The Political Cinema As a Mirror of the Political Thought on Overseas Filipino Workers

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES MANILA

Reflection of the Past:

The Political Cinema as a Mirror of the Political Thought on Overseas Filipino Workers

An Undergraduate Thesis

Presented to Dr. Josefina G. Tayag

Department of Social Sciences

University of the Philippines Manila

In Partial Fulfillment of

The Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Submitted by:

Jaira Rica J. Tadeo

2015-46185

May 2019 Approval Sheet

In partial fulfillment of the course requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts Major in Political Science, this seminar paper entitled Reflection of the Past:The Political Cinema as a Mirror of the Political Thought on Overseas Filipino Workers prepared and presented Jaira Rica J. Tadeo to the Political Science Program under the Department of Social Sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences – University of the Philippines Manila.

This undergraduate thesis has been examined and is recommended for acceptance and approval by:

______

Professor Josefina Tayag

Thesis Adviser

University of the Philippines Manila

Wherefore, this undergraduate thesis is hereby accepted and approved by:

______

Professor Jerome A. Ong Dr. Leonardo Estacio, PhD

Chairman – Department of Social Sciences Dean – College of Arts and Sciences

University of the Philippines Manila University of the Philippines Manila

ABSTRACT

This study was centered upon looking into Philippine political films and how these can be used as avenues to study the political thought of University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) students from the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Due to the wide expanse of themes political films tackle, I have decided to focus on a topic that has been relevant for years in the

Filipinos’ lives—Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Through an in-depth analysis of Philippine political films revolving around OFWs, literature on labor migration and political films, and of the political thought of UPM students regarding labor exportation, the thesis looked into the possibility that political films may be used as a reflection of the political thought of a people.

Through an in-depth literature review, the thesis uncovered the meaning of political films and how these can be categorized. The current situation of the political cinema and of OFWs was also discussed in another part of this study. The collected data from existing literature and conducted revealed certain themes about the political thought of selected students from UPM regarding OFWs and if these were reflected in political films.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I: Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………7 General Objective…………………...……………………………………..……..…….10 Specific Objectives...………………...……………………………………..……..…….10 Research Questions………………………………………………………………...... 11 Significance of the Study ……………………...…...…………………………...... 11 Review of Related Literature ………………………………………………...………..13 Theoretical Framework……………………………...…………………...... 18 Conceptual Framework………………………………………..…………...... 19 Definition of Terms ……………………………………………………………...... 21 Methodology…………………………………………………….…………...... 22 Population of the Study………………………………………………………………...23 Sampling Design….……………….……………………….………….….……...... 25 Data Collection Procedure………………………...…………………………………...25 Ethical Aspects of Data Gathering……………………..……………………………..27 CHAPTER II: Situationer………………………………………………………………...... 33 A Brief History of Philippine Migration……………………….……………………..33 Current State of Philippine Migration……….…………………………………....….35 The Philippine Cinematic Industry………………………………………..………….37 Political Films and Philippine Labor Migration………………………………...…....39 CHAPTER III: Results and Discussion ………………...…………………………………….41 Summary and Conclusion……………………………………………………………...86 Recommendations……………………….……………………………………………...90 APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………………..……95

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and, above all, I would like to thank God for without His constant presence in my life, I would be lost. Thank you for the unconditional love, and for giving me a reason to live.

The need to glorify You in all things that I do is what has driven me to pursue excellence while maintaining my integrity and honor. All glory to You!

I would also like to thank all filmmakers in the Philippine film industry that continue to contribute relevant movies for the Filipino masses. Without these filmmakers, this thesis would not have been possible, and I would not have been compelled to start this thesis. I do not claim any of the films that were mentioned in this study, but they are all films that I enjoyed watching.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family. To Papa whose sacrifices have always been for me, my sleepless nights seem little in comparison. To Mama who has always been rooting for me, your encouragements and silent support are what keep me going. To my Ate and Kuya, you guys have been my source of comfort and happiness in times of stress. Lastly, thank you to Atom whose wagging tail and tiny kisses never fail to put a smile on my face. Truly, the thought of coming home to my family every week is what kept me going.

I would also like to express my appreciation for my thesis adviser, Dr. Josefina Tayag.

Thank you for all the advice you have given us. This study would not have been possible without your guidance. Thank you for believing in our abilities and capabilities.

Thank you, also, to my best friend, Amiel, for always having my back. I appreciate all the times you checked up on me and kept me company throughout our stay here in UPM. I would not have lived through these past few years without you.

I would also like to thank my college friends— JM, Alexa, Cyril, Joy, Mikee, and

Butchi—who have been with me throughout this semester. I can’t imagine this semester without your chikas and little kwentos. You guys are my sunshine and rainbows amidst a rainy week and are the highlights of my day. Thank you for being my home away from home.

Of course, I would also like to express my appreciation to the people that have participated in my study. This research would not have been possible without your participation and support. Thank you for the time you have devoted to supply data for this study. The success of this research is for you!

And, of course, I would like to thank myself for not giving up. I cannot even remember the amount of animes, kdramas, and movies that I have had to sacrifice for this thesis. But even through the deprivation of little things that make me happy, I have stayed sane and contented with life. And for this, I have to give myself due appreciation. There may have been times when

I felt unmotivated and too tired, but if I had not picked myself up and braced myself for another day, then this would not have been possible. Chin up, self! I’m proud of you.

INTRODUCTION

Individuals go through numerous events and circumstances in their lives of which shape their understanding of the world. Different institutions such as their families, education, peers, and even the media can mold how they view different phenomena in our society. The media plays an integral part in the socialization of an individual. It shows a person the current state of their society and how the masses receive and conceive different issues and news (Bardes et al.,

2017). In stating this, we can say that the media, of all other forms of influences, is one of the most important influencers in the contemporary world.

However, what exactly is media? And what can we consider as media? According to

Mehraj et al. (201), media is a mode of transportation for messages, entertainment, and information. Newspapers, magazines, the radio, social media, and even shows on the television are considered media. Basically, the media is anything that conveys a message to its viewers.

However, to explore a largely overlooked part of the media, we will focus on something that can equally influence its viewers in this technological age, and this is the cinema. The phenomenon of a film creating a domino effect which then results to having a great impact on a present society is not a new one.

A film entitled “Rosetta”, for example, had influenced Belgian policy makers to enact a law called the “Rosetta Law” which protected the rights of teenage workers in their country. In citing this, one cannot deny that the cinema has the capacity to influence our current society nevertheless, it seems more fascinating to note how a film can be used as a reference to check the

7 thoughts of the people when the “Rosetta law” was enacted since this law would not have been enacted if the people did not create clamor upon viewing the film.

However, it is interesting how present political situations affect and influence the film industry. In a time where Philippine history is forgotten, it is important for us to know and to document present happenings well. In the defense of the burial of Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, President Duterte in 2016, reduced the atrocities during Martial law to mere

“allegations and challenges”. He questioned what happened during Marcos’ Martial Law by saying “There’s no study, no movie about it.” (Gonzales, 2016). However, the existence of movies such as Dekada ’70 (2002) and Batch ’81 (1982), would quickly debunk the claims of the president. The existence of political films about certain issues shows that they happened or are happening in a country. The recent release of Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, and the film prior to it, Heneral Luna, showed that our history is worth remembering. Nowadays, the issue of extrajudicial killings of which are connected to President Duterte’s anti-drugs campaign has resulted to two Filipino movies about it. Buy Bust (2018) and EJK (2016.) It is interesting to look into how these films have documented the political happenings and thoughts of a people during a certain time. Moreover, it is also intriguing to see how the changes of the contents of these films overtime could reflect the evolution of the political thought of a people.

One certain issue that has been embedded in Philippine culture is the phenomenon of

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). According to the 2017 data from the Philippine Statistics

Authority (PSA), only within the months of April to September 2017, there was an estimated amount of 2.3 million OFWs that went overseas. With a recorded total population of almost 100 million Filipinos, almost 2.3% of those are working overseas. (Asis, 2017). If put into perspective, millions of Filipino families, or even more, may have a loved one who is working

8 overseas. This means that there are bound to be opinions, perspectives, views, and thoughts on

Filipino labor migration within the country.

There are a number of Filipino movies that portray the life of an OFW and their family relationships—these movies will be discussed later in the study. Observing how movies about

Filipino migration exist, there may be a political thought on this certain topic. Thus, we may see the evolution of the portrayal of Philippine migrants or OFWs through the existence of the political cinema. With this, the study looked into the inner workings of the political cinema, and if these political films do reflect the political thought of a people.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

General Objective:

To assess the role of the Philippine political cinema and its channels, and whether or not it reflects the political thought regarding migration from the point of view of selected students of the University of the Philippines Manila.

Specific Objectives:

• To discuss the means through which Philippine political cinema could influence the

political thought regarding migration and if the Philippine political cinema can be a form

of guide in analyzing the political thought of a population.

• To discuss the perspective of film directors on political films as a reflection of the society.

Mainly focusing on,

o Whether or not they gather data on their subject matter, and their method of

gathering information for their films.

o Their perspective on the role of political films in our present society.

o Whether or not UPM CAS students regard political films in the same manner as

film makers.

• To discuss the political thought on Filipino labor migration of students from UPM

Mainly, to answer the following questions:

o What are the thoughts of the selected UPM students regarding migration?

o Do these thoughts conform to the current political thought regarding migration

shown by the Philippine political cinema?

• To give recommendations and suggestions to future researchers.

General Research Question:

Do Philippine political cinema reflect the political thought on migration of selected students of the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM)?

Tentative Answer

The research will assert that because of the interactions between the people and different popular culture, such as films, the political cinema, if not all, then some Philippine political cinema will be bound to reflect the political thought on migration of selected students of the

University of the Philippines Manila. Essentially, this research will assert that the political cinema can be viewed as a guide to assess the history of a people’s political thought.

Significance of the Study

In an age where the masses flock to the media as their source of entertainment, it is interesting to look into how such may shape the people, and in turn, how the people shape the media. The political thought of a people is usually documented in writings, or textbooks.

However, with the advancement of technology, and the emergence of different types of avenues to document history, the political cinema may be playing an important role in chronicling the political of a people, and we may be overlooking this.

