"In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing about the dark times." - Brecht

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Pinoy Weekly

Dilemma

When I was a kid in elementary school, I was branded by my teacher as a "visual person," meaning I experience things and express these experiences visually, rather than verbally. I was always one of the quiet ones in class, preferring to draw on my notebook than participate in classroom jousts. Asked once in class what were my  "ambitions" I said I wanted to draw for a living. My teacher qualified, "So you want to be an architect?"

Not knowing otherwise, of course, I eventually adopted my teacher's interpretation of my "ambition." In subsequent class recitations, during family gatherings, in "slumbooks" or "autographs" -- my ambition in life was to be an "architect."

I did not know any better. Kids of my generation, because of the orientation the teachers were giving them, geared their dreams in life toward "ways of earning a living." I did not know you could be a visual artist by profession, so I assumed everybody who drew were architects. We certainly did not know anybody in our subdivision who was an artist. Visual art (painting, scupture, graphic arts) came to us as this archaic thing, something that was done during the rennaisance in Paris or Florence or some place and time worlds away from Daraga, Albay.

High school came and architecture lost its appeal. I still wanted to draw, though: I drew caricatures of my classmates and basketball players. But it was reading that once again sparked my curiosity, awakened me to the possibilities of the creative imagination. It did not hurt, too, that my mother taught elementary school english and my elder sister wrote novelletas in her spare time. Reading Miguel de Unamuno's essay Solitude in English class, among other things, further my interest in reading and creative writing. College temporarily sidetracked this interest (I took up Geology in first year), but soon I picked up where I left off in high school, haunting the stacks of UP Main Library during spare time, or often even in lieu of my classes.

Yet despite the interest in writing, the thing about my being a "visual person" that my elementary school teacher said still bugs me. In writing, I often find myself disliking metaphors and allegory, and would often go for descriptive narration. I do have a strong sense of irony and am often chided for my sarcasm, and it fuels much of my writing.

But lately, after I took up photography as a hobby, I noticed myself again seeing things "more visually" rather than processing it in terms of how I would describe it in writing. Lately when I see or experience things, like for example, a violent dispersal of a rally, I imagine freezing that horrific image in time. Or I imagine how a movie camera moving through the scene to capture the emotion visually.

I find this alarming, because I cannot imagine not writing, and would want to continue doing so for as long as I can. But I guess, my teacher was right; I am a visual person. And now it makes me wonder what I would have become if my teacher had not interpreted my "ambition" as that of wanting to be an architect.

Posted by: kr.guda at 11:59 | link | comments (3)

And the Winner for the Worst Performance in a Courtroom is...

Yesterday's hearing on the Batasan 6's motion to quash the amended information filed by the Department of Justice both affirmed my faith in the legal profession and confirmed my worst fears regarding people working in the current government.

Supporters of the beleaguered militant congresspersons were already picketing the Makati RTC when I arrived. After taking a few photos of the scene, I went on and proceeded to the sala of Branch 137 presided by Jenny Lind Aldecoa-Delorino and was met by the sweltering heat of the packed courtroom. An airconditioning unit strategically placed beside the good judge hardly made the difference as frantically swiveling electric fans sought to diminish the heat.

Naturally, the Batasan 6 supporters were there, perhaps, both for moral support and for intimidation purposes.  Atty. Romeo Capulong, counsel for the congresspersons, was painstakingly discussing the contentious issues surrounding the amended information. After which, other lawyers to the several accused (there were 46 of them, supposedly conspiring against the Arroyo government) proceeded to register their objections, one by one, to the DOJ position. Especially passionate were the manifestations of Teodoro Teh, (lawyer to 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan), Harry Roque (lawyer to Rep. Teddy Casiño), and Edre Olalia (lawyer to Nathanael Santiago and Rey Claro Casambre). Also present to speak for the defense were equally compelling and competent defense lawyers Alnie Foja (for Rep. Liza Maza), Jobert Pahilga (for Rep. Rafael Mariano), FLAG's Jose Manuel Diokno (for Vicente Ladlad) and some others whose names escape me now.

