MMFF 2022: Mamasapano is ‘what truly happened to SAF 44,’ says producer
The producers behind Mamasapano: Now It Can Be Told, Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2022’s arguably most controversial film, are feeling relieved that their historical-action movie is finally screening in theaters.
Mamasapano is the big-screen retelling of what happened to the 44 Special Action Forces (SAF) troopers who were killed in the botched anti-terrorist operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25, 2015. The film is released under Borracho Productions headed by high-profile lawyer Ferdie Topacio.
In 2017, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte declared Jan. 25 of every year as a “National Day of Remembrance” for the fallen elite police commandos, whose deaths in the line of duty had caused public outrage.
“Actually, it’s quite a relief. But in the sense that all of us in the production staff feel that we have successfully accomplished the mission we have set out to do, and that is to give the Filipino people a chronicle of what happened in Mamasapano that fateful day on Jan. 25, 2015, in a manner that is a close to the truth as is humanly possible,” Topacio, who is also the lawyer of the parents of SAF 44, told The STAR in an exclusive chat.
The film, which was initially intended as the maiden offering of Borracho Films, became more than two years in the making. It encountered several production delays and challenges caused by two lockdowns, scheduling conflicts that led to changes in director, production staff and stars, the gun ban, rigid COVID protocols, plus a TikTok-related issue where some of the cast members, including Paolo Gumabao, received complaints from SAF.
“It all started with the TikTok video where I wore the SAF uniform and I was dancing. So, they were offended by that and I understand. At least, for me, it was a lesson learned and it won’t happen again. Well, I’m just glad it didn’t escalate. I want to thank our producer, Atty. Ferdie Topacio, who was very helpful during that time. He really helped me because I know nothing about it,” Paolo earlier said during a presscon.
Despite such issues and after some initial playdate cancellations, the film has finally gotten the “significant release date that it deserves,” with the 48th edition of the annual MMFF also fully resuming its theatrical run after two years of the pandemic.
Asked how much of the movie is “truth” and “artistic license,” Topacio maintained that it’s “100 percent” based on actual events because the only basis of screenwriter Eric Ramos, winner of the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival Best Screenplay for Rainbow Sunset, were the Senate Committee on Public Order Report on the Massacre, PNP Board of Inquiry Report and a list of witnesses willing to be interviewed.
“Ang may cinematic license yung (actual) pagkamatay nung mga SAF 44 because walang naka-witness dun… plus the characters of actresses Myrtle Sarrosa and Ritz Azul ang fictional to portray (that) in the midst of all the chaos, may network war pa rin. All others, totoo nangyari yun, walang Marites yun,” Topacio said.
Added director Lester Dimaranan, who took over the directing reins early this year after Law Fajardo, “Before nasimulan ito, sinigurado namin na yung mga magulang nakausap ni Atty. Topacio, alam ang mga totoong nangyari. Everything was based on the reports. Pati mga oras, minuto, segundo, meron record. We based everything there.”
On what he hopes audiences will take away from watching Mamasapano, Topacio said, “It is said that when you want to reach someone’s brain, you write a book; and when you want to touch someone’s heart, you make a movie.
“I want the audience to feel a complexity of emotions after watching the film: enlightenment, after knowing what truly happened to the SAF 44, including facts that have heretobefore been kept from the public; pride, when they see how bravely our policemen fought in the face of overwhelming odds and certain death, because that is what their duty demanded; sadness for their families who will bear the brunt in of their deaths; outrage at those those desire for self-aggrandizement and official negligence resulted in the fiasco; and lastly, a sense of hopefulness that, in spite of all that has happened, lasting peace between the Christians and the Muslims is still a strong possibility.”
Without spoiling it for the viewers, he also said audiences should watch out for the scene showing the conversation of then-PNP Deputy Chief of Operations Major General Benjamin Magalong (played by Edu Manzano) with the Board of Inquiry, SAF helping fallen comrades at the height of combat, and confrontation scenes between the characters of Paolo Gumabao and Aljur Abrenica.
Also in the cast of the movie are Gerald Santos, Rey “PJ” Abellana, Allan Paule, Jojo Abellana, Rez Cortez, Juan Rodrigo, LA Santos and Claudine Barretto in a very special role.
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