The use of photographs in understanding and studying history has been researched upon by numerous academics. In their studies, they have determined that history can be seen through what the camera lens can produce (Papstein, 1990; Achterberg, 2007; Gordon, 2018). In saying this, I have realized that there is no need to stop at photographs, and to further look into different

11 sources of education and history. Thus, this study looked into films as a footprint of Filipino political thought.

As it was mentioned at the start of this study, the number of Filipino migrants has an impact in the thought of Filipinos. And as the years have progressed, different outlooks may have emerged regarding this. Upon further researching for literature on the political cinema as a reflection of political thought on migration, I have found out that there exists little to no scholarly articles which fully discusses this. Due to this gap in the state of knowledge, I found it worthwhile to devote my time in exploring a new avenue of historical notetaking of the political thought of modern Filipinos.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

There exist numerous literature on the impact of political cinema on different aspects of the political arena such as the viewers’ perception of the government, or their political awareness.

However, there seems to be sparse literature on the role of the political cinema in reflecting the political thought of a people, and as an avenue for listing historical data.

Hence, this review of literature attemped to locate and define the political cinema, and enumerate its functions in society. Upon further research, there was also a lack of literature on the Filipino political thought on migration. Thus, I had to make do with only focusing on the political cinema in this review of literature. The researcher also focused on locating the

Philippine political thought through the data the researcher gathered from key informant interviews. In saying this, there is a gap in the literature about the Philippine political thought on migration, and the function of political cinema in reflecting this. Thus, making this study even more interesting.

Let us now turn our attention to the political cinema. What are the certain types of films that one can regard as being part of the political cinema? And what are the recorded functions of the political cinema in the society it exists in? These are the questions that this review of related literature aimed to answer.

What is Political Cinema?

In conducting this research, one must first define what political cinema is. Political cinema is seen through different lenses, and its use is varied. Some would say that since everything is political, then every film is political. Schoenbrun (2016), a well-known filmmaker, said that there is an immense pressure in producing films since every movie produced is political.

Another famous film director, Constantine Gavras, also agreed with Schoenbrun. Articulating that all films, even action movies, are political in that they have a “social effect” on their viewers

(Welle, 2008). Although one can say that all films are political, there exist films that are more geared towards showing the realities of society.

To seek a more technical understanding of the political cinema, we had to first determine the types of cinema. According to Mestman (2011), there are three types of cinema. (a) First

Cinema, which is the typical Hollywood film wherein reality is turned into fantasy. (b) The

Second Cinema which is based on the auteur films—these are films that have the director basically create the whole cinematic universe. Essentially, the Second Cinema is comprised of a whole system that does not reflect reality whatsoever. And, last (c) Third Cinema which was made in opposition of the First Cinema, and to overcome the limitations of the Second Cinema.

The Third Cinema is made to generate discussion during political events, and to decolonize third world countries culturally. The Third Cinema was made to reflect a people’s views and culture on its own. It is like putting part of a nation’s way of life on screen. However, we must make clear that the Third Cinema is different from Third World Cinema—in that the latter is only called as such because it is produced by third world countries, while the former treats the camera as a gun, wherein it was made to solicit a reaction from its audience (Chanan, 1997).

In this sense, I wish to operationalize Political Cinema by labeling it under the Third

Cinema. In which, Political Cinema is composed of films that are not typical Hollywood films, but instead, are (a) somewhat based on the realities of the world—and not on the imagination of a single person and are made to cause a reaction or a movement. And more importantly, Political

Cinema is (b) made solely for the culture of a specific country and steers away from that of its previous colonial masters (Getino & Solanas, 2017).

In this case, Philippine political cinema must veer away from representing cultures that are not ingrained in the Filipino heart and mind. In saying this, the Philippine Political Cinema, then, must show the current culture of the country it is depicting—the thoughts of its people and the contemporary issues they are facing. Thus, we cannot deem every film as part of the

Philippine political cinema. Only those, that fit the description of the Third Cinema will be treated as a political film in this study. Such films must portray the reality and the current issues we have in our society—whether these be poverty, brain drain, or even something as controversial as extrajudicial killings. However, in this research, we focused on political films and if they reflect the political thought of a certain population regarding migration. Hence, one thing we needed to look into is how the political cinema reflects the society it is in, or if it even does so.

What can the Political Cinema do?

There is an abundance in the literature that talks about the Political Cinema’s role in society. According to Brownell (2014), the cinema has influenced numerous national events,

“cultural constructions”, and even brought social change. However, the author also noted that the political cinema has also been affected or influenced by different “political pressures” may it be

15 from the government or the people. In similarity to the aforementioned data, much of the existing literature highlight that the Political Cinema is geared towards influencing its viewers.

In an article that discusses the impact of the movie, ‘Badjao’, it states that the portrayal of

the Tausug and the Badjao (both are part of Indigenous groups of the Philippines) had an

impact on how the society at the time perceived these two groups (Toohey, 2005).

In this article, the role of the cinema was highlighted in terms of affecting the perceptions

of a people at a certain time. How a movie illustrates certain people or events can and

will affect how its viewers view these things or groups. Toohey (2005), then states that

the cinematic representation of these two groups had influenced the audience to view the

Tausug and the Badjao similarly to how the movie depicted them. This just goes to show

that how a film portrays certain events does affect its audience. In another research about

the impacts of films on its audience, the authors concluded that the repetitive

representation of politicians in movies have a greater impact than when they are shown in

the news (Elliot & Schenck-Hamlin, 1979).

Once again, the literature stated that the influences of the political cinema on society is in socializing individuals. Although there is a lack of literature on the political cinema as a reflection of political thought, Desphande (2004), states that films can be seen as a means to record history. Political films can be compared to artworks, photographs, or even written journals.

In deciphering and understanding history, films play an integral part in putting certain events into flesh. Films about the holocaust, wars, poverty, and even migration can be seen as snippets of history that are put into flesh. However, the author warned that one must be careful and be critical so as not to be lured into a biased understanding of history. Having a filmmaker put too

16 much of their emotions into a film may be troublesome but, I must also raise a point that even historical writings may be biased.

Synthesis of the Review of Related Literature

Through this review of literature, I have determined what the political cinema is and how to distinguish a film that may be under this category. Political films, basically, are movies that reflect the realities of a country, and are produced to create a reaction within its audience. Not only the meaning of political films was solidified, but the functions of the political films within a community were also enumerated. Specifically, its functions are to (a) socialize individuals in a society, and (b) reflect history. In doing this, one now may have a better understanding of what the political cinema is in the academic literature. Also, the function of the political cinema as a vessel of containing history was solidified. Be that as it may, there is a lack of literature on the political thought of Filipinos on migration—one of the integral variables of this study. This brings us to the understanding that the gap between the political thought on migration, and

Filipino political films as a reflection of it is very visible.

In stating this, one must now question the state of political films in the Philippine context.

Not only this, but also the state of Filipino migration. In saying this, chapter II of this paper is dedicated to introducing the current state of Philippine migration, and the Philippine cinematic industry. In giving light to both of these, I hope to contextualize the variables of this study.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

To bring to light the relationship of the variables in this study, I used the Structural

Adaptation Theory as used by DeScantis and Poole (1994). Simply put, this theory looks into how the existence of technology affects humans, and how humans in turn mold these different types of technology while they are interacting with it.

To summarize, in the words of DeScantis and Poole (1994), “AST argues that advanced information technologies trigger adaptive structurational processes which, over time, can lead to changes in the rules and resources that organizations use in social interaction.”. Basically, a certain technology creates an impact within the community that uses it, while how the community interacts with this technology will influence its development.

In this research’s case, the type of technology we focused on is the political cinema. How the political cinema had an impact on the viewers, for example, if it met their expectations or if it showed the current political atmosphere, dictated how its audience will react to it. The people will took up the same role in this research as they did in DeScantis and Poole’s theory. Their feedback, current ideas and beliefs, and many more acted as a guide on how the technology—the political cinema—can be further developed. In this cycle of developing the political cinema, seeing how it interacts with its audience, and how this audience’s input or feedback will further develop the political cinema, is the relationship of the variables in this study. The political thought on migration of a people should be shown or should be manifested in the political cinema if it follows the Adaptive Structurational Theory of DeScantis and Poole (1994)

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This research looked into the factors that affect the political cinema and how it affects the political thought on migration. The current factors stated are, (a) the increasing awareness of the Filipinos on social issues, (b) the capturing of the filmmakers of such feelings of awareness, and (c) the growing number of overseas Filipino workers that are migrating.

In stating these factors, we wished to uncover whether or not the Political Cinema does reflect the political thought on migration. Due to there being no definite answer, the framework has included two possible answers. One being an affirmation of the question, and the other being a negation to the question. These outcomes will, of course, also have their own effects. If the answer is an affirmation that the Political Cinema does reflect the political thought on migration, there can be two effects. The first being the Political Cinema becoming an avenue to educate the

19 masses, and the second being the Political Cinema becoming an avenue to document history. If the answer is a negation of the question, specifically, that the Political Cinema does not reflect the political thought on migration, then the possible effect may possible be that the Political

Cinema is created based only on the ideas and beliefs of its filmmaker and not a reflection of the current political thought of a nation’s people.

DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

• Overseas Filipino Workers: Filipinos that are stationed to work in foreign

countries, temporarily, through a contract with their employers (Cosalan, 2010).

• Political Cinema: (a) somewhat based on the realities of the world—and not on

the imagination of a single person and are made to cause a reaction or a

movement. And more importantly, Political Cinema is (b) made solely for the

culture of a specific country and steers away from that of its previous colonial

masters (Getino & Solanas, 2017).

• Political Thought: “It considers the ways in which thinkers have responded to

the particular political problems of their day, and the ways in which they

contribute to a broader conversation about human goods and needs, justice,

democracy, and the proper relationship of the individual to the state.” (Song,

2004).

• Labor Migration: refers to the phenomenon of migrating for the purpose of

employment (US Legal, 2018).

• Structural Adaptation Theory: This theory looks into how the existence of

technology affects humans, and how humans in turn mold these different types of

technology while they are interacting with it (DeScantis & Poole, 1994).