While the defense lawyers were speaking, Atty. Emmanuel Velasco, DOJ's much vaunted senior state prosecutor, excused himself momentarily from the courtroom, proceeding to the adjacent comfort room. I was standing at the back portion of the room; I swear could hear Velasco coughing and puking his gusts out in the CR. Upon exiting the john, Velasco returned to the courtroom, drank half the contents of his bottled water and sat beside Harry Roque. (Now, normally, opposing counsels sit across each other like they do in John Grisham novels. However, being in a third world country affords much less privilege for trial lawyers.)

Personally, Velasco's getting the courtroom jitters was quite understandable. After all, it's not everyday that a state prosecutor faces a battery of reputable human rights lawyers (actually, half the entire population of HR lawyers in the country) as adversary. Normally, in cases of supposed rights abuses, a lone human rights lawyer would be present amid a battery of state prosecutors out to prove the benevolence of government toward dissenters.

Anyway, when it was Velasco's turn, the proceedings unexpectedly took a comedic turn. There, in the cramped, sweltering room, Velasco forever distinguished himself by performing what I'm sure will soon be proclaimed as one of the most ridiculous courtroom acts in Philippine legal history. When it was his turn, he stood up, and instead of facing the judge, faced the audience as lawyers do in American movies.

"Once, there was this young man...," began his declamation, about a kid who was a member of the Kabataang Makabayan during the '80s. This kid, Velasco related, once attended a rally and was asked by his comrades to bring with him an icepick. His comrades told the kid to say that the deadly weapon was for putting holes in streamers if caught by the police. But the kid, Velasco said, refused to lie and instead told his comrades that he would tell the police that the icepick was really for self-defense.

"And that young man," declared Velasco, "was this representation." 

By this time, many in the audience could no longer suppress their chuckles. The judge herself wore a half-smile, visibly amused with the prosecutor's theatrics. The moral of the story, Velasco declared, is that leftists should be proud of their actions, if they truly believe in the principles they attest to. Unlike the Batasan 5 and Atty. Capulong, Velasco said he is still proud of having been a KM member. He even has a kid named after Karl Marx who, he generously shared, "is now in the hospital with a heart problem."

By then, even the judge was coyly grinning. As for the audience, the court deputy had to hush us throughout the rest of the declamation. Beside the fact that he absolutely failed to refute any argument raised by the battery of lawyers, Velasco spoke terribly ungrammatical English, and pronounced CPP as "Si-Fi-Fi" to boot. To make things worse, he made hand gestures not unlike what one sees in high school oratorical contests. He was so into the gestures that at one point, he accidentally hit the head his assistant with a karate chop.

It was so hilarious that from the moment Velasco opened his mouth I knew the amended complaint would be thrown out. The judge was suppressing giggles half the time; I figured no judge with this keen sense of humor would fail to see the ridiculousness of the state's case. 

But more than her sense of humor, Judge Delorino must be commended for having fairly dispensed justice despite obvious pressure from the powers-that-be. Already, the DOJ has been hinting at filing motion for Delorino's inhibition from the case. In the interet of justice, we must support this judge who (at the moment) rescued our waning faith in the judicial system.

Posted by: kr.guda at 12:39 | link | comments (2)

Lason sa Dalampasigan ng Rapu-rapu

“DATI, asul na asul ang dagat. Ngayon, berde na.”

Para kay Aling Juanita Ayo, signos ng papalapit na masamang kalamidad ang pagbago ng kulay ng karagatan. Sanay ang mga mamamayan ng Brgy. Lupi, Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon sa madalas na pagbisita ng bagyo. Ngunit ang hindi nila inaasahan, kakaibang kalamidad ang paparating.

Unang araw ng Nobyembre noong nakaraang taon nang ibalita sa radyo ang kontaminasyon sa karagatan ng mga nakalalasong kemikal mula sa isang dambuhalang minahan sa karatig na islang bayan ng Rapu-rapu, Albay.

