Tag Archives: documentary

PN “Corazon Salbaje” pointed response to “Dissenting opinion as motion picture” article

On August 2, 2012 the Cebu Daily News published “Dissenting opinion as motion picture” By Malou Guanzon-Apalisok.

This came out shortly after Give Up Tomorrow had it’s Philippine premiere at the Cinemalaya Film Festival. One audience member responded to the article in the comments section online and was frustrated that the response was removed. They emailed us the response directly and have given us permission to share it here.

RESPONSE by “Corazon Salbaje”

The film presents evidence that was inexplicably not allowed to be presented in court, or was obfuscated by the media, or was over-ridden by the connections the Chiong family had in President Estrada’s office. With all due respect, it is unfair, if not ridiculous, for Miss Guanzon-Apalisok to obsess on the letter of the law regarding the prisoner exchange treaty when the whole point is that the letter of the law was disregarded, disrespected, and distorted when Larrañaga and the six other accused were sentenced under sketchy circumstances.

When the justice system, the government, and the media fail a citizen, it can only be left to the citizens themselves to present the truth. Thank goodness for this film and the attention it has received — because it outlines where we as a society have failed. Thank goodness for the activists who for the past fifteen years have never allowed us to forget that an injustice has been committed to these seven boys, and most probably to hundreds more who languish in prison for crimes they did not commit. “An affront to our country’s honor and dignity”? What honor to a country that has acted dishonorably time and time again? What dignity to a country that allows the indignity of mob mentality to convict people in the court of public opinion based on sensationalism and class? Miss Guanzon-Apalisok is most wrong in this regard. Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. The truest Filipino is the one who is brave enough to stand ashamed of his or her country when it has acted shamefully and shamelessly. You can love your country but air your hate for how it has let its people down. That is the ultimate act of patriotism.

I wonder if Miss Guanzon-Apalisok has even bothered to watch the film before writing about it. If so, she would understand its importance as a catalyst for the necessary discussion and examination of a faulty justice system. If she hasn’t seen it, shame on her as a journalist and concerned citizen, because what kind of reporter discusses something he or she hasn’t seen?

The strength of the film is that it forces us to consider a side of the story that was disregarded, shouted down, and ignored repeatedly. Whether or not you think Larranaga and the others are guilty or innocent, we should at least have the good conscience to consider all sides properly before deciding. To disregard the other side because you disagree with them is proof of ignorance, laziness, and vanity. It is precisely this attitude that has broken our country in the first place.

Pinoy docu awarded with Dutch film fest’s highest honor

By JULIEN MERCED C. MATABUENA

April 30, 2012, 10:28pm
 'Give Up Tomorrow' is Marty Syjuco's first film (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBNNews.com)
‘Give Up Tomorrow’ is Marty Syjuco’s first film (Photo courtesy of ABS-CBNNews.com)

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino producer Marty Syjuco’s “Give Up Tomorrow,” a documentary based on one of the most infamous criminal cases of the ’90s in the Philippines, was recently presented with the Audience Choice VARA Award, said to be the top prize at the 2012 Movies That Matter Film Festival held at The Hague, Netherlands.

“This is my first film. I was not a filmmaker prior to this film. We are so honored and grateful,” Syjuco told the ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau, as quoted in a report on ABS-CBNNews.com posted on April 28.

“Give Up Tomorrow” chronicles the story of Paco Larranaga – who, according to the same source, is associated with Syjuco by virtue of “his brother [being] married to Paco’s sister” – one of the seven men convicted of kidnapping and murdering the Chiong sisters Mary Joy and Jacqueline in Cebu, 1997.

According to the festival’s official website, “Give Up Tomorrow” was under the Main Programme Camera Justitia category along with six other films. Said category “sheds light on the many angles of the human rights and justice theme, using films and debates on transitional justice, careful administration of national and international justice and the fight against impunity.”

“In a rapid, captivating series of interviews, newspaper clippings, and archive footage, the filmmaker (who was personally involved in the case) describes how the seven random boys [have fallen] victim to a judicial error.

“He also shows how the entire legal system is like a Kafkaesque story, featuring false witnesses, cover-ups and human rights violations,” the documentary’s description read.

Prior to this victory, “Give Up Tomorrow” had already won honors last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, Traverse City Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest 2011, Valencia Human Rights Film Festival, and the Antenna Sydney Documentary Film Festival.

Syjuco told the ABS-CBN News Europe Bureau that his documentary “brings further attention to the injustice that Paco continues to suffer and [to] our ‘Free Paco Now’ campaign. To receive the award in the international city of peace and justice is incredible, especially since we have a campaign to bring justice to an innocent man.”

As winner of the VARA award, “Give Up Tomorrow” will be broadcast on TV across Holland.

“We’re so thrilled that the entire country will get to see our film,” Syjuco said.

READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE