‘Paki’ brings attention to Filipino Olympians, ‘Puso in Paris’ director says

‘Puso in Paris 2024’ follows the story of eight Olympians including two-time gold medal winner Carlos Yulo. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina

The Philippines posted its best Olympics performance this year, hauling four medals including two golds from gymnast Carlos Yulo alone. A filmmaker followed the journeys of the Filipino athletes before the Paris Games, and cited how much one’s “paki,” or care, contributed to the current sports climate in the country.

“I care so much, and this project meant a lot to me, to the people who worked hard for this and, of course, for our Olympians. And I hope this opportunity gives us the chance to see kung bakit gano’n (why it is that way),” director Clev Mayuga addressed the audience at the special screening of her documentary series “Puso in Paris 2024” held in Mandaluyong City on Friday night, Aug. 30.

“As storytellers, the challenge was, how do we make people care before the Olympics? At the same time, how do we take care of the stories entrusted upon us? Because it was not like the usual stories of ‘nag-training kami’ (we trained) or ‘ito iyong mga ginagawa namin sa araw-araw’ (this is what we do every day). It was deeper than that,” she continued.

The documentaries were filmed during the competitions and training sessions leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the four episodes were released before the Filipino athletes would embark on their medal quests 100 years since the Philippines’ first participation in the biggest sporting event in the world.

“When we were deciding what would be the focal point of ‘Puso in Paris,’ we knew that the messaging would be the Filipino Olympians, our Filipino athletes, already belong to the world stage. So how are we going to show that? And how are we going to tell that story to the people who are not exposed to the day-to-day practices of our Olympians?” Mayuga said.

The first episode followed the roller-coaster ride that Yulo took to ascend to gymnastics greatness. Before posting many firsts for the country—the first gold medal for a male Olympian, the first gold medal from gymnastics, the first athlete to earn two gold medals, the first multiple-medal win in a single season—the floor and vault king has experienced a lot of low points in his life that fueled personal doubts.

“These athletes bared their stories, their struggles, their heartbreaks, their happiness to us. And we started the journey from Intramuros, Manila, where [Yulo] is training. And we flew to California to join EJ [Obiena] during the USA Track and Field Grand Prix. And then we flew to Bangkok to follow our boxers before they eventually flew for their training camp in France. And we flew back to Manila to be able to capture the stories of our weightlifters. [It’s such a] hassle,” Mayuga shared.

The second episode followed the boxers, focusing on 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winner Eumir Marcial, 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal winner Aira Villegas, and Nesthy Petecio who bagged silver in 2020 and bonze in the recent Games.

Weightlifters John Ceniza, Vanessa Sarno and Elreen Ando shared how the sport changed their lives in episode 3, and how Hidilyn Diaz’s historic first gold medal win for the Philippines at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics inspired them to persevere. The fourth and final episode focused on Obiena’s journey from Palarong Pambansa to becoming Asia’ best pole vaulter.

“I truly believe that stories are only vehicles that give people something tangible to care about. The stories of our boxers, si Aira, Nesthy, Eumir, Carlo [Paalam] and Hergie [Bacyadan] represent Filipinos who dreamt of better lives for themselves and their families. Our weightlifters, Vanessa, John and Doreen, are stories of Filipinos who find themselves in the chaos of the now. The story of EJ, or Filipinos going to foreign land, away from their families, away from their loved ones, just to get a shot at his dream, at their dreams, and ultimately, Caloy, show the story of Filipinos, how we face struggles again and again, and yet we still choose to pick ourselves up and hold our head high,” Mayuga said.

She said it was the Filipino people’s “paki” that resulted in the current climate. “Our athletes cared so much in representing the Philippines well in the Olympics. ‘Paki’ was the reason why the wins felt sweeter, and the losses bitter. ‘Paki’ was also the reason why Smart and the MVP group have invested in our athletes and brought the Olympics to us through various streaming platforms. And ‘paki’ was also the reason why the brands, The Travel Club, Adidas, Mr. Francis Libiran have helped and invested in our Olympians. And of course, ‘paki’ is the reason why Shangri-la was able to hold this kind of event together, this community, to celebrate our athletes and our most successful Olympic season to date,” Mayuga continued.

She is hopeful that Filipinos will continue to care about the athletes and the Philippines’ Olympics quest, enough to push for the changes that are needed to uplift the athletes. “The stories of our Olympians inspire us to have more ‘pakis’ in the future, and not to be nonchalant. Let’s be OA in supporting our Filipino athletes,” Mayuga said.

“Puso in Paris 2024” is a four-episode documentary series that is available online.