Tanaw mula sa dalampasigan ng Prieto Diaz ang minahan ng Lafayette Philippines sa Rapu-rapu. 45 minuto ang layo nito sa isla sa pamamagitan ng bangkang de motor. Tuwing gabi, nakikita nina Aling Juanita ang liwanag ng piyer ng minahan na pag-aari ng mga negosyanteng Australyano. Aniya, natuwa sa tanawin ang mga bata, na di pa nakakita ng ganoong karaming ilaw, katulad ng liwanag ng lungsod.

Noong araw na iyon ng Nobyembre, naghandang pumalaot ang asawa ni Aling Juanita, gayundin ang iba pang mga mangingisda ng Prieto Diaz. Ngunit sa dalampasigan, sinalubong sila ng masangsang na amoy at nakakalat na patay na isda sa baybayin.

Hindi lamang nangyari ito sa Prieto Diaz. Sa mga baybayin ng Rapu-rapu, Donsol, Gubat at Lungsod ng Sorsogon tumambad ang nakakalat na patay na isda. Nagreklamo naman ang ilang residente ng kakaibang kati sa kanilang balat matapos kumain ng isda o pumalaot sa dagat. Di nagtagal, kumalat ang balitang nalason na nga ang karagatan.

Ngunit ang totoo, Oktubre 2005 pa naganap ang sadyang pagtapon ng Lafayette ng kemikal sa dagat. Sa Brgy. Pagcolbon sa isla ng Rapu-rapu, unang naiulat ang fish kill noong Oktubre 11. Sa Brgy. Binosawan naman noong Oktubre 31, iniulat ng mga residente ang natagpuang 15 kilo ng patay na lamang dagat sa dalampasigan.

Sa isang fact-finding mission na isinagawa ng Sagip-Isla, lokal na organisasyon sa Rapu-rapu, kasama ang Center for Enviornmental Concerns, Agham, at mga representante ng Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, St. Agnes Academy, at Aquinas University noong Nobyembre 12-13, 2005, napag-alaman ang “pagkamatay ng mga puno at iba pang halaman sa lugar kung saan dumaloy ang mine tailings.”

Ayon sa ulat ng misyon, unti-unting namamatay ang ilog ng mga komunidad sa Rapu-rapu na pinagkukunan ng mga mamamayan dito ng malinis na tubig. “Ito’y palatandaang epekto ng paggamit ng minahan ng pambihirang dami ng tubig para sa operasyon,” ayon sa ulat ng misyon.

Inamin mismo ng Lafayette na sadya nilang pinakawalan ang mine tailings noong Oktubre sa Brgy. Binosawan para maiwasan ang pagkasira ng dam na puno na ng tailings na naglalaman ng mga nakalalasong kemikal.

Dahil dito, iniutos ng DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) ang pansamantalang pagtigil ng pagtapon ng Lafayette ng nakalalasong kemikal sa Rapu-rapu. Iniutos din ng DENR sa Lafayette na magbayad ng P300,000 na danyos dahil sa paglabag sa Environmental Compliance Certificate.

Matapos ang limang buwan, naglabas naman ang NSRI (Natural Sciences Research Institute) ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas ng ulat na “tolerable” na muli ang lebel ng mga kemikal na arsenic at mercury sa karagatan ng Albay at Sorsogon.

“Nagpilit na kaming mangisda, anghirap kasi ng hindi nakakakain ng isda. Parang tuyung-tuyo ang kalooban namin at parang nanghihina kami ’pag di nakakakain ng isda,” ani Aling Juanita.

Hinikayat ng mga lokal na opisyal ang pagbalik ng mga mangingisda sa pamamalaot. Bahagyang bumalik din ang mga mamimili sa palengke. Agaran namang inanunsiyo ng mga alkalde ng mga apektadong bayan na bukas na muli ang kanilang mga magagarang dalampasigan at mga resort sa mga turista.