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The researcher used quantitative and qualitative research methods to obtain the needed data and information. Much of the important data used in this research were garnered from the literature, past researchers, and open-source materials. Through an in-depth review of the literature and an assessment of the current workings of the society, the researcher was able to acquire significant supplementary data. Significant data from key informant interviews from film experts were also done to get data that cannot be derived from the current sources. To be specific, these interviews contained information about the state of Philippine political cinema and how political films are made.

The main purpose of these key informant interviews was to create a better understanding of the issue at hand, and to generate information of which helped in arriving at a more researched conclusion. Information from the key informant interviews was used to have somewhat of an understanding of the current political thought on labor migration, since there seems to be little to no literature on this subject. The researcher will also conduct a survey to collate data on the political thought of the chosen population.

Locale of the Study

The study was confined to the University of the Philippines Manila where the respondents are situated. Since UP Manila encourages critical thinking and the freedom to practice one’s own beliefs, this institution houses one of the most diverse student populations.

One can come across people from the right of the political spectrum to the left. The students of

UP Manila are also immersed and are aware of the current political climate of the Philippines.

Due to these reasons, this population will be suited for grasping the political thought of a certain population. Also, since these students were more immersed and open to political films due to the type of education received from the University of the Philippines System, these students may be more knowledgeable on certain topics that those from other universities. However, this view is still debatable.

Population of the Study

The researcher also gathered information from key informant interviews with experts on political films. Persons such as professors, film makers, directors, producers, and script writers were included in the possible people to gather data from. The thoughts and knowledge of these experts were vital to understanding the nature of both Philippine political films. Due to this, gathering their insights and comparing them strengthened the results that this research presents.

As for the population size, the formula for sample size was applied (please see figure 1).

The researcher acquired the total population of undergraduate students in CAS through contacting the college’s Office of the Secretary. In doing this, it was found out that CAS currently houses a total population (N) of 1,337 undergraduate students. In this study, a margin error (e) of 5% with a 95% confidence level was used. This was to ensure that only the smallest amount of errors could be allowed in the conduction of this study. To add to this, a 95% confidence level allows the researcher and the readers of this study to be 95% certain on how accurate the results of the survey will be. Due to the confidence level of 95%, the z-score (z) that was used in this study was 1.96.

Figure 1. Formula applied to derive the sample size for the study

Through this formula, a sample size of 299 UP Manila students from the College of Arts and

Sciences was derived. Due to the subject matter of this research, their age, gender, and course will not have any impact in this study. However, the researcher is aware that UPM CAS students may have different thoughts from those students from other colleges such as College of Allied

Medical Professions, College of Nursing, College of Medicine, College of Public Health,

College of Pharmacy, and College of Dentistry. Due to this, the study can only generalize the thoughts of UPM CAS students, and none more.

In the aspect of key informant interviews, the researcher set two interviews with political film experts. The essence of these interviews was to gather insights and additional information about political films. This is due to the acknowledgement that these experts are very busy in their own lines of work. Choosing the key informants was based on their expertise on political films or political thought. On data for labor migration, the researcher set only one interview. However, to make up for the use of only one resource person for this matter, the researcher ensured to have an in-depth interview.

Sampling design

In conducting key informant interviews, the researcher used purposive sampling to choose film experts that are well-versed with creating political films. Professors of political thought and historical thought were also interviewed by the researcher. In conducting the survey, the researcher also used purposive sampling to ensure that their population was made up of students from the University of the Philippines Manila. By asking respondents to input their student numbers, the researcher ensured that those submitting their answered surveys were students of UP Manila.

Data Collection Procedures

The researcher used methods of data collection such as thereview of existing literature, giving out survey questionnaires, and conducting key informant interviews. A review of literature was conducted to assess the state of Philippine political cinema. Through undergoing a literature review, the researcher was able to connect different variables of the research and shed light on the inner workings of the specific variable. The key informant interviews were conducted to grasp how political films are made, and how political thought is gathered.

The study employed the review of existing documents and literature, content analysis, and a synthesis of data. All of these were properly documented and were free of evaluation biases.

In collecting data for this study, first, the researcher took a historical account of the trends of Filipino political films on migration. To do this, the writer narrowed down films that highlighted the lives of the OFW. A set of criteria in choosing such movies to use was adapted by the researcher:

I. Family-themed

II. The OFW must have been from abroad and is still planning to go back, going back to

abroad, or planning to work abroad

III. The film must tackle the life of the OFW abroad

IV. The film must discuss the familial relationship of the OFW

These criteria had to come all together, and a film to be included in the research must have had all these components. These were also used to ensure that the films that were dissected were all centered upon the life of an OFW. Also, these were applied so that the perception on OFWs was easy to see and understand. In employing this set of criteria, the researcher immediately struck off films that focused on romance and had an OFW living for good in the Philippines.

Due to this, the researcher took account of the values and beliefs portrayed in these movies only: Katas ng Saudi (2007), Nars (2007), and Caregiver (2008). After carefully watching these movies, the researcher collated all the focal beliefs and values shown in the movies and included them in the survey questionnaire in order to find out whether the beliefs of the students coincided with the what the films showed. To elaborate, all three films had similar central themes regarding OFWs. Specifically, the films showcased how:

I. Overseas Filipino Workers may have had difficulty in forming tight relationships

or bonds with their children after coming back from abroad

II. Extended family members mostly regard OFWs as sources of financial funders

III. There is an apparent prejudice against blue-collar OFWs (domestic helpers,

carpenters, construction workers etc.)

IV. The hard life in the Philippines (such as the economic aspects i.e., living

conditions, difficulty in getting jobs, low-paying occupations) is a reason behind

the continued Filipino labor migration, and

V. Becoming and OFW is seen as a way to escape poverty in the Philippines

To assess the current political thought of UP Manila students, I gave out survey questionnaires (please see Appendix B for reference). This was in order to make a proper generalization of the political thought of my population. However, collecting data from students will be difficult. As much as possible, the researcher will collect data while observing the proper ethical manners as provided by the Data Privacy Act. Permission from the University of the

Philippines Manila administrations will be asked before starting the data gathering from students.

Answering of questionnaires will be done where it is most convenient for the participants.

The researcher also interviewed experts on political films to gather information on how political films are made. In collecting data on the relationship between the political cinema and political thought, these key informant interviews were vital. To further explain the ethical aspects surrounding this study, I have allocated a specific section in this methodology.

Ethical Aspects of Data Gathering

Since this study dealt with people and their personal data, the researcher observed proper data collection and storage. First, the researcher handed out informed consent forms (ICFs) to their respondents. The ICF included an introduction to this research study and its title. To give a short summary, this thesis looked into the possibility of political films reflecting the political thought of selected students from UPM. After giving a brief background about this study, the

27 researcher stated the purpose of this research—to find a new avenue to assess the political thoughts of a certain population.

The data gathering methods of these study varied depending on the type of information needed. To create a generalization of the political thought of UPM students from the College of

Arts and Sciences, the researcher gave out survey questionnaires to certified students of UPM under CAS. For understanding the Philippine political cinema and the side of the film makers, the researcher interviewed key informants. The same was also done for gathering Philippine political thought and migration. To do this, ICFs were given to potential informants before interviewing them or asking them to answer the survey questionnaires. The ICFs were vital to having the participants of this research understand their rights and how their data was to be stored.

First, the ICF made them aware of the fact that their participation was of pure voluntariness. Should they have wanted to pull out of the study at any point given in time, the researcher would have had heeded to their needs. Their data and answers were also to be deemed null and would have been deleted from the data of this research.

The duration of this research—from January 2019 ‘til June 2019—was also be mentioned in the ICF. Proper storage of data was also done to ensure the safety of the participants of this research. The data was stored in different storage devices such as a USB, google drive, and the researcher’s personal computer. No one had access to the data except for researcher. To be clear, the data from the conducted interviews were to be deleted after the completion of the thesis. The disposal of all information was done in a manner that ensured that no one will, even the researcher, would have access to the data the participants have given. This informed consent form was valid until the permanent deletion of the data gathered from the survey.

The ICF also included the risks and benefits the participants could have faced while they were involved in this research. The ICF warned the respondents that since this thesis asked about their views and thoughts about certain things, they might feel uncomfortable sharing their insights. The ICF explicitly stated that the respondents were not getting any direct benefits from this research. However, the researcher gave out a small token to those that took part in the data gathering procedure.

Although asking for important information, the ICF included a confidentiality notice that the identity of the student participants was not to be used in this research. Only their answers were showcased. However, for the key informant interviews, their identities were used so as to establish that this thesis involved knowledgeable people. However, should they have wanted their identities to stay private, the researcher would have had redacted their names and only included their professions.

Lastly, the ICF ended with another reminder that participants may have chosen to withdraw from the study at any point. They could have also refused to participate in this research if they did not wish to take any part of it. The researcher also included their contact information should the participants have had any questions or points to raise.

In summary, below is the matrix of data needed.

Table 1. Data Matrix: List of Data Needed and How These Will be Collected and Analyzed Data Needed Sources of Data Analysis of Data Ethical Aspects

Discuss the roles Secondary data such as Historical account of data • Citing all and channels of journal articles sources the political • taking into cinema in the account all of country as a the data whole collected

Discuss the Secondary data such as • Historical account • Citing all Philippine journal articles of the data sources political thought collected • taking into on migration Key informant • Understanding account all of interviews with experts and taking note of the data on political thought the perspective of collected and/or migration the informants • Hand out ICFs to key informants.

Discuss the Secondary data such as Historical account of the • Citing all means through journal articles data collected and sources which the aggregation of the • taking into political cinema common themes account all of can influence the the data political thought collected

Discuss how the Secondary data such as Historical account of data • Citing all political cinema journal articles sources can be a guide in • taking into understanding account all of the political the data thought on collected migration of the Filipinos

Discuss the Gather data through Understanding and taking • Citing all political thought surveys which will be note of the political sources, of selected participated by UPM thought on migration of • taking into students from students selected population account all of UPM the data Student participants collected; shall be included in the • informed data gathering upon the consent form approval of the will be asked university’s for administration.

Participants will be chosen according to their willingness.

