Dela Cruz had several friendships throughout his career. Guerrero describes that the first time he met dela Cruz children were around who did not know what to make him, and when dela Cruz spoke the little girls got scared. He found dela Cruz hilarious. A fond memory he holds, is that dela Cruz often taunted him to go sparring, where he would pretend to be way too scared to go along. Anderson's account of his friendship with dela Cruz was at the time when both were under contract with Liliw Production. He said it was polluted by the possessive attitude of producers Peter and Cora Caballes. When he started socializing with dela Cruz, he noticed his potential and felt he was put down by others. He recalls bringing dela Cruz at an Art house cinema to introduce him to Italian neorealist films. Dela Cruz was enthralled by them. Together they watched Luis Buñuel's "Los Olvidados" (1950), Federico Fellini's "La Strada" (1954), and François Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" (1959). Dela Cruz was particularly fond of Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves" (1948), on his first viewing he cried. They agreed to make an action-comedy remake with a human touch. Anderson also talked about dela Cruz's fearlessness. When he gave dela Cruz a ride on his motorcycle, dela Cruz was upset when he asked him to wear a belt and a helmet. He also recalls that a man once tapped his hand on dela Cruz's head, who stood up for himself. It led to a situation where Anderson had to separate them. Shortly after Anderson voiced concerns regarding both dangerous working conditions and mispayments to the Caballes, they separated them. They would tell him that dela Cruz was absent when he wasn't. Anderson parted ways with the company, never to see dela Cruz again. Catral stated that when she stopped acting that he and Dolphy were among the few she said goodbye to. Celing said that fellow actress Lotis Key attended dela Cruz's funeral.