Sa bahagi ng Lafayette, siniguro ng manedsment sa mga residente na di na muling mangyayari ang spillage sa dagat mula sa dam nito na pinag-iimbakan ng nakalalasong mga kemikal. Katunayan, nagpatawag pa ito noong Pebrero ng konsultasyon sa mga lokal na opisyal, residente, lider-simbahan, at sosyo-sibikong organisasyon upang kumbinsihin silang hindi na mauulit ang pagkalason sa dagat.

Sa naturang konsultasyon, inanunsiyo ng mga opisyal ng Lafayette ang konstruksiyon ng mas malaki at mas mataas na dam para tambakan ng mga kemikal na siyang by-product ng pagpoproseso ng mga nakukuhang yaman sa lupa tulad ng ginto, copper at zinc.

Mapanganib Pa Rin

Ngunit tila hindi pa rin lubos na napanatag ang loob ng mga mamamayan ng Prieto Diaz. Berde pa rin ang dagat. Di na rin naibalik ang sigla ng pangingisda. Lalong lumala lamang ang paghihirap ng mga mamamayan.

Pana-panahon pa ring inaanod sa dalampasigan ang mga patay na isda, dugong, balyena, at iba pang hayop ng karagatan. May mga ulat din ng pag-anod ng patay na butanding at dolphin.

Noong Enero 26, 2006, natagpuan sa dalampasigan ng mga residente ng Gogon, Poblacion sa Rapu-rapu ang isang sperm whale (pygmy) na may pitong pulgada ang haba at 150 kilo ang bigat.

“Isang balyena ang natagpuan dito noon lamang huling linggo ng Marso,” ayon kay Fr. Ino Bugawisan, katuwang na kura-paruko sa Brgy. Poblacion, Rapu-Rapu. Aniya, madalas rin siyang makatanggap ng balita mula sa mga mangingisda ng natatagpuang patay na malalaking isda.

Sa Prieto Diaz, may mga ulat pa rin ng mga mangingisda at residente na nagkakasakit matapos pumalaot sa dagat o kumain ng isda. Tulad ng ilang residente sa Prieto Diaz na nakausap ng PINOY WEEKLY na tumangging magpakilala. Anila, bumalik ang kati sa kanilang mga katawan matapos kumain ng isda, sa kabila ng deklarasyong di na mapanganib ang dagat.

Kasalukuyang pinasusuri ng mga residente sa mga espesyalista ang mga nangamamatay na isda, para masiguro na lason ang dahilan ng pagkamatay ng mga ito. Depensa naman ng DENR, maaring isolated incident lamang ang pagkamatay ng mga lamang dagat na ito. Itinatanggi rin ng manedsment ng Lafayette na may kinalaman ang kanilang pagmimina sa pagkamatay ng mga isda at lamang dagat.

Gayunman, sinabi ni Bugawisan na sa tagal ng pangingisda ng mga taga-Rapu-rapu, ngayon lamang sila nakakita ng ganito karaming bilang ng namamatay na lamang dagat.

Maaring Maganap Muli

“May doubts ako sa NSRI report,” sabi pa ni Benito Doma, alkalde ng Prieto Diaz. Unang una, sabi niya, ginawa ng mga siyentista sa NSRI ang sampling maraming buwan na ang nakakaraan matapos ang pagkalason ng dagat at pansamantalang pagpasara sa minahan. Naging “tolerable” lamang diumano ang mercury at cyanide content ng tubig dahil sa pansamantalang napatigil ang pagtapon ng lason.

Sinabi pa ni Doma na patuloy ang takot na nadarama ng mga residente sa Prieto Diaz hangga’t nananatili ang minahan sa Rapu-rapu. “Dito sa Prieto Diaz, gabi-gabi natatanaw namin ang liwanag sa Lafayette. Kapag umaga naman, ’yung mga mangingisda, natatanaw naman ang bundok ng isla ng Rapu-rapu na nakakalbo na,” ani Doma.

May dahilan ang mga mamamayan para mangamba. Sa pag-aaral ni Dr. Emelina G. Regis, direktor ng INECAR (Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research) sa Ateneo de Naga University, hindi paborable ang Rapu-rapu sa pagmimina.

