HEARD: This country as a chameleon

“The Bourne Legacy” local producer Jun Juban, who runs the Philippine Film Studios Inc., says why the Philippines is a good stand-in for other countries.

“The Philippines is a chameleon of sorts. Years ago we did ‘Night Games’ by Peter Masterson. We were a stand-in for Los Angeles, in California, USA. We filmed at a village in Quezon City that has a lot of American-looking houses. For ‘Bourne,’ there’s a one-day shoot in Manila where we’ll be duplicating a Latin American country. That’s part of the packaging for the Philippines—that you can do a lot of things here. Our goal really is for Manila to have a longer exposure and for shooting days to be extended. Although I wish we could really do more films that would showcase the country as it is.” Marinel R. Cruz