PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL Theater Association (PETA) alumnus Mars Cavestany recently kicked the bucket in Sydney, Australia due to a lingering illness.
His Filipino ancestry has prevailed during the last days of his life so a homecoming is in place when his ashes were brought to the Philippines from Down Under.
Starting today, Friday, August 21, 2026, the day of remembering the assassination of Ninoy Aquino 43 years ago, Mars’ remains are laid at the Conservatorio IV Chapel at the 2nd Floor of the Golden Haven Memorial Chapels at the Villar Sipag Complex, C5 Extension, Global South, Las Pinas City.
The commemoration of Ninoy’s martyrdom also serves as Cavestany’s memorial backdrop for his revolutionary theater spirit when he was a fiery member of PETA who fought neo-fascism, colonialism and authoritarianism through his participation in on-and-off stage performances.
Mars might be behind-the-scenes but he remembered being inspired by PEAT’s dramaturgy of such plays Brenda Fajardo’s “Juan Tamban,” Nicanor G. Tiongson’s “Pilipinas Circa 1907,” Rody Vera’s adaptation of Marina Feleo-Gonzales’ “Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo,” among many nationalistic productions.
Many of Cavestany’s colleagues and friends will pay tribute to him as an endeared person, committed artist and dedicated servant of Philippine arts and culture.
Mars, Marcelino Domino Cavestany, Jr. in real life, was also a teacher at the Philippine Normal University (PNU) where he also graduated before he joined show business.
PETA member and entertainment writer and editor Art Tapalla will pay his last respects to Mars this afternoon and reminisce about the good old days he spent with his dearly departed buddy.
“Napakalaki ng paghanga ko kay Mars. Talagang nakatutok siya sa pagtuturo ng teatro. Kahit nasa Australia na siya ay teatro pa rin ang kanyang ginawa. Saludo ako sa kanya (I admire him so much. He was focused in teaching theater. Even when he was in Australia, it was theater that he did. I salute him),” said Art.
“Ngayong wala na siya, ipagpapatuloy ko ang dedikasyon niya sa teatro. Pwede akong tumulong sa’yo, Boy, sa pagbabalik mo ng DUMALO (Dulaang Don Mateo) sa Lopez, Quezon. ‘Yan ang legacy na ipagpapatuloy ko (Now that he’s gone, I will continue his dedication to theater. I can help you, Boy, in your revival of your theater group. That is one legacy of Mars that I can carry on)” added Tapalla.
Stage actor and writer Phil Panganiban, a longtime friend of Mars has this to share about him:
“We became friends in the early 2000s. In 2004, I spent Christmas with him in Sydney, where he lived. Whenever he came home to Manila, I made a point to see him.
“Last year, he directed me in the Sydney production of our play, ‘The Moon and the Bakunawa.’ Right after our performance, I bid him goodbye before Tito Frank and I rushed to the airport to catch our flight while the rest of the cast continued with the Tertulia, the show’s twin bill.
“I visited him in June of this year. On my last night there, he had me record a voice message and a reading of Benny’s work. That morning, I woke up before the sun was up, hugged him, and took the train to the airport for the flight home. As the city was still half-asleep, I looked out the window and kept thinking about the track of life he followed. He has called this city his home since the 90s, but he had always been pining for the home he left in the tropics. He’s safe here- cared for in terms of housing and medical needs, yet always reaching back toward the motherland that shaped him. He studied, breathed, and lived drama, which followed him into exile, yet he always seemed to carry the ache of loneliness.
“A week after my visit, he passed away in his sleep.
“Suddenly, the whole trip felt different. What I thought was a week of vacation became, in hindsight, a final crossing of paths. Life has a way of disguising its last moments as ordinary. Just a hug in the dim morning, a casual goodbye you assume will be followed by another hello, a train ride to the airport, and a life that continued for a few more days before it quietly ended.
“May pagka-random din ang buhay (Life plays randomly). Or perhaps not random, but fragile and ephemeral, parang teatro (like theater), in ways I came to understand only too late. We spend so much of our lives moving around our work schedules, rushing toward holiday departures, and next destinations, never knowing which encounter is already a farewell. We think there is another time to catch up, mag-videoke, share meals, give hugs. It was, in fact, the final scene.
“The farewell was so simple. Wa (No) dramatic music, walang (no) final bow, walang (no) warning from the gods of theater. Maybe life, or death, is exactly that.
“I retrieved the voice recordings he left behind. It was ominous, as if he were saying goodbye.
This Friday and Saturday, August 22, 2026, please join us in celebrating his life.”
According to Phil, the visiting hour is 1 pm onwards. “6 pm mass and 7 pm is huntahan (conversations and reminiscences),” informed Panganiban.
Other PETA stalwarts expected to pay their last respects to Mars are Cecilla Guidote-Alvarez, the founder of the organization Frank G. Rivera, Joel Lamangan and many more.
Mars is survived by his wife, stage and TV actress Divina Fabrique and multimedia artist-daughter Marvy Fabrique Cavestany.