Mistulan ding walang panahon ng tagtuyot ang Rapu-rapu, ayon kay Regis. Aniya, maulan sa lugar, hindi lamang mula Nobyembre hanggang Enero, kundi halos bawat buwan ng taon, kung kaya gaano man kataas at kalaki ang dam ay madali itong mapupuno. At dahil sa kalagayan nito bilang maliit na isla na may bundok na matitirik na slopes, diretsong aagos ang anumang spillage patungo sa karagatan.

Nangangamba rin ang mga mamamayan ng Rapu-rapu sa posibilidad ng landslide dahil sa pagtambak ng tailings sa kanilang kabundukan. Sa Brgy. Binosawan, na matatagpuan sa mismong ibaba ng mga itinatayong dams, lubos na kinakatakutan ang pagguho ng dam.

“Natatakot kaming isang araw ay bigla na lang gumuho ang mga dam at tabunan ang barangay namin tulad ng nangyari sa Leyte,” sabi ni Salvador Echague, residente ng Binosawan.

Kinumpirma ni Regis na malaki ang posibilidad na mangyari ang pagguho ng bundok dahil sa katangian ng lupa at bato sa Rapu-rapu.

Lalo pang pinalala nito ang pagkakaroon ng AMD o Acid Mine Drainage sa mga barangay na Sta. Barbara at Pagcolbon sa Rapu-rapu. Sa mga lugar na ito unang nagsagawa ng open pit mining ang Hixbar Mining Co. noong dekada ’80. AMD ang kontaminasyon sa tubig ng Lead at Cadmium. Dahil dito, tatlo sa apat na ilog sa lugar ang kontaminado na at di na maaring pagkunan ng malinis na tubig.

Pinapatay din diumano ng AMD ang iba’t ibang lamang dagat sa Rapu-rapu. Kapag sumabay ang AMD sa mga kemikal mula sa pagmimina ng Lafayette, halos siguradong maaapektuhan ang agrikultura at isdaan, paliwanag ni Regis.

“Hangga’t nananatili ang Lafayette sa Rapu-rapu, nariyan ang panganib sa aming mga mangingisda at sa kapaligiran. Kung kaya ipinapanawagan namin ang pagpapaalis sa Lafayette,” sabi ni Doma, na kumakatawan sa sentimiyento ng mayorya ng mga mamamayan sa Sorsogon.

Maging ang mga mamamayan ng Rapu-rapu ay mariing tumututol na sa pagmimina sa kanilang isla. Kung dati napaniwala sila sa pangako ng kaunlaran dala ng Lafayette, ayon kay Eric dela Cruz, kagawad ng Brgy. Poblacion sa Rapu-rapu, masasabing mayorya na sa mga tao sa lugar ang naghahangad na paalisin ang dayuhang kompanya ng mina sa lugar.

Ayon kay Dela Cruz, maliban sa pagkasira sa kapaligiran, di rin tinupad ng kompanya ang pagbibigay ng trabaho sa mga mamamayan ng Rapu-rapu, tulad ng ipinangako nito. Batay sa pakikipanayam niya sa mga opisyal ng Lafayette, lumalabas na 90 porsiyento ng mga empleyado ng minahan ay mula pa sa ibang lugar.

“Dati ring nasilaw ako sa mga pangako ng Lafayette ng kaunlaran,” sabi ni Dela Cruz. Ngunit nang maganap ang spillage, nakita ng mga mamamayan ng Rapu-rapu ang napakasamang epekto ng pagmimina sa kanilang kapaligiran.

Pinangangambahan lamang ni Dela Cruz at mga kapanalig niya sa isla ng Rapu-rapu tulad ni Fr. Bugawisan ang mga balitang tinatangkang panunuhol ng Lafayette sa mga lokal na opisyal. Bahagi rin ng panunuyo ng Lafayette ang pagpapatayo ng mga simbahan at iba pang imprastraktura sa mga barangay para mapaniwala ang mga tao na kaunlaran ang dala ng pagmimina.

