Article by Jade Ceres-Dolor.
The Filipino audience is angry. Dog-lover or not, people have been airing their indignation over the authenticity of a violent scene against a dog in an MMFF film. Oro director Alvin Yapan posted in the movie’s Facebook page the following statement denying the actual killing of the dog for the scene:
“May dalawang aspekto po ang pahayag na iyan. Una, tungkol sa usapin muna ng pelikula. Hindi ko inimbento ang metapora ng aso dito para lang pumatay ng aso sa loob ng isang pelikula para lang pag-usapan. Nasa tunay talagang pagsasalaysay ng testigo sa Gata 4 Massacre na bumalik siya para singilin ang Patrol Kalikasan para sa kinatay nilang aso. Dahil nga kumakain ng aso ang Patrol Kalikasan, kasi nga tradisyon ang pagpulutan ng aso sa inuman sa ilang probinsiya sa bansa,” says Yapan.
He adds: “Ikalawa, hindi totoo na inutusan ko ang isang aktor para lang pumatay ng aso. Diyan ako pinakanagalit. Hindi ako tanga. At kahit sinumang aktor siguro hindi papayag diyan. O hindi ko ilalagay ang sinumang aktor sa ganyang posisyon. Sa probinsiya po may mga nakatalaga talagang tagapatay ng aso, baboy, baka, etc,”
Read the full statement here: ORO-MMFF 2016
However, on January 3rd, cast member Japo Parcero posted on Facebook about the fact the two dogs actually died during the shoot – one by accident and the other killed intentionally. Parcero played a minor role in the film. Her lengthy post on her position condemning the slaughter of an innocent animal is found in her profile: Japo Parcero
She explains that she was not there to see the brutality firsthand, but was at an afterparty with the entire cast and crew where it was discussed in detail and they were given instructions not to utter a word of it to anyone again.
Animal Welfare
There are laws in the Philippines that protect the welfare of animals, particularly Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act of 1998. This legislation restricts the killing of animals in film production. Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) asked the MMFF executive committee to pull the movie from cinemas.
Senator Grace Poe is also calling for an investigation of the dog killing and is eyeing the invalidation of the award given to the film named after her late father FPJ.
MMFF spokesperson Noel Ferrer issued the festival’s statement on his Instagram account saying:
“The MMFF welcomes, with much respect, the call of Senator Grace Poe to look into the alleged canine killing in the course of the filming of Oro, which was granted the FPJ Memorial Award in this year’s MMFF. As previously stated, the MMFF does not and will not condone any such wrongdoing or any misrepresentation in such regard. The MMFF has in fact called both PAWS and the makers of ORO to an inquiry today. Even as the MMFF has been made aware of actions to be undertaken by Oro in recognition of the concerns of PAWS, it is ready to cooperate with the relevant authorities in such regard.
The MMFF will also monitor the undertakings made by the makers of Oro, without prejudice to its own evaluation of the representations made by Oro during the selection process, particularly insofar as its worthiness for the said memorial award is concerned.”
What are your thoughts on this issue? Voice them out in the comments section!
Article by Jade Ceres-Dolor.
