Apocalypse beyond

MANILA, Philippines - Our six-month surfing season starts this month. The wave riders of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now ushered in the craze in 1977.

A recent three-day trip to Baler, Aurora turned into a jarring discovery that a good part of the principal photography of my favorite full-length feature was shot in Baler, Aurora, not in Laguna. Now, I’m sure the carpet-bombing of the coconut plantation, the upriver scenes, the strafing of the Vietcong Village and the Playboy Playmates’ show were photographed by Vittorio Storaro in the quaint coastal town by the Pacific Ocean.

The roaring waves of Subang beach fronting Costa Pacifica resort where I was billeted foretold it. Invited to Baler by Sherwin Paul Gonzales, grand slam winner of the Life of Dr. Jose Rizal in Europe International Painting Contest and the Life of St. Camillus de Lellis National Painting Competition both rendered in the Tapertepism style, I went on a self-realization.

Tapertepism is an art movement initiated in Baler by Gonzales with his brother Vincent Christopher  and Ian Maigan. Supported by former Sen. Edgardo Angara, it was named after taper which means water ripple in the local dialect. Tapertepism defines a distinctively Filipino art style now creating new waves in the national and global art scenes.

Roughly six hours drive from Manila, Baler is a wholesome alternative to Boracay. While it has the tropical island appeal, it is not cluttered with men and merchandise and offers more natural wonders and historical spots. Sans Boracay’s freewheeling nightlife, it is corruption-free.

Taking breakfast at the resort’s Beach House dining area, early surfers had started their tutorials and practice. They included Gonzales’ eldest son, 15-year-old Bon Franz Raphael Gonzales who is known thereabout as the Beach Boy of Baler. As I sipped diabarasin coffee, Gonzales shared, “The surfing craze (in the Philippines) started right here. This was where the surfing scenes of Apocalypse Now were shot.”

“Yes, Charlie’s Point!” I exclaimed unconsciously, not knowing beforehand it was in Baler. 

Called kagewad by the Barrio Reserva townsfolk before given an Americanized name, the waves of Charlie’s Point are generally bigger. Its sandy shoreline gives a medium size and quality beach break while the oceanbed is soft and shallow. Highly favored by experienced surfers, its biggest thrill comes from the nine-feet waves during the “ber” months’ surfing season.

“I’ll take you there,” Gonzales volunteered, a short ride from where we were. On our way, he added, “The production crew of Apocalypse Now first surfed Charlie’s Point, then followed by the movie’s surfing scenes. When the shoot wrapped up, they left their boards to Balerianos, encouraging locals to surf.”

Apocalypse Now has a sub-plot on surfing, a booming American pastime in the ‘60s. To find rebel American Col. Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who is presumed to be crazy, Capt. Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) goes on board a Navy river patrol boat with a task to kill him.

Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) agrees to escort the boat with surfing-obsessed Willard and crewman Lance (Sam Bottoms) through Vietcong-infested river for its surfing possibilities. Throughout the film, Kilgore wears surfer’s shorts.

The rising crescendo of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries blares over the loudspeakers of Huey helicopter over a beach heading to an enemy-controlled village. When the beach is taken, Kilgore mouths his now famous one-liner, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” and orders his men to surf as foes fire.

Three years old back then, helicopters flew above Baler and Gonzales’ father instinctively picked him up and positioned him in front of his motorcycle. Heading for Aguang River where the choppers flew, they witnessed the bombings. “Mesmerizing, it was never deleted from my memory!” Gonzales gushed. 

While flying a wounded Vietnamese child to a hospital, Kilgore hands Lance a new pair of surfing shorts to wear. When Willard steals his surfboard in the Apocalypse Now Redux (2001), a significant re-edit and reissue of the original version, a helicopter blasts Kilgore’s recording for Lance to return his board.

That is the mania Kilgore has for surfing, a tell-tale sign that the Vietnam War was treated as an American diversion with surfing as its strongest metaphor. But Charlie’s Point turned out as a small downer: Except for its pop history, it stays a nondescript strand.

Since Apocalypse Now, the country has turned into a world-class surfing destination, with more locations like in Pagudpud (Ilocos Norte), Bagasbas (Camarines Norte), Siargao (Surigao Del Norte). But Baler continues to hog the top spot attracting local and global wave riders.

Now we know even a ripple is a wave.