Kinumpirma rin mismo ni Bugawisan ang tangkang pagsuhol sa mga dating kura paruko sa Brgy. Poblacion ng P20-Milyon noong nagsasagawa pa lamang ng eksplorasyon ang Lafayette.

May ilan ding mga opisyal ng barangay na todo-suporta sa pagmimina dahil sa benepisyong nito sa kanila. “Buti na lang nagkaroon ng minahan kasi nagkaroon ng trabaho ang mga tao dito,” sabi ni Reynold Asuncion, barangay kapitan ng Brgy. Malubago, Rapu-rapu.

Sinabi pa ni Asuncion na mabuti para sa kanilang komunidad ang pagmimina dahil sa malaking buwis na maaring makukuha ng lokal na gobyerno. Ngunit di marahil batid ni Asuncion na wala pang binabayad na buwis ang Lafayette dahil sa sampung taong tax holiday na iginagawad ng gobyerno sa kompanya sa bisa ng Mining Act of 1995.

Samantala, mistulang hawak ni Asuncion sa leeg ang mga mamamayan ng kanyang barangay. Sa pagpunta ng PINOY WEEKLY sa lugar, napag-alamang pinagbabawalan ni Asuncion ang mga tao dito na makipanayam sa mga tagalabas nang walang paalam sa kanya o sa munisipyo ng Rapu-rapu.

Mapapansin din ang mistulang mansiyong bahay ni Asuncion na katagi ng mga dampang bahay ng mga kabarangay sa Malubago. Ayon sa ilang residente na tumangging magpakilala, malaki ang kinita ni Asuncion sa pagsusuplay ng isdang kinain ng mga empleyado habang ginagawa pa lamang ang minahan.

Malawakang Pagtutol

Ngunit, ayon kay Dela Cruz, kakaunti lamang ang mga tulad ni Asuncion na pabor sa pagmimina. Sa kasalukuyan, nagpasa na ng resolusyon ang mga lokal na gobyerno ng Rapu-rapu sa Albay, gayundin ng Gubat, Donsol at Prieto Diaz sa Sorsogon, na naghihiling sa pambansang gobyerno ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo na agarang kanselahin ang permiso ng Lafayette na magmina.

Todo-suporta rin ang iba’t ibang institusyon ng simbahang Katoliko, tulad ng CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines), mga paruko sa Albay at Sorsogon at mga Redemptorist, sa pangangampanya laban sa Lafayette at sa malawakang komersiyal na pagmimina sa Pilipinas.

Sa isang pastoral letter, inihayag pa ng CBCP ang pagtutol ng simbahan sa Mining Act of 1995 na anito’y mistulang nagbebenta ng malalawak na yamang lupa ng bansa sa mga dayuhang kapitalista. Sa Rapu-rapu lamang, mahigit 4,486 ektarya sa kabuuang 5,589 ektaryang lupain ng isla, o 80.27 porsiyento, ang inilalaan ng gobyerno Arroyo para sa pagmimina ng Lafayette at iba pang dayuhan at lokal na kompanya.

Umaasa sina Dela Cruz, Doma, Bugawisan, gayundin ang mga ordinaryong mamamayan ng Albay at Sorsogon katulad nina Aling Juanita at Mang Salvador na makikinig din ang gobyerno sa panawagang pagpapatalsik sa Lafayette at pagbabasura sa Mining Act.

“Pero mahirap siguro, kung totoo ang balitang isa si First Gentleman Mike Arroyo sa mga investor (ng Lafayette),” pangwakas ni Bugawisan.

Photos of Rapu-rapu and Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon here.

Posted by: kr.guda at 08:25 | link | comments

Michiko (Reluctantly) Writes Visions of Hope

Is Michiko Yamamoto our movie-crazed generation’s JD Salinger?

Despite the huge critical success of two films she wrote, namely Maryo J. de los Reyes’ Magnifico (2004) and Auraeus Solito’s Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (2005), Michiko continues to shy away from public attention.

This is not just because scriptwriters are usually relegated to the background while actors and directors hog the spotlight. Michiko is, in fact, really “shy”; her unassuming disposition now becoming the stuff of legend.

