Robin Padilla wants ban of movie 'Plane' over portrayal of Philippines

The Senate is eyeing to pass a resolution condemning the movie "Plane" over its portrayal of the Philippines.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri raised this suggestion after Senator Robin Padilla urged the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ban the showing of the film in the country.

According to the movies website, Plane is about a pilot Brodie Torrance, a role played by Gerard Butler, who "saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island - only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning."

"When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare’s help, and will learn there’s more to Gaspare than meets the eye," it continued.

"Alam niyo po napakasakit lang po...Dito sa kanilang pelikula sinasabi ang ating awtoridada ay naduwag na sa mga rebelde, hindi na po sila umaaksyon at sinabi pa dito 'they went down somewhere in the Jolo island cluster. It's run by separatists and militias the Filipino armies were not there anymore,'" Padilla said in a manifestation during Senate's session on Wednesday.

"Ginoong Pangulo, hindi po dapat ito tanggapin. Sana po, nakikiusap po tayo sa ating MTRCB, na sana po sa mga ganitong ganap kumakatok tayo sa opisina nila, 'di po dapat ito pinapalabas sa Pilipinas. Dito po dapat sa ating bansa pinagbabawal ito at kino-condemn po natin ito," he added.

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who hails from Mindanao, said he has watched the movie and was "very much disgusted" because it also painted a bad image on Davao, his home province.

"According to Gerard Butler, they crash landed somewhere in Davao in Southern Philippines before they were able to determine their exact location that was Jolo," Dela Rosa said.

"It really painted a bad image sa ating bansa dahil nga Davao, wala kang makitang ganong klaseng lugar na may mga rebelde na ganon katindi na namumugot ng ulo without apparent reason, pinupugutan ng ulo ang mga foreigner," he added.

Through the movie, Dela Rosa said the filmmakers are scaring away foreign tourists.

While he expressed disgust over the film's portrayal of Southern Philippines, Dela Rosa noted that the movie also has a "positive point."

"Medyo masaya lang ako nang kaunti dahil makita nila na yung mga... ELCAC roads na ginawa sa Mindanao ay pwede pala mala-landingan ng commercial plane at pwede pa mag-take off don 'yung eroplano kaya yon lang ang positive point ko don na nakita," he said, apparently referring to the road projects under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

After Dela Rosa's manifestation, Zubiri sympathized with Padilla and pointed out that through the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, his pet bill, peace in Mindanao has significantly improved.

"Alam niyo po iba na ang Mindanao. Napakatahimik... Kaya inis na inis ako pag pinapakita nila-- Ang ganda ganda pa naman ng Jolo, ng Sulu, ng Basilan, ng Tawi-tawi. It's a magical place. Kaya nung pinalabas 'yan ayaw ko talagang panuorin yan kasi baka matamaan ako ng high blood [pressure]," the Senate president said.

Zubiri mentioned that he showed the movie trailer to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and told him that "we have to do something" about it.

He said he was with Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco and NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan when he showed the trailer to the president.

"We are aghast. Nagulat kami. Malalaman ng tao, Pilipinas na naman 'yan. Di naman nila alam saang sulok 'yan e. Sabihin nila Pilipinas 'yan, magulo," he said.

"I said this is really going to push us backwards in our tourism promotions again. Kaya I join you in condemning this movie and in particular, maybe we can come up with a resolution, saying this paints a wrong picture of the Philippines. Hindi ganito ang Pilipinas ngayon at napakabait ng Pilpino whether muslim man o kristiyano. Sila po ay peace-loving people," he ended.

GMA News Online has reached out to the producers of the film via Plane and Lionsgate's official Instagram accounts. We will update the story once they responded to the query.—LDF, GMA Integrated News