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Ruben Rustia

Filipino actor (1923-1994)

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Source updated August 26, 2026

Ruben Matias Cayari (July 25, 1923, April 7, 1994), professionally known as Ruben Rustia, was a Filipino actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayal of President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1988 Australian miniseries A Dangerous Life.

He won the FAMAS Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1954 fantasy film Pedro Penduko, and was later nominated for four more times in the same category as well as for Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

01Career

Ruben Rustia began his film career as an extra in the 1947 film Kamay ng Diyos (English: 'Hand of God'). His first supporting role was in the 1951 film Taga-Ilog, and he would later receive a reputation as a character actor.

In 1988, Rustia was cast in the role of President Ferdinand Marcos in the Australian miniseries A Dangerous Life (or The Four Day Revolution in Australia). Karla Delgado of the Manila Standard praised his performance as the president, stating that he "has Marcos' voice and mannerisms perfected."

In 1993, he performed as Kapitan Tiago in Eddie Romero's miniseries adaptation of José Rizal's novel Noli Me Tángere.

02Personal life

Rustia had six children with his wife Alejandra. He was a Methodist.

03Death

Rustia died on April 7, 1994 in Manila, Philippines, from diabetes complications. He was 70 years old.

04Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Credited as		Role	Note(s)	Ref(s).
Year	Title	Actor	Screenwriter	Role	Note(s)	Ref(s).
1947	Kamay ng Diyos	Yes	No		Extra
1954	Pedro Penduko	Yes	No
1955	Anak ni Palaris	Yes	No
1956	Haring Tulisan	Yes	No
1959	Pitong Gatang	Yes	Yes
1960	Materiales Fuertes	Yes	Yes		Cameo
1961	Noli Me Tángere	Yes	No	Maestro
1963	Si Darna at ang Impakta	No	Yes
1963	Ang Tatay Kong Kalbo!	Yes	No		Also associate director
1964	Lagalag	Yes	No
1965	Darna at ang Babaing Tuod	Yes	Yes	Gaspar
1965	Captain Barbell Kontra Captain Bakal	Yes	Yes		Also director
1966	Tiagong Lundag	Yes	Yes
1967	Marko Asintado	Yes	Yes
	Wild, Wild Wong	Yes	Yes
	Alamid: Agent 777	Yes	Yes	DND Secretary
	Operation: Impossible	Yes	Yes
	Sibad	Yes	Yes
1968	Zaragoza	Yes	Yes
1969	Perlas ng Silangan	Yes	Yes
1970	Santiago!	Yes	No	Capt. Santos
1971	Lagablab ng Pag-ibig	Yes	Yes
	Sakim	Yes	Yes
	Beast of the Yellow Night	Yes	No	Hospital doctor
1972	Magiting at Pusakal	Yes	Yes	Kalayaan
1972	The Hot Box	Yes	No
1973	Tanikalang Dugo	Yes	Yes
1974	Fe, Esperanza, Caridad	Yes	No	Don Benito	"Fe" segment
	Mga Tigre ng Sierra Cruz	Yes	Yes
	Carnival Song	Yes	Yes
1975	Ang Nobya Kong Sexy	Yes	No
1976	Nunal sa Tubig	Yes	No	Pedro
1977	Banta ng Kahapon	Yes	No
1978	Doble Kara	Yes	Yes
1980	Aguila	Yes	No	Gen. Caram
1981	Kamakalawa	Yes	No	Kulai
1981	Kisapmata	Yes	No	Peping Manalasan
1982	Desire	Yes	No
1984	Sister Stella L.	Yes	No
1987	Hari sa Hari, Lahi sa Lahi	Yes	No
1987	Huwag Mong Buhayin ang Bangkay	Yes	No	Lucio
1988	Ang Anino ni Asedillo	Yes	No
	Ang Supremo	Yes	No
	Kumander Dante	Yes	No
	Chinatown: Sa Kuko ng Dragon	Yes	No
1989	Arrest: Pat. Rizal Alih, Zamboanga Massacre	Yes	No	Mayor Cesar Climaco
	Fight for Us	Yes	No	Monsignor
	Sa Kuko ng Agila	Yes	No	Don Fernando
	Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita	Yes	No	Ricardo
	Isang Bala, Isang Buhay	Yes	No	Don Honorio
1990	Michael and Madonna	Yes	No	Principal
	Pido Dida: Sabay Tayo	Yes	No
	Alyas Pogi: Birador ng Nueva Ecija	Yes	No	Padre Jose
1991	Alyas Batman en Robin	Yes	No
1992	Mukhang Bungo: Da Coconut Nut	Yes	No	Jhonny Khadaphi
	Eh, Kasi Bata	Yes	No
	Alyas Joker: Sigue-Sigue 22 Commando	Yes	Yes
	Alyas Pogi 2	Yes	No	Priest
1993	Lt. Madarang: Iginuhit sa Dugo	Yes	No	Villager
1994	Bawal Na Gamot	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	A Dangerous Life	Ferdinand Marcos	Miniseries
1992	Valiente	Damian Valiente
1992	Lovingly Yours		1 episode
1993	Noli Me Tángere	Kapitan Tiago	Miniseries

Watch videos about Ruben RustiaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ruben Rustia”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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