Participants will be approached through purposive sampling. Possibly, through room to room data collection

Informed Consent Form for students from UPM can be seen under the label ICF 1

Survey questions for students can be seen under the label Questionnaire 1

To give a general Will be derived from Comparing the historical • Citing all assessment the aggregation of all account of data derived sources whether the the data gathered during from multiple secondary • taking into political cinema this research process data, and key informant account all of reflects the interviews with the the data

31 political thought contemporary view on collected on migration of political thought on selected students migration and political from UPM cinema

CHAPTER II: SITUATIONER

In this section of the paper, I shall introduce Philippine migration and the Philippine cinematic industry. In doing this, I will briefly run through the history of Philippine migration and focus on its current state. After this, the Philippine cinematic industry will be discussed. Its role in the Philippine society will be highlighted. Lastly, the place of political films within the

Philippine cinema will be explained. As a result of this section, I hope to shed more light on the variables of this study. Also, to contextualize this research in order to demonstrate the connection between these certain concepts to the Philippine society.

A Brief History of Philippine Migration

Philippine migration, in this study, is centered towards Filipino labor migration. We will focus on the Overseas Filipino Workers and how they are perceived in the Philippine community and how these perceptions translate into Philippine film. To better understand the role of Filipino labor migration, I believe that we must first briefly run through the roots of this phenomenon.

In an article by Sabangan (2010), the author recounts the history of the labor exportation phenomenon in the Philippines. She starts of by stating that President Ferdinand Marcos was the first man to institutionalize Filipino labor migration. During his presidency, in the 1970s, labor migration was regarded as a temporary solution to the rising unemployment rate and lacking foreign exchange earnings to compensate for the continually growing foreign debt. After strengthening labor exportation by carefully selecting Filipinos for the labor exportation program in order to protect the good name of the Philippines through Presidential Decree 442, or better known as the Labor Code of the Philippines, President Marcos then institutionalized Presidential

Decree 1412 which was geared towards rationalizing the participation of the private sector in the labor exportation process. Lastly, in 1982, the deployment of Filipinos abroad was systematized through Executive Order 797. This Executive Order was made to create the Philippine Overseas

Employment Agency (POEA), which ‘til this day is functioning towards maintaining and promoting the employment of OFWs in foreign countries.

Once Ferdinand Marcos was ousted out of his seat of power, one would think that the following presidents would derail all of his projects to create a new system for the Philippines.

However, the OFW program of the Philippines stayed and even grew under the following

Filipino presidents (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. The rise in number of Overseas Filipino Workers throughout the presidencies of Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Source: POEA Planning Division from GMA News Online, 2010

We can see in the data above, that as the years went by, the number of OFWs had been steadily increasing. Under the term of Marcos, there were a few hundred thousand Filipinos that were being exported to foreign countries, however as the years progressed, over a million

Filipinos were leaving the country in pursuit of jobs in other nations. At the start of the term of

Corazon Aquino, 378,214 Filipinos were being deployed. By the end of her term 615,019

Filipinos were working overseas. The number of Filipinos being exported almost increased by

100%. Fidel Ramos’ term took the same tone with the OFWs, wherein the number of Filipinos being sent overseas was steadily increasing. The same was true for Estrada and Arroyo.

In saying this, we can observe that the culture of labor migration in the Philippines is very well-cultivated. As a measure to solve different issues in the Philippine labor sector such as unemployment, and the lack of jobs, the culture of labor migration has been instilled in the lives of Filipinos. Now that we have briefly passed through the history behind Philippines’ labor exportation, we must now go into the present state of Philippine labor migration.

The Current State of Philippine Migration

As it was previously mentioned, the number of OFWs is steadily increasing. Together with this, millions of families and individual lives are affected by this heightening number. In our society, simple statistics may just seem like numbers in a table but on the contrary they have real effects and impacts on everyday life. In 2017, about 1,992, 746 OFWs were deployed overseas. And during the 1st semester of 2018, about 1,050,621 OFWs went out of the country.

According to the data from POEA, the number of OFWs leaving the country has been dropping ever since 2016 (see Table 2).

Table 2. Deployed Overseas Filipino Workers by Type of Hiring 2006-2018 (1st Sem)

Source: Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, 2018

There may be numerous reasons behind this sudden drop in the deployment of OFWs after 10 years of steady increase in numbers. However, one of the top reasons for this decrease is the cutback of labor demand in Saudi Arabia due to its own predicaments as a nation. Due to this, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos were sent back to the Philippines (Santos, 2018). Aside from issues of sudden termination of contracts, OFWs also face different problems and concerns while they stay in foreign countries. Upon scanning news regarding the issues faced by OFWs, here are the trends that the researcher has noted.

• According to multiple accounts, OFWs are often maltreated and abused by their

employers. Such stories include being forced to sleep outside, being beaten, and many

others.

• Some stories online also showed that the OFWs were vulnerable in some of the countries

they are stationed in. Numerous stories of OFWs being unjustly put on death row have

surfaced within the span of a few years.

• Some online news stories also noted multiple accounts of OFWs’ salaries being withheld

by their employers. And upon demanding their pays, are forcefully sent home by their

employers.

Because of the visibility of OFWs in the Philippine society, together with the roles they play in their families’ lives, the exportation of Philippine labor is a topic that is well-known among

Filipinos. So much so that it is sometimes put into the silver screen. Portrayals of OFW families and the lives of OFWs can be found in numerous Filipino films. There are even accounts of foreigners producing films on the struggles of OFWs. These types of films will be discussed later in this section

Due to this, we can note that the Philippine cinematic industry plays an important role in putting into flesh the plights and experiences of our OFWs. In saying this, the state of the

Philippine cinematic industry must also be explored in the following sections. In doing this, I hope to present the environment wherein Philippine political films reside in.

The Philippine Cinematic Industry

In the Philippines, just like most countries, there are two main types of films: commercial films and arthouse films. In a summarized description, Rajarao (2016) lays down the difference

37 between the two. Essentially, commercial films are made to profit from its viewers. In order to do these, the filmmakers do their best to make these movies entertaining and catchy. Scenes must appeal to the masses, and the cast must catch the attention of people. While arthouse films are more focused on showing the social reality of the world. Through it, the filmmakers hope to evoke enough of a reaction from its viewers for it to be part of the conversation among the masses. Arthouse films are more concerned about transferring its soul and story to its viewers rather than gaining a profit from them.

Through these descriptions, we can conclude that commercial films may fall under the first and second cinema—as it was discussed in the literature—and arthouse films may fall under the third cinema and may even be considered as political films.

Although there are two main types of films in the Philippines, commercial films are more produced and viewed by the Filipino audience. Living right now in contemporary Philippines, the production and emergence of romance, comedy, and feel-good movies are much more constant than arthouse films. By following box office films, one would notice that most of these fit the description of commercial films. Romance movies such as You Changed my Life starring well-known Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz, A Second Chance, It Takes a Man and

Woman; comedy films such as My Little Bossings, The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin,

Sisterakas, and many more have been dominating Philippine cinema. The repeated production of films like these—ones that are mostly created to entertain their viewers—shows that commercial films are currently dominating the Philippine film industry.

Be that as it may, arthouse films still exist in the Philippine context. Although they may be sparse compared to commercial films, these films still generate an audience and produce

38 conversations between its viewers. In saying this, we will now discuss the current state of political films in the Philippine cinematic industry.

Political Films and the Philippine Labor Migration

Political films in the Philippine context, as it was mentioned earlier, are sparse compared to commercial films. Although political films seem to be less in numbers, this does not mean that they are lacking in terms of substance and plot. Political films are not as well-received as commercial films. Since these films are made to represent reality, Filipinos would rather watch something more entertaining than something that would remind them of their present positions in life. Because of this, political films seldomly become box office hits. However, upon researching about films related to Philippine labor migration, the researched found out that these types of films catch the attention of the Filipino audience.

Katas ng Saudi (2007) which revolveD around the experience of an OFW coming home from Saudi after years of working, only to find out that his family has grown cold towards him and that his siblings have become dependent on him. Nars (2007), is also a political film that was created as a tribute to Filipino nurses working abroad. Having the same tone as showing the hardships of the life as an OFW, this film was also well-received by the Filipino audiences.

Another movie centered around the struggles of the lives of OFWs is Caregiver (2008) (“Top 6

Classic…”, 2018). The Philippines is rich with movies that include OFWs, however those that actually focus on the lives of OFWs are also lacking.

Through saying all of this, what seems to be unexplored is how these films could reflect the opinions and perspectives of the Filipino masses towards OFWs. Do these films represent

39 how Filipinos view the OFWs? Can these films be used as examples guides in assessing how the

Filipino people receive the concept of OFWs?

Through the literature, it has been established that the Political cinema plays an important role in catching the realities within a society and putting it on screen. Therefore, whatever the political cinema produces, it is somewhat a reflection of the current Philippine community. It was mentioned that there are political films concerning our OFWs, thus, can these films be used as a documentation of the Filipino political thought on Philippine labor migration? Through studying these films and connecting the current thought of Filipinos, we shall find out if these films may be used as source materials for recovering the Philippine political thought on labor migration.

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In a modernizing era where people are starting to look for unorthodox ways to learn, it is high time that we look into various areas of our society and how we can possibly regard them as learning resources. This thesis was conducted aiming to uncover whether or not Philippine political movies have the ability to mirror the political thought of a people. Through the literature review and a brief look into the situation of the Philippine political cinema and OFWs, it was realized that the role of political films in society is to reflect the realities of our current environment and to socialize individuals. When we say socialize, it means that political films can be watched by others to understand how a society and a general population work. Another point we have uncovered thus far, is that Filipino labor migration is still a recurring issue in the

Philippines. Aside from the aforementioned statistics on OFWs today, other problems such as maltreatment, withholding of salary, and termination of contract keep this issue relevant in the

Philippine society. Through these cited problems, the researcher also found out that there exists no data on the perspective of Filipinos on OFWs and how political films can be used as an avenue to understand political thought.

