Robin Padilla. Image: Instagram/@robinhoodpadilla
Senator Robin Padilla is seeking the ban and condemnation of the US film “Plane,” starring Gerard Butler, which he said puts the Philippines in bad light.
In a manifestation seconded by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Padilla called on the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ban the public showing of the film, saying that to allow a foreign film to present a bad image of the country in the international stage is “unacceptable.”
“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 (Mr. President, we should not accept this. We should ask the MTRCB not to show the film in the Philippines. We should not just ban it, we must also condemn it),” said Padilla, a former action star whose body of work involved playing the role of hoodlums.
Padilla had in recent years turned to Islam as a religion and visited some areas in Mindanao during his campaign for senator, promising fellow Muslims that he would work for the promotion of peace and development in the south.
While filming was made in Puerto Rico, the setting of the movie was in Jolo, Sulu in southern Philippines where a band of militiamen supposedly attacked the passengers of an airplane that made an emergency landing in the area. Butler played the principal role of pilot who had to fight the armed group and rescue his passengers out of the rebel-infested island.
But Padilla said the way the film was narrated was problematic, noting that while Jolo has had a violent past as cradle for terrorists and militias, such was no longer the case. At present, however, portions of Jolo remain to be a hotspot for terror groups ISIS and the mercenary Abu Sayyaf Group, such that some legislators called for the passage of a tougher version of the anti-terrorism law, following the bombing of a church there.
“Reputasyon po ng Inang Bayan ang pinaguusapan dito, Ginoong Pangulo. Alam nyo po, pagka tayo pag pinaguusapan natin ang bayan natin at mga diprensya, ok lang yan kasi trabaho natin yan. Pero pagka ibang bansa na po ang bumabanat sa atin dapat di dapat tayo pumapayag (Our Motherland’s reputation is at stake, Mr. President. If we Filipinos talk about the problems of our nation, that is okay because that is our job. But if other countries paint a bad picture of our country, we should not agree to it),” he said.
“Filipino armies weren’t there anymore,” the senator added.
For his part, Zubiri agreed that the Philippines should protest the film. “As a nation we should send our regrets, (that) this is not the real situation on the ground,” he said.
Aside from Butler, the film also stars Mike Colter, Tony Goldwyn, and Filipino-American actor and filmmaker Ariel Felix. EDV