City, Anthony is known as the brother of actress Alicia Alonzo, who herself is still appearing in Filipino films and soap operas. He was already 26 when he appeared in his first movie, Muntinlupa 1950. But he made up for it by becoming the Philippines’ busiest actor from the 1980s thru the 1990s decade. Some of his well-known roles were in the movies Hindi Sa Iyo ang Mundo, Baby Porcuna (1978), Dakpin si Junior Bombay (1979), Dakpin si Pusa, Totoy Scarface (1981), Ang Paghihiganti ni David Burdado (1983), Jabidah Massacre (1990), Relaks Lang, Sagot Kita (1994)-Warlito Gan, and his last movie, Masdan Mo ang Mga Bata (1997). Alonzo died of skin cancer on 9 Oct. 1998 at age 50.
As to LITTON & Co., the heirs—that includes the famous TV Host and Personality Johnny Litton, has shifted its business from clothing to shelter, still aligned to its mission of helping make life better, all for the benefit of many.
SOURCES:
Litton Company: https://littonandcompany.com/litton-legacy.php
Anthony Alonzo, Wikipedia,
The Washington Post, List of People who fled with Marcos
Video 48, THE EIGHTIES #
504: ANTHONY ALONZO, ROBERTO GONZALEZ, et.al. "ANG PAGHIHIGANTI NI DAVID
BURDADO" (1983), https://video48.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-eighties-504-anthony-alonzo-roberto.html