To address this gap in the state of knowledge, the researcher used mixed research methods to gather data about specific topics. Qualitative data gathering measures such as interviews were used to acquire data from film directors and selected students from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila. On the other hand, quantitative data gathering methods were used to generalize the thought of students on OFWs. In saying all of this, the study will now present its findings and analysis in the following section. To facilitate an easier discussion, the results and discussion was divided into three sections. First, the (a)

41 perspective of film directors on political films will be discussed. Next, the (b) thought on

Filipino labor migration of UPM CAS students will be shown. Through these, the researcher hopes to lay down the results in a more understandable manner and to easier concretize the conclusions of this research. However, before this study dives into the findings of this thesis, let us first discuss the coded interviews with key informants, and UPM CAS students. This is to let the readers easier understand the different themes taken from the interviews.

Understanding the Coded Interviews with Key Informants and UPM CAS Students

Throughout this study, the researcher conducted interviews with three experts on different fields related to this thesis. Two interviews with political film experts were set up, and one interview with an expert on Filipino labor migration was done (to see the data matrix for this set of interviews, please see table 3). To add to this, the researcher also set up interviews with selected students from UPM CAS until the saturation point was met. Due to this, only seven interviews with UPM CAS students were conducted.

Through the data matrix, the researcher hoped to show the data in an organized, understandable, and intelligible manner. Because of this, let us first discuss the set up of the table.

Under the first heading “Code”, we can see the names or pseudonyms of those who have participated in the interviews. In the case of key informant interviews, their whole name and some qualifications are included. However, in the case of students, they have opted to stay anonymous for the research and are instead named “Respondent #1” ‘til “Respondent #7”. The next heading, “Data”, contains one of the most important components one can attain from interviews—the input of the referents. What is found under this heading is largely dependent on the “Themes or subthemes” that can be found under the third heading. Of course, to support the

42 data that will be derived from these interviews, quotations from the interviews were directly lifted and put under the fourth heading named under “Quote”.

Regarding the interviews with political film experts, the researcher interviewed Brillante

Mendoza and Jose Javier Reyes. Both of which are award winning directors and have produced a vast array of films. Brillante Mendoza has been nominated in different film awards festivals such as Gawad Urian and Cannes Film Festival. His recent movie, Alpha, also won in the 2019

Cannes Film Festival. On the other hand, Jose Javier Reyes is well-known in the Philippine cinematic industry having produced box office films such as Kasal, Kasali Kasalo, Katas ng

Saudi, and Now that I have You. However, in discussing and elaborating on the tables, so as not to be repetitive, only the themes and subthemes throughout these interviews will be discussed in this portion. The actual input and data will be reserved for the following sections that will actually tackle the data and analysis.

With reference to the interview with Mr. Brillante Mendoza, these were more focused on the creation of political films such as the process, the thoughts that Gwent into them, and how they weremade.

Different themes were derived from the interview such as the definition of political films, the process of making political films, how films reflect the thought of a people, and the role of films in the Philippine society. In Mr. Jose Javier Reyes’ interview, the questions were more centered on how he created his film “Katas ng Saudi”, since this movie is a part of this study, and his views on political films. The themes of the data derived from his interview are the definition of Katas ng Saudi as a film, the process of making Katas ng Saudi, the role of films in the Philippine society, how films can reflect the thoughts of its director, the lack of political films in the Philippine cinematic industry, the root cause of the OFW phenomenon in the Philippines,

43 effect of Filipino labor migration to the Philippines, the nature of familial relationships of OFWs, and his opinion on the possible existence of prejudice against blue-collar worker OFWs.

Other than interviews with film directors, the researcher also conducted a brief consultation with an expert with Filipino labor migration. Ms. Frances Dumalaog is a researcher at the Department of Labor and Employment – Institute of Labor Studies or DOLE-ILS.

Throughout the interview, the focus was the root cause behind Filipino labor migration and the current state of OFWs. This interview was done to further the understanding behind this phenomenon. Further information about the interviews with key informants will be reserved for the discussion of results so as not to be repetitive.

In relation to the UPM CAS student interviews, these were done to further understand their thoughts regarding Filipino labor migration (please see table 4 to view the data matrix).

Among seven interviews, the same themes and subthemes were collated. These were the definition of political films, the importance of political films, their views and opinions on

Filipino labor migration, their opinion on what is the root cause behind the phenomenon of

Overseas Filipino Workers, the nature of an OFWs relationship with his or her family, their opinion of the existence of prejudice against blue-collar OFWs, and how political films can be a mirror of the political thought on OFWs.

Through mentioning all of this, the researcher hopes that the readers can better understand the data matrixes included in this portion.

The Role of Political Films

In the literature review, it was determined that political films serve as avenues to socialize people into society, and to show the realities of our current situation. However, to

44 further verify this, the researcher interviewed film directors and students of UPM CAS to determine whether or not their opinions and views on political films coincide. Through interviews conducted with eight UPM CAS students and with two political film directors, the researcher was able to derive three things about the role of political films:

a. They must be about the state of our society

b. They must provoke critical thinking, and

c. They are different from propaganda films.

In conducting interviews, 7 out of 7 interview respondents believed that political films must discuss societal issues (see table 4). However, one respondent was worried about political films becoming all about propaganda. To shed light on this, Cannes Film Festival award winning political film director, Brillante Mendoza, differentiated political films from propaganda films.

He stated that political films must be about the system (government, poverty, world hunger, etc.), while propaganda films focus on personalities such as presidents, actors, and other politicians

(see table 4).

In addition to this, both Jose Javier Reyes (a Gawad Urian award winning director) and

Brillante Mendoza believe that political films must not only mirror the state of our society but must also spur their audience to think critically (see table 3). Both film directors, stated that films were meant to not only inform their audience but to also pose questions in their minds. The more questions their audience ask, and the more their viewers think is directly proportional to how successful their film was.

To add to this, both film directors and 73.24% of UPM CAS students believed that

Philippine films about OFWs can reflect how people perceive the lives of OFWs. During the

45 interview with Jose Javier Reyes, he said that “…but that (films) is not only a political statement, but that is a reflection of the here and now.”. Brillante Mendoza also talked about this during his interview when asked about whether or not films can reflect the thoughts of a people, he answered, “It’s really what’s happening. It doesn’t have to be a reflection.”. In mentioning this, we can note that it is believed that Philippine political films can truly reflect the state of our society and the thoughts of the people. However, we have yet to prove if it truly can reflect the thoughts of our population.

Film Directors Consult the Society in Making Political Films

To further understand if political films can reflect the political thought of a population, one must understand where, what and who do film directors and writers base their films on. In the interviews conducted with UPM CAS students, 1 out of 8 of them (Respondent #3, see table

4) showed wariness regarding how accurate political films are.

In an interview with Brillante Mendoza (see table 3), it was mentioned that there are principles in film making that push directors to base their movies on real happenings or persons.

To elaborate, Mendoza applies the “Found Story” principle which highlighted that realities in a society must be reflected by the film.

In addition to this, Mendoza hires a team of researchers to delve into the societies that will be the center of his film. In the interview, Mendoza also highlighted that film directors do not only consult a single individual, but they have to see the general situation in order to make an accurate depiction of what is happening to our society. Jose Reyes also agreesdwith this thought and notesd\that his films come from the aggregation of experiences of the individuals he knows.

Thus, according to the film directors I have interviewed, political films are based on the realities of our society.

Table 3. Coding of Interviews with Key Informants Code Data Themes/subthemes Quote Mr. Brillante Political films as Definition of “…whether you like it or not, Mendoza movies delving into political films political sila kasi they tackle social issues social issues. So hindi mo ma- Director of help iyon. Kumpaga, naka- Political Political films must attach na ang pagiging political Films; Cannes focus on the system niya. Kasi may assertion ka Festival award and not on agad. May assertion ka about winning personalities the society, about the director government.” Political films are systems based while “When you make a film about propaganda films social issues, whether you like focus on personalities it or not, naka-attach na doon ang political. Hindi mo pwede mong ihiwalay ang political sa social issues.”

“Especially yung sa mga film namin, I don’t focus on the personalities, I focus on the system.” “Kasi, pag tao, ang personality kunwari inattack ko si Duterte sa pelikula ko, masyado na lang specific…pero kapag halimbawa ang focus ko ay governance, oh diba mas general siya? …kapag ganun mas nagiging political siya.

“Kasi ‘pag gumawa ako gumawa ka ng anti-marcos, political na kaagad? Hindi. It’s a propaganda against

Marcos…pero kung si Marcos ang inaattack nila doon at hindi Martial Law per se, nagiging propaganda siya.”

“Pero kung inatake mo ang Martial Law so it becomes a political film. It’s about the system, it’s not about the person.” Application of Found Process of making “Yung paggawa ko kasi ng Story Principle a political film pelikula, basically meron kaming sinusunod na Basing films on real pinapractice sa filmmaking life stories namin. Ang tawag doon ay Found Story.” Script development based on doing “Sa Found Story, kailangan research and entering talaga nakabase yung kwento the lives of people mo sa totoong buhay. Ibigsabihin, sa totoong buhay ng tao. So meron kaming referent.”

“Pinaka-basic requirements ng Found Story dapat base sa totoong buhay.”

“…kailangan mom una malaman yung kabuuan ng character. Yung buhay niya, yung mga pinagdadaanan niya, yung aspirations niya, kasama doon.”

“Kasi pag nag-research ka, hindi lang naman isang tao. You go from one place to another. You talk to different kinds of people. So you hear

different kinds of experiences of these people.”

“Mayroon akong team of researchers…you have to know yung mundo 360 degrees kasi hindi lang yung ito yung aalamin mo kahit hindi mo makikita lahat ng information na iyan sa pelikula…as a director well-informed ka doon sa gusto mong ikwento at sabihin.” Commercial films Films as a “Well, the thoughts of the cannot reflect the reflection of a people, depende sa klase ng thought of a people people’s thought films na ginagawa mo. Kasi halimbawa gumawa ka ng Political films as an pelikula ni Vice Ganda, does it avenue to show what reflect the thoughts of the is happening in people? Hindi.” reality “…you cannot really equate yung thoughts ng mga tao sa mga klase ng pelikula na ginagawa in general.”

“It’s really what’s happening. It doesn’t have to be a reflection.”

“Of course. Parang kami yung nagdadala ng kwento ng kung ano ang realidad. Kasi ang films naming, reflection yan ng buhay.”

