Editorial: Helping the film industry
AS THE holidays draw near, part of us gets the thrill from the upcoming film festivals during December. For some, watching Filipino-produced movies are a chance to bond with loved ones but unfortunately, most of us try to do it illegally.
"If there's a chance to get anything for free, we should grab it!" - This is our mindset as we click through those illegal downloading sites but the real deal is, we lose the chance of gaining knowledge, enthusiasm, and drive to be more (speaking for those films based on history). People behind these films spent a fortune to produce quality movies. Months, or even years were spent to perfect their research for their script and some other sacrifices just to make the lines more appealing to the various Filipino audience. And yet, we choose to just Torrent it anyway.
Exempli gratia, Heneral Luna. To be honest, how many of us admitted to ourselves that we haven't read the part of Aguinaldo's betrayal against Bonifacio? Because judging from the tsunami of people posting rage on Facebook on the slaughter of Bonifacio after watching that film (Heneral Luna), there's a lot. It looks like they have just learned it from the film and the years of studying History and Araling Panlipunan way back was a waste (Also, hello DepEd. Is it the textbooks, the teachers, or the curriculum?).
Even the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) replaced Philippine's acknowledged first president for Bonifacio (you know, after all the hype against him *because of the film*).
The BSP said that five peso coin in the New Generation Currency (NGC) Coin Series which featured Bonifacio on the obverse or front side “highlights the 120th death anniversary of the Filipino patriot this year and his 154th birthday on November 30.”
The rest of the denominations of the NGC Coin Series will be released by the BSP for circulation in January 2018.
The BSP unveiled the new P5 coin on Wednesday, Nov. 29, a day before Bonifacio’s 154th birth anniversary and on the 120th year of his death.
Historical accounts and records showed that Andres Bonifacio, along with his brother, Procopio, was executed on May 10, 1897 upon orders of Aguinaldo’s government which charged Bonifacio with treason and with conspiracy to murder Aguinaldo.
Some historians even considered Andres Bonifacio to be the rightful first President of the Philippines instead of Aguinaldo.
The new P5 Bonifacio NGC legal tender coin will be released in advance of the other NGC coins, starting this December.
So back to the point, if we only download these treasured movies, the producers will most likely not earn enough to make another film that will provoke the minds of our countrymen. Films that speak of the truth in a way that books cannot. Hence, we lose the chance of learning our roots better, we lose the chance of knowing and appreciating our ancestry.
And so, we remind you to pay for the movies that educate so we would always see more of them in the future.