Were There Ticket Swapping During the #MMFF2015?

Christmas means spending the day together celebrating the birth of Jesus… and watching the competing films at the Metro Manila Film Festival. In the entertainment industry, Christmas Day signals the start of the festival and the onslaught of movies that are set to make audiences laugh, cry, and swoon. Since its beginnings in 1975, it has given us cinematic gems such as Insiang, Burlesk Queen, Bona, Kisapmata, and Himala.

In recent years, the festival has been under fire for the quality of its films. This year, a new issue is arising, and we’re not talking about the disqualification of Honor Thy Father for the Best Film category in the awarding. We’re talking about allegations of ticket swapping.

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In a series of tweets, My Bebe Love director Jose Javier Reyes says that tickets to his movie were being swapped with another MMFF entry. Netizens have said that it was being switched with Beauty and the Bestie.

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My Bebe Love was produced by Antonio P. Tuviera Entertainment, which is under GMA network. Meanwhile, Beauty and the Bestie was produced by ABS-CBN’s Star Cinema.

Reyes warns viewers to check their tickets before leaving the counter.

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SM Cinema addressed the issue on Twitter, saying that these are accidents due to the high volume of tickets being sold. The tweets were deleted, but were screencapped by @ALDUBPILIPINAS.

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MMFF organizers also addressed the issue on Facebook, saying:

The Metro Manila Film Festival, after looking into the ticket swapping issue, strongly denies the existence of such and is enjoining all the stakeholders of the Festival to be responsible in expressing their sentiments especially on Social Media. The objective of the MMFF is to promote the local film industry and this baseless issue will only sideline the true intent and purpose of the Festival. Let’s continue supporting all the entries of the MMFF 2015.

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