“…otherwise wala kang basehan, wala kang basis kung hindi mo nakikita.” Commercial films Role of films in “Depende rin sa film…Paano

such as horror, our society magtuturo ang horror, ang comedy, fantasy, and comedy, ang fantasy?” romantic comedy cannot really teach “…ito yung mga movie goers much who are fantasizing about their lives. About what they want to Other genres serve a happen in their lives. Thoughts purpose of escapism din nila yun, pero fantasy rin only nila yun.”

“They (other genres) don’t Films that focus on focus on societal issues. But if social issues (political you ask me? Yes (films can be films) can educate its used as avenue of learning).” audience “Because that is really the Political films intent. To provoke critical provoke critical thinking among the audience.” thinking among its audience “Yes, it (political films) will provoke critical thinking and maybe in the future, they can make the necessary changes.” Mr. Jose Katas ng Saudi as a Definition of Katas “It’s more of a social film. It’s “Joey” Javier social film ng Saudi as a film a film with a degree of social Reyes commentary. I think the whole phenomenon of the OFW is not Director of necessarily political in Katas ng Saudi nature…”

Gawad Urian award winning director Story is based on the Process of making “…most of it came from director’s own Katas ng Saudi personal experience because I experiences with do know a lot of OFWs. So OFWs actually, the character of Jinggoy here is a compilation of so many OFWs that I know. Both men and women.”

Commercial films do Role films in our “…when you watch a Vice not have any society Ganda movie maybe the educational value question you’ll be asking is “Ba’t ko pinanuod yung Other genres serve a pelikula na iyan?”, hindi ba?” purpose of escapism only “…you know precisely why (people watch commercial Films provoke critical films), because you want to be thinking from its anesthesized (sic) for 90 audience minutes na di mo iniintindi o iisipin yung mga problema Political films as a mo.” mirror of the current state of society “We have made films into escapist routes. We watch these romcoms because we want to fall in love or at least approximate the feeling for 90 minutes.”

“…I wish we cold do films which make people think. For me, the most effective films are at the end of the movie, you’re still thinking of the movie.”

“But you know, films can make such a bigger statement eh. Without directly being confrontational or political eh. It’s not that it can. It’s that it should.”

“But that is not only a political statement, but that is also a reflection of the here and now.” Katas ng Saudi has Films as a “Oh yeah (thought is the director’s thought reflection of a embedded), in Katas ng

51 embedded in it director’s thought Saudi…” Reduction of political Lack of political “And you know what, it’s so films being produced films sad now because such films due to little revenue (political films) are really not they garner making money.”

Lack of political “I wish we can do more films films about OFWs about Filipinos abroad hindi ba? The Filipinos in Singapore. Iba naman ang experience nila roon. Or even Filipinos in Canada which I find so interesting because there’s a Mississauga there. Or even in the States, there is a Daly City or Pacifica na puro Pilipino.” Government Root cause behind “In a country where advertisement of the phenomenon of exportation of labor is deified becoming an OFW Overseas Filipino and is honored, how can you Workers possible have a nationalist idea Larger salary in kung ang pinupuri mo ay ang foreign countries mga umaalis?”

“…recently, I had one of my best housekeepers said that she’s leaving. Kasi pupunta siya ng Kuwait…but I understand. She has three kids. Ang sweldo niya sa Kuwait ay equivalent to 20,000 pesos.” Brain drain caused by Effect of Filipino “It’s an endless cycle of people the mass exodus of labor migration to leaving abroad. And these are Philippine labor force the Philippines the best and the brightest. How can you possibly improve this country if the best and the brightest leave? The reasons may be selfish. Di ka nationalistic bla bla bla. Well, there’s self-preservation first, hindi ba?”

“The best and the brightest were leaving the country. How sad? Even up to now, tinatanong ko yung mga estudyante ko kung anong plano nila. Karamihan ang plano ay mag-abroad.” Children feel Nature of familial “because I know a lot of emotionally distant relationships of families who are with from their OFW OFWs parents—father or mother or parents both—who are OFWs. And I know what they go through. Relatives approach And how it affects their OFWs for financial children.” funds “It’s a phenomenon of a certain generation raised by surrogate parents. In which your concept of a relationship with your parent is through Skype.”

“Yung the fact na, hindi na kilala ng mga anak ang kanilang mga magulang, ang daming ganun. Ang daming anak na ganyan. Lately, may isa akong estudyante na hindi niya mahal ang kanyang tatay. Dahil di niya kilala ang tatay niya…”

“because akala ng mga tao, pag nagtatrabaho ka abroad, ang yaman yaman mo. So maglalabasan lahat ng mga kaibigan mo, lahat lahat ng mga kamaganak mo.” When travelling, one Opinion on the “…have you gone to Hong can see how others possible existence Kong? Ako hindi ko alam kung

treat blue-collared of prejudice awa o inis ang iiral sa akin pag OFWs against blue-collar nakikita ko on a Sunday all OFWs these Filipina domestics (domestic helpers) nagkalat yan…kung tignan sila ng foreigner parang ang bababang uri ng tao.” Ms. Frances History of labor Root cause behind “The Center for Migrant Camille migration categorized the phenomenon of Advocacy summarized the Dumalaog into four waves Overseas Filipino country’s history of labor Workers migration into four waves” Researcher at Marcos regime Department of institutionalized “The first wave spurred with Labor and Filipino labor the country’s pre-colonial trade Employment – migration during the relations with China and the Institute of final wave of labor Galleon trade…The second Labor Studies migration wave began in 1940s when (DOLE-ILS) Filipino migrants arrived in the Term “Katas ng United States of America…The Saudi” has historical third wave happened after the basis end of second world war…The final wave was marked by the Three theories behind institutionalization of labor the reason why migration under the term of Filipinos resort to former President Marcos.” working abroad “Furthermore, the phrase “katas ng Saudi” was popularized during this (third) wave.”

“In terms of aspirations for working abroad, there are three theories that may describe the reason why people choose to work abroad:

Theory of planned behavior – migrant network affects/influences the decision

of the worker to work abroad

New economics of labor migration – people from labor abundant and low waged country go to labor scarce but wage abundant countries in order to improve their economic standing

Historical Structural approach - …argues that migration is a forced decision due to the lack of employment or livelihood opportunities in the country or region.” Female blue-collar Current state of “Sayres (2007) discussed that workers go through OFWs there are several anecdotal and abuse and case reports of Filipina OFWs discrimination among being abused and exploited in other things countries of destination. They often experience maltreatment, non-payment of salary, discrimination, and verbal, sexual and physical abuse from their employers.”

Since we have now discussed the role of political films according to film directors and students, and how these types of films are made, we shall now move on to the meat of our discussion. The political thought of UPM CAS students regarding OFWs have two sets of data,

(a) statistical data derived from survey questionnaires, and (b) quantitative data derived from a series of interviews with a number of UPM CAS students. In the following sections, the researcher shall discuss each thought derived from the results of the study.

Watching Political Films about OFWs Do Not Affect the Students’ Thoughts

In the survey questionnaire the researcher handed out to 299 random UPM CAS students, it was asked whether or not they have watched films about OFWs to assess if watching films about OFWs would affect their opinions on the phenomena. The aim of this was to assess whether or not watching films about OFWs would influence their thoughts on Filipino labor migration. Out of 299 students, 219 have watched films about OFWs while 80 of them have never watched films with this theme. To make it more understandable, let us translate it into percentages. 73.24% of UPM CAS students have watched films about OFWs while 26.76% have not watched any.

In a series of graphs that will be shown below, the patterns of answers of those who have watched and have not watched political films about OFWs will be juxtaposed to grasp if seeing films about OFWs have any impact on the current thought of the students. Also, by including graphs, the researcher hopes to make understanding the trends of the answers of UPM CAS students painless and simple.

UPM CAS students answered these questions in a Likert-style scale. Within a set of statements, respondents had to rate whether they “strongly agree”, “agree”, “disagree”, or

“strongly disagree” with the certain statements. After gathering the information, the researcher translated the raw numbers into percentages (by dividing the raw number by the whole number of respondents then multiplying the quotient by 100; see figure 3 for the formula of percentage).

Figure 3. Formula for percentage

Source: https://www.kullabs.com

As it can be seen with the graphs shown below, UPM CAS students have similar trends of views and thoughts on OFWs whether or not they have watched films about OFWs. With the first statement, the goal was to assess how much the respondents agreed or disagreeD on the thought that OFWs may encounter many difficulties in forming a close bond with their children.

As we can see in the graph for statement one (see figure 4), most of UPM CAS students agreeD with this statement. To specify, 57.53% of UPM CAS students who have watched OFW films agree Dwith this statement, while 46.25% of those who have not watched the film also agree

Don the statement. We must also note that these percentages were the largest in this statement.

In the next graph (see figure 5), we can also note that the trend mainly stays consistent. In this instance, the students were asked about how much they disagreed or agreed to the statement that there is a prejudice against blue-collar OFWs. Although varying a little between “strongly agree” and “agree”, we can still observe that most of the population generally agreeD with the statement, however, a sliver of them disagreed or strongly disagreed to the statement. To elaborate, 41.1% and 48.75% of the students who have watched the film and who have not

57 watched the film, respectively, strongly agreed to the statement. While 54.34% and 43.75% of both populations agreed to the statement.

Figure 4. Graph of the Results on Statement 1 STATEMENT 1: OVERSEAS FILIPINO

WORKERS MAY HAVE A HARD TIME

BONDING WITH THEIR CHILDREN...

Watched OFW films Did not Watch OFW Films 70.00%

60.00% 57.53% 50.00% 46.25% 43.75% 40.00% 40.64%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00% 10%

0.00% 1.30% 0.46%0% STRONGLY AGREE AGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

For the third statement (see Figure 6), it was centered on how the difficult living conditions in the Philippines (i.e., difficulty in getting jobs, low-paying occupations) is the reason behind the continued migration of Filipino workers. The trend of answers of students for this statement is the same as statement one’s. 74.43% of those who have watched OFW films and

71.25% of those who have not watched films on OFWs strongly agreed WITHthis statement. On the other hand, 24.66% and 28.75% of those who have watched and those have not watched

OFW films, respectively, agreed to the statement. However, almost 0% of both populations disagreed and strongly disagreed to the statement.