Her writing mentor Nestor U. Torre once wrote about how Michiko was “too shy to even accept her trophies in person” when Magnifico won accolades here and abroad. The amazing thing, according to Torre, is that Michiko can boast of winning more scriptwriting awards in one film than most writers can in their entire careers.

Interestingly, Michiko points out that it is her shyness that pushed her to writing in the first place. “Even when I was in high school, I already wrote poetry and even tried with short stories. I always wrote the scripts for our class productions because I didn’t like acting. I have stage fright so I would do everything just so I wouldn’t go on stage,” she says.

Michiko was too unassuming to even recognize her own talent early on. In college, she took up Mathematics (major in Computer Science) from the University of Sto. Tomas, because “I didn’t know what course to take that time and Computer Science was ‘in’.”

As with most discoveries of genius, Michiko’s own discovery of her raw talent happened serendipitously, that is, by way of a newspaper writeup for a scriptwriting worksop.

“After graduation, I couldn’t get a job. Competition was tough and most of my batchmates ended up working in call centers. Because I had nothing to do, I decided to join a scriptwriting workshop I saw in [the newspaper],” says Michiko.

It was Torre who facilitated the workshop. A veteran writer with a nose for talent, Torre encouraged Michiko to write more. Soon, the unemployed computer scientist and reluctant mathematician was entering and winning writing contests. She was eventually hired by Viva as a creative consultant.

She, of course, continued to write scripts. Under the auspisces of the UFO productions, the story of Maximo Oliveros germinated.

“With Maxi, the UFO group brainstormed for the concept then I wrote the storyline,” Michiko recounts. “When it got accepted in Cinemalaya [filmfest], I didn’t have the time to write the script so what happened was that the day before the deadline, I had like 15 sequences with me and then I had to stay overnight in a hotel and finish the script for the next day.”

Despite (maybe even because of) the enormous pressure for Michiko, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros proved to critics that her success in Magnifico was no fluke. The film eventually bagged the top prize in Cinemalaya, had a great local commercial run, and was invited to be viewed in a host of film festivals abroad.

“I’ve learned not to expect early on because I don’t like to be disappointed. I didn’t really think Magnifico would even be produced but it did. I didn’t expect Maxi to be so widely accepted, maybe even more than Magnifico so I was pleasantly surprised when it happened. It’s good to be surprised sometimes,” says Michiko.

Maxi was recently screened to packed audiences at the Sundance Film Festival. Michiko reveals that Maxi had four public screenings at Sundance. Each time, more and more people went. “Maybe it was word of mouth. On the third screening, I think some people weren’t able to get in because they sold more tickets than there are seats.”

In explaining the success of Maxi among local audiences, Michiko says that it may have something to do with the situation the country is in. “When so many bad things are happening around you and you feel helpless, you either become more cynical or you try to help by becoming optimistic and giving hope to people who need them.”

She clarifies that she did not write Maxi as a “gay story.” “We [at UFO Pictures] all agreed to make a story about a gay boy but we don’t want acceptance to be the issue. For us, homosexuality is not an issue anymore.”

Michiko claims she merely wants to entertain people. “If that happens, I would be happy already. If they get something out of the movie, inspiration or hope, that would be a bonus for me.”

With its success, however, Maxi may have something more to say about homosexuality than what the filmmakers are willing to admit. Maxi won audiences because, not in spite, of the main protagonist’s “gayness” and capacity to love. By humanizing Maxi instead of relegating him to the level of slapstick like countless gay characters in most Pinoy movies, Michiko made the strongest statement against gender discrimination inside and outside the film industry.

Perhaps, Michiko is only reluctant to admit that her stories make that much impact. Like the reclusive American writer’s character Holden Caulfield who appealled to generations of anguished youth, Michiko’s Magnifico and Maxi may yet again demonstrate for us the enormous capacity of the creative artist to inspire and shape people’s minds.

Posted by: kr.guda at 15:33 | link | comments (3)