“We were given time to prepare by the Lord since the diagnosis of his illness six months ago," Anson-Roa recalled. “In fact, two weeks ago, Pete and I discussed the final details of his interment plans. He specified that he wanted a cremation.

A lover of music, Boots said Pete wanted the last night of his wake to be a sing-along with his friends.

Pete started his career as disc jockey when he was barely out of high school in the late 1950s. “I was studying at the National Teachers’ College and a teacher, who was running dzTC, invited me to join the radio station," Roa told the Inquirer in one of his last interviews last June.

The radio prodigy crossed over to other media. He hosted the ABC 5 youth program “Dance-O-Rama” and ABS-CBN variety show “The Baby O’Brien Show” in the early 1960s. He also appeared in movies and directed and produced TV shows, and worked as administrative manager of ABS-CBN until a year before the declaration of martial law in 1972.

Pete suffered from a stroke in the 1990s as his family returned to the Philippines from a long stay in the United States, where his wife, veteran actress Boots Anson-Roa, served as a diplomat for the Philippine government.

During their stay in Virginia, Pete was among the original proponents for the establishment of a Filipino American newspaper in DC. Boots wrote a regular column for the Manila Mail since its inception in 1991.

He is survived by four children and nine grandchildren.

Boots said that her husband had “kept his humor until the end.”

“My son-in-law [Antipolo Rep.] Robbie Puno joked with him. He asked Pete: What would you like for us to buy for Mama after your passing?

Pete quipped: Another me! Kengkoy talaga siya. (He was such a kidder.)"