Figure 5. Graph of the Results for Statement 2

STATEMENT 2: THERE IS A PREJUDICE AGAINS OFWS WHO ARE BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS

Watched OFW films Did not Watch OFW Films

60.00% 54.34% 50.00% 48.75% 43.75% 40.00% 41.10%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00% 7% 3.65% 0.00% 0.91%1% STRONGLY AGREE AGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

Figure 6. Graph of the Results for Statement 3

STATEMENT 3: HARD LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES IS A REASON BEHIND CONTINUED IMMIGRATION OF OFWS

Did not Watch OFW Films Watched OFW films

80.00% 74.43% 70.00% 71.25% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00%

30.00% 28.75% 24.66% 20.00% 10.00% 0.46%0% 0.00% 0.46%0% STRONGLY AGREE AGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

So far, UPM CAS students’ thoughts on OFWs are not affected by whether or not they have watched films on OFWs, and this is also the same case for out following statements. For the fourth statement (see Figure 7), the same trend where the general majority of the students agree

59 on the statement whether or not they have had the opportunity to view films on OFWs is observed. However, we must also note that the questions asked in the surveys may also be too simplistic. This may have contributed to the similarity in the trends of answers of both students who have watched and have not watched films regarding OFWs.

With 58.90% and 46.25% of those who have watched and have not watched films on

OFWs, respectively, strongly agreeing to the statement that many extended family members see

OFWs as sources of financial funding. And 36.53% and 51.25% of the two populations agreeing to the statement, we can note that majority of the population, if not almost all, generally agree with the statement, whether or not they have watched films on OFWs.

Figure 7. Graph of the Results for Statement 4

STATEMENT 4: EXTENDED FAMILY MEMBERS SEE OFWS AS SOURCES OF MONEY...

Watched OFW films Did not Watch OFW Films

70.00%

60.00% 58.90%

50.00% 51.25% 46.25% 40.00% 36.53% 30.00%

20.00%

10.00% 4.11%3% 0.00% 0.46%0% STRONGLY AGREE AGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

The same trend also applied to the last statement. With majority of both populations strongly agreeing to the statement that becoming an OFW is a way to escape poverty in the

Philippines with both 57.3% (for those who have watched OFW films) and 65% (for those who have not watched films on OFWs). Meanwhile, 35.62% and 30%, for those who have watched

60 movies about OFWs and for those who have not respectively, agreed to the statement. With only a small amount of both populations disagreeing and strongly disagreeing. As we can see in

Figure 8, the trend of the answers, whether or not they have watched films on OFWs, is closely similar.

Figure 8. Graph of the Results for Statement 5 STATEMENT 5: BECOMING AN OFW IS SEEN AS A WAY TO GET OUT OF POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Watched OFW films Did not Watch OFW Films

70.00% 65.00% 60.00% 57.53% 50.00%

40.00% 35.62% 30.00% 30.00% 20.00%

10.00% 5.48%4% 0.00% 1.83%1% STRONGLY AGREE AGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

In saying all of this, we can observe that watching films about OFWs do not affect the views of UPM CAS students. Their thoughts remain the same and are not affected or influenced by films on Filipino labor migration. Although this shows that films do not affect the political thought of UPM CAS students, the results do show that films on OFWs do reflect the thoughts of

UPM CAS students. To further elaborate on this, the research will continue discussing what type of thoughts these films have reflected through the collated interviews the researcher has done together with the results of the survey questionnaires handed out to UPM CAS students.

UPM CAS Students have Similar Thoughts as Political Films about OFWs

Throughout this study, the researcher aimed to uncover whether or not political films about OFWs can reflect the thoughts of a certain population. Through watching different movies revolving around the lives of OFWs, the researcher was able to derive different themes and thoughts exuded by the movies. The researcher also conducted interviews with random UPM

CAS students to gather their opinions about OFWs. Through this, the researcher was able to find out that UPM CAS students’ thoughts of OFWs are reflected in films about OFWs.

However, what are these thoughts specifically? By adding the percentages of both those who answered in “strongly agree” and “agree”, and “strongly disagree” and “disagree”, the researcher was able to understand whether or not UPM CAS students generally agree or disagree with a statement. To add to this, statements and thoughts said by the student interview respondents shall support these statistics. In a series of pie graphs, the research shall show ED the percentages of UPM CAS students that generally agree and generally disagree with the statements that will be discussed in the following portions.

To specify, all the thoughts that will be discussed are also exemplified and reflected in

Philippine political films about OFWs. First, UPM CAS students generally agree that OFWs may have a distant relationship with their children (see Figure 9). With 96% of the selected population agreeing with this thought and only 4% of the students disagreeing with the statement, we can see that a whopping majority of the population also have this thought. Not only is this result shown through the statistics gathered from the survey questionnaires, but the results from interviews mirror this also. 6 out of 7 interview respondents believed that OFWs may have a hard time forming a close bond with the family they have left behind. However, some of them believed that it depended on the situation. Respondent #7 said that “Some of them, if left at a

62 mature age, may be able to understand the situation. However, if they were left at a young age, they may feel detached from the family member that went abroad.”.

Figure 9. Graph of the Percentage of Students Agreeing and Disagreeing to the First Thought OFWS MAY HAVE A HARD TIME FORMING CLOSE

BONDS WITH THEIR FAMILY

Generally agree Generally Disagree

96%

For the second thought, once again, 96% of UPM CAS students agree D while 4% of

UPM CAS students disagreeD with the statement that extended family members see OFWs as sources of financial funding (see Figure 10). Regarding the interviews with UPM CAS students,

6 out 7 believe that many extended family members see OFWs as people to approach when in need of money.

Respondent #2 during the interview said that “Sa extended family members naman, feeling ko madalas ginagawa silang source ng pera or utangan...or magpapabili ng pasalubong pag-uwi” (In the case of extended family members, I feel that they usually make OFWs a source of money or people to approach for loans…or they ask them to buy gifts from abroad when

OFWs come home.). This thought is mirrored by the five other interview respondents. Here we

63 can see once again that UPM CAS students have the same thoughts as those shown in Filipino films.

Figure 10. Graph of the Percentage of Students Agreeing and Disagreeing to the Second Thought

EXTENDED FAMILY MEMBERS MAY TREAT OFWS AS SOURCES OF FINANCIAL FUNDING

Generally agree Generally Disagree

96%

For the next thought mirrored by both the Philippine political films about OFWs and

UPM CAS students, it is that OFWs experience prejudice for being blue-collar workers. In the movie Katas ng Saudi by Jose Javier Reyes, the main character experienced prejudice from his mother-in-law for only being a blue-collar worker in Saudi Arabia. He was treated as if he was below those who were doctors or engineers

. In the survey results, 95% of UPM CAS students believe that there truly is a prejudice against blue-collar OFW workers, leaving 5% of the students who disagreed with this thought

(see Figure 11). Meanwhile, 7 out of 7 interview respondents also believe that there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers. Respondent #4, during the interview, said that whether it be outside of inside the country, there will always be a prejudice against these types of workers. To add to this, Respondent #4 said that “Feeling ko kasi iniisip na (sic) ibang

64 tao na ‘maduming’ trabaho ang pagiging DH (domestic helper), and lagi lang silang nauutusan sa bahay ng mga employers nila…” (I feel that a lot of people think that being a domestic helper is a dirty job and that they are always being told what to do in their employers’ houses).

Respondent #3 on the other hand, sees this type of discrimination among their relatives.

To quote, “My relatives who are professionals abroad…are treated as if they’re superior to my other relatives who are blue-collar workers abroad.”. In saying this, we can also note that for this thought a landslide majority of the UPM CAS students mirror this thought from films about

OFWs.

Figure 11. Graph of the Percentage of Students Agreeing and Disagreeing to the Third Thought

THERE IS A PREJUDICE AGAINST BLUE-COLLAR OFWS

Generally agree Generally Disagree

95%

The fourth thought is regarding the Filipino labor migration becoming a phenomenon due to it being seen as a way to escape poverty in the Philippines. 94% of UPM CAS students generally agreed to this statement while 6% of the population disagreed to this thought (see

Figure 12). To add to this, some of the student respondents believeD that the higher salary and

65 the existence of better opportunities in foreign countries contributed to the continued migration of Filipino workers. Respondent #5 recounted that his/her family members worked outside the country because of the higher salary.

Mr. Jose Javier Reyes also talked about his fair share of knowing people who choose to leave the country for better opportunities. To quote, “…recently, I had one of my best housekeepers said that she’s leaving. Kasi pupunta siya ng Kuwait…but I understand. She has three kids. Ang sweldo niya sa Kuwait ay equivalent to 20,000 pesos” (…recently, I had one of my best housekeepers said that she’s leaving. Because she’s going to Kuwait…but I understand.

She has three kids. Her salary in Kuwait is equivalent to 20,000 pesos.).

This view is supported by one of the theories Ms. Frances Dumalaog mentioned in her interview (see Table 3). As per Ms. Dumalaog, the “New economics of labor migration” is a theory wherein “people from labor abundant and low waged country go to labor scarce but wage abundant countries in order to improve their economic standing”. Thus, in this theory, labor migration is done to escape poverty.

The last thought to be discussed in this portion has the largest percentage of students agreeing to it. 99% of UPM CAS students agreeing to the thought that the harsh living conditions in the Philippines contribute to the continued migration of OFWs, only 1% of the population disagreed to this thought (see Figure 13). With this 7 out of 7 student interviews also see this as the root cause of labor migration. Respondent #1 said that “People typically look for better employment opportunities, this led to some people becoming OFW.” Respondent #3 also believes that the current situation that push OFWs to migrate is because of the government. To quote, “I believe the Philippine government has failed them enough that they even considered migrating in the first place.” In another quote by Respondent #3, they say “…the root cause of

66 labor migration and the existence of OFWs is the failure of the government to provide requisites that will lead to the attainment of a good life.”. Among the interviews, all of them have sentiments very similar to those of Respondent #1 and Respondent #3’s. Ms. Dumalaog, also has a theory that supports this type of view. This is the “Historical Structural approach” which

“argues that migration is a forced decision due to the lack of employment or livelihood opportunities in the country or region.”. Because of the difficult living situation here in the

Philippines, people opt to go to different countries to try their luck and look for occupations.

