Filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik tests positive for COVID-19

National Artist Kidlat Tahimik has tested positive for COVID-19.

The actor-writer-director--one of the pioneering independent filmmakers in Asia--is currently in self-imposed quarantine.

Tahimik said he learned about the swab test result on December 11.

He made the revelation in a statement posted by the Baguio Chronicle on December 20.

Tahimik felt that he contracted the virus while attending the Ibagiw: Baguio Creative City Festival in November.

The festival is a celebration of Baguio's artistic and cultural heritage.

“Regretfully, I may have had lapses in face-mask security--posing for a selfie sans mask.

“Inadvertently I might have exposed myself to the coronavirus. In turn, this would be of concern for those of you who were exposed to me,” he wrote.

“As a National Artist active during Ibagiw, I feel obliged to openly declare my case.

"For any of you who might have been exposed to my presence during the festival, please take precautions and monitor your health. Just in case!” the 78-year-old filmmaker said.

“I am visited daily by a throng of medics. These PPE-dressed health officials come in an ambulance to monitor my temperature, my oxygen count, my difficulty of breathing, my BP.”

He added, “FYI, since my swab test, people whom I had intensive contact with (like my sons, the carpenters I worked with, artists I chatted with, etc.) have all taken swab tests.

“So far, all have been diagnosed negative. If you have not had any signs of fever or loss of appetite or fatigue, you need not worry. Please stay safe.”

Born Eric Oteyza de Guia on October 3, 1942, the Baguio native earned accolades from home and internationally for his works that veer away from formulas commonly used in commercial and Hollywood-inspired movies.

“When I started my first film, I gave that name to my main character. Kidlat means 'lightning.' Tahimik means 'quiet.' In the two years shooting, acting, editing, I must have tranced myself into becoming the character of a Quiet Lightning,” he told Wharton Magazine about the origin of his moniker.

Some of the movies he created were Perfumed Nightmare, Turumba, Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi, and Banal Kahoy.

As an actor, he appeared in the movies Smaragd and Jose Rizal produced by GMA Films.

Tahimik's unconventional style and non-commercial approach to filmmaking earned him the distinction as the “Father of Philippine Independent Cinema.”

He was declared National Artist of the Philippines for Film in 2018.

Tahimik owns the vegetarian restaurant Oh My Gulay along Session Road in Baguio.