Solons see 'bias, injustice' in MMFF DQ of Honor Thy Father

Lawmakers lamented bias and a lack of due process with how officials of the Metro Manila Film Festival handled the disqualification of the film "Honor Thy Father" for Best Picture.

Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said he saw "bias" and "injustice" against the film, while Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon and Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares both concluded that there was lack of due process for "Honor Thy Father" after Monday's probe by the House Committee on Metro Manila Development.

Vargas, in particular, pointed to the revelation that jurors were told that "Honor Thy Father" was disqualified on December 21 — five days before the festival's executive committee came out with a resolution officially disqualifying the film.

"Nagulat po ako sa testimony ng ating MTRCB. The fact that they were told on December 21 na disqualified na ang 'Honor Thy Father' way before noong 26 na execom meeting ay napakalaking question mark po iyon. I see bias painted all over. I see injustice painted all over," Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said.

Carmen Syquia Musngi from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) made the disclosure during the hearing, pointing to festival officials Dominic Du and Marichi Maceda as behind the instructions to disqualify the film.

"We were deliberating with my chairman and my co-jurors. Suddenly, when we were talking about the Best Picture, Mr. Dominic Du and Ms. Marichu said on the side that, 'By the way, you cannot judge 'Honor Thy Father' because it was disqualified from the Best Picture.' We said pa nga because were were confused then, 'Disqualified from all the categories?' Then they clarified, 'No, only in the Best Picture.' Then they explained because they ['Honor Thy Father' producers] were not open, there was non-disclosure," said Musngi.

"We were asking pa nga, 'Are you telling us or asking us if it's going to be disqualified?' One of them said, 'No, we're telling you that it's disqualified'," she added.

Maceda tried to refute the statement, claiming the jury was part of the decision not to include the film in the selection of the Best Picture.

But two other members of the jury, Paul Resurrecion and Lawrence Javier, backed Musngi's pronouncement.

"We were given instruction that the movie "Honor Thy Father" had a problem and it would not be included in the choice for Best Picture," Resurrecion said.

"I remember even Julie Yap-Daza (chairman of the jury) saying something about the executive committee should inform the producers before the awards night because it is a big issue that should be addressed," he added.

The jurors said that the deliberations happened on December 21. Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Atty. Emerson Carlos, the chairman of the MMFF, earlier in the hearing said that the decision to disqualify "Honor Thy Father" was made by the MMFF executive committee only on December 26.

Vargas questioned the timetable of the decision. "Paano naman mangyayari na may desisyon before execom? Paano kapag sinabihan ninyo sila tapos the execom decided as a body not to disqualify? 'Di ba? So natapakan n'yo na agad ang karapatan ng film na iyon," he said.

Short notice

"Honor Thy Father" producer Dondon Monteverde of Reality Entertainment received a letter about the disqualification on December 26, a day before the MMFF awards night. He was informed by Carlos that the film was disqualified from the Best Picture by the executive committee.

According to the letter, "Honor Thy Father" was disqualified for not disclosing to the MMFF that it was the opening film of the Cinema One Originals on November 8, 2015.

Carlos said in his opening statement that it was written in the rules and regulations that entries to the MMFF should not have screened in other festivals. Otherwise, the producers should inform the MMFF. This was the reason cited for the film's disqualification.

But Reality Entertainment's legal counsel Atty. Agnes Maranan said they sent a letter on November 5 to the MMFF disclosing that it had been screened at another film festival, which should have given festival organizers enough time to decide whether or not to disqualify the film.

She noted that "Honor Thy Father" was not part of the original roster of films, but was invited to join the festival on October 23 after a film informed MMFF that it could not meet the deadline.

Right to appeal

When Carlos was asked by Kabataan Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon why he did not call a meeting to tackle the issue, the MMDA chairman said he had no knowledge of it.

"It was the first time I got personal information on the issue of the disqualification... Insofar I was concerned, I was only made aware of it on December 25," he said.

Carlos added that the MMFF rules and special committees were the ones handling the issue before he was informed.

"We did not call any meetings after November 6. We could not call any executive committee meeting because there was a transfer of position from Chairman [Francis] Tolentino to Chairman Carlos. And then there was APEC," said Maceda, who is also part of the MMFF special committee.

She added that the MMFF special committee meeting was only set on December 14.

"It was always at the back of my minds. We admit that we did not act on it because we felt compassionate. Nakapag-gastos na sila. Again, December 14, we realized that violations were made so we acted on it," she added.

Maceda said that a resolution to disqualify "Honor Thy Father" was a result of the said meeting but they could not call an executive meeting after December 14 because they were busy preparing for the festival including the Parade of Stars.

"I think deciding on it on the 26th and depriving 'Honor Thy Father' the right to appeal provides greater injustice to the film more than the compassion we try to project on the particular matter," Ridon also said.

In his summary of the committee hearing, Colmenares agreed with Ridon and said that "Honor Thy Father" was deprived of due process.

"I think there would have been time sana to fulfill the rules ng due process rights had there been an action after December 14. Kasi may resolution nga eh," he said. —JST, GMA News