However, the problem at hand is that, although films about OFWs do talk about the hard life in the Philippines being the cause behind Filipino labor migration, it does not look into how the government has a huge role to play in this phenomenon. In The Caregiver, it shows how the main character has to leave the country and forgo being a teacher to go to a different country for better opportunities, this is also the same in Katas ng Saudi wherein the characters talk about how life in the Philippines is too difficult. However, they never pinpoint and mention the lack of government action. This may be something that has yet to be mirrored by OFW films or are too risky to be mirrored.

Figure 12. Graph of the Percentage of Students Agreeing and Disagreeing to the Fourth Thought

BECOMING AN OFW IS A WAY TO ESCAPE POVERTY

Generally agree Generally Disagree

67 94% Figure 13. Graph of the Percentage of Students Agreeing and Disagreeing to the Fifth Thought

HARSH LIVING CONDITIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES CONTRIBUTE TO CONTINUED MIGRATION OF OFWS

Generally agree Generally Disagree

99%

In seeing the results of the survey and in-depth interviews with students, it is obvious that films do reflect the thoughts of the students. However, the aim of this study WAS to find out whether Philippine films about OFWs reflect the political thought of UPM CAS students. As per our operationalization of political thought in our definition of key terms (from Song, 2004), political thought is concerned with justice, human needs, and the relationship between state institutions and individuals. Although the OFW films we have studied do mirror the thoughts of the students, it seemed that they reflected mainly thoughts about the thoughts of students regarding the social state of OFWs. Mostly showing scenes regarding OFWs familial relationships, and prejudice against them, the films the researcher has included in this study do not discuss the role of the government or state institutions in the lives of OFWs.

Due to this, Philippine political films about OFWs may only reflect the social thought of

UPM CAS students instead of their political thought. As it was mentioned in the earlier section, students, among many other thoughts, believe that the government has a large role in the

continued migration of Filipino workers—this was not included in any of the OFW films the

researcher has watched and studied. Thus, we can say that Philippine films about OFWs may be

used to reflect the thoughts of UPM CAS students, but only their social thoughts rather than their

political thoughts.

Table 4. Coding of Interview Results of Selected UPM CAS Respondents Code Data Themes/subthemes Quote Respondent #1 Political films as Definition of “They are the films who aims instruments to show political films to shed light on both the what the government atrocities and the supposedly has done good things the government made.”

Vitality of political Importance of “They (political films) are films attached to its political films good in spreading education to ability to educate, and the masses who always spread awareness consume films in the cinema.”

“They are important in our society for not only they provide information, but they also spread awareness.”

Labor migration is Views and “It (labor migration) is a seen as a norm in the opinions on recurring phenomenon here in Filipino society Filipino labor the country…” migration “Since the phenomena is being practiced for decades now, it no longer catches my attention since it is now considered a norm.” The state of Root cause behind “People typically look for Philippine economy the phenomenon better employment is a reason why of Overseas opportunities, this led to some Filipinos choose to Filipino Workers people becoming OFW.” work abroad

“Lack of employment Employment opportunities, poverty, low opportunities are minimum wage…” better in foreign countries “some become OFWs because other countries are much Filipinos choose to better, less crimes, pollution leave the country to and chaos, compared here in earn a better living the Philippines.” for the family they left in the Philippines “They choose to become OFWs to support their love ones financially and to alleviate them from poverty” Prior relationship Nature of familial “It depends on the relationship with the OFW before relationships of of the OFW with his/her they leave the country OFWs family before he became an can determine what OFW.” happens to their relationship Cultivated judgement Opinion on the “Here in the country, there is a on blue-collar possible existence deep-rooted judgement on workers in the of prejudice blue-collar workers, it is no Philippines affects against blue-collar different whether they work even OFWs working OFWs here in the country or not.” abroad “I think there is a prejudice because even though they earn more abroad, they are still blue-collar workers” Films derived from Political films as a “Yes, they (political films) do, the life of people and mirror of the I believe that most films are perceptions of others political thought inspired by real-life can represent the on OFWs experiences, perceptions and thoughts of a people thoughts of the people.” Respondent #2 Political films as Definition of “Para sa akin, political films movies that delve into political films yung may mga may real life the problems of the issues na tinatackle.” present society “…yung pinakaunang

Films that look into a pumasok sa isip ko dahil country’s government ‘political’ is something that or history are involves the government or considered as important people in history.” political films Political films having Importance of “…If I talk about political a role in both the political films films in general, tingin ko may realm of art and role silang importante hind society lang sa arts kundi sa society in general. Kasi sino ba yung Political films as an mga manonood, mga tao rin avenue to understand naman. People who are still real life situations learning and shaping their opinions and reinforcing their Political films may values.” add a dramatic effect but they still can “Importante sila (political reflect the state of our films). Pakiramdam ko kasi society hindi gaano naappreciate yung stories kapag libro lang.

“Saka kapag films kasi, parang mas navivisualize yung realidad ng situations.”

“Kahit given na yung movies ay kailangan may dramatic effect para magkaroon ng impact, tingin ko somehow accurate pa rin naman yung pino-portray.” Phenomenon of labor Views and “Una kong naiisip, migration or opinions on nakakalungkot. Kasi walang existence of OFWs is Filipino labor maayos na trabaho ditto na saddening migration makakabuhay ka ng isang pamilya.”

“Nakakalungkot na hindi masolusyunan ng gobyerno yung ganun, eh alam naman

nilang hirap ang mga tao kaya sila umaalis eh.”

“Kahit matagal nang problema yan sa Pinas, ang lungkot na wala pa ring nangyayari hanggang ngayon.” Lack of or minimal Root cause behind “Pakiramdam ko kulang yung job opportunities in the phenomenon trabaho ditto. Kung meron the Philippines leads of Overseas man, masyadong abuso.” to the exodus of Filipino Workers Philippine workers “Mas Mabuti pa na magtiis na lang sa iban bansa, kahit matagal man yung hors ng work, mas mataas naman kita.”

“Kasi kulang sa opportunities ditto sa Pinas. Mababa sweldo, matagal trabaho, tapos minsan abusado pa.” Relationship of Nature of familial “Dahil matagal silang OFWs with their relationships of nawawala-wala, pakiramdam children may slowly OFWs ko habang lumalaki yung bata deteriorate due to palayo nang palayo yung being apart relationship nila.”

Other family “Sa extended family members members see OFWs naman, feeling ko madalas as source of financial ginagawa silang source ng funding pera or utangan…or magpapabili ng pasalubong pag-uwi.”

“…Wala rin silang choice minsan kundi lumapit na lang doon sa at least medyo mataas yung naiipon.” The prejudice against Opinion on the “May naalala akong diyan. blue-collar OFWs can possible existence Basta foreigners saying

be seen through how of prejudice Filipinos equals maids. Ang society frames blue- against blue-collar daming na-offend na collar workers versus OFWs Pinoy…pero napaisip ako, the white-collar workers mere fact na medyo unpleasant siyang marinig sa akin, feeling ko doon pa lang may prejudice na.”

“Kapag medyo matataas yung positions or white-collar workers, ganyan, bilib agad yung mga tao pag kinwento mo.”

“Pero kapag blue-collar worker, yung pagkaka-frame ng stories, lagging ‘napipilitang mamasukan dahil sa hirap ng buhay sa Pinas.” Realistic portrayal of Political films as a “Oo. Especially kung accurate the current state of mirror of the yung pagkaka-portray.” the OFWs in films political thought can reflect the on OFWs thoughts of the people Respondent #3 Political films defined Definition of “I think films I consider to be as movies that have political films ‘political films’ are those that ideologies rooted in carry a certain political them ideology—like communism, socialism…” Movies that show the current happenings in “or those that present a a nation is considered situation relevant to a certain as a Political film country or part of the world, whether truthfully or otherwise.” Wariness to believing Importance of “Time and again, films have in films due to how political films been good sources of films may be propaganda, particularly accurately researched because they cater to large

number of audiences in one Political films as sitting.” possible propaganda “…films can be used by Films still considered detractors or perpetuators of as vital to our society fake news or black propaganda.”

“…the people behind the film may not have done sufficient research to make it realistic or historically accurate.”

“Yes, I believe films are important to our society.” OFW phenomenon as Views and “This (Filipino labor an important subject opinions on migration) is an issue close to matter Filipino labor my heart because I have a lot migration of relatives who migrated.” Government neglect Root cause behind “I believe the Philippine to provide ample the phenomenon government has failed them basic goods and of Overseas enough that they even services to its people Filipino Workers considered migrating in the is a cause first place.”

The need to earn a “…the root cause of labor larger sum of money migration and the existence of through working OFWs is the failure of the abroad to provide for government to provide their family is a factor requisites that will lead to the attainment of a good life.” Better social welfare in foreign countries “…we know that something is entail a better future wrong with the government for OFWs family when it fails to even provide its citizens with basic services such as healthcare and housing.”

“We know how tight-knit

families are in the Philippines, and the fact that they disregarded that to migrate to other countries shows their urgency to leave behind the circumstances they had in the Philippines before.”

“…a lot of Filipinos tend to go abroad to look for jobs in order to support their families.”

“In the cause of my relatives, I remember how they reasoned out that they Re transferring to another country because they have better services there.” Technological Nature of familial “…being away from their developments not relationships of relative and kids makes them enough to fill-in the OFWs sort of distant from them…” loss of physical connection with “I believe technological OFWs family development in recent decades has made a way to make Treatment of OFWs communications easier, as money sources nothing beats physical connection or being there for your family physically.”

“…I know of certain cases where relatives treat OFWs as banks from which they can take out loans (and not pay them, because “we’re family”).” Prejudice against Opinion on the “…the fact that many OFWs which are possible existence Filipinos are domestic helpers blue-collar workers is of prejudice abroad has become the subject

evident in shows and against blue-collar of ridicule in certain films or family reunions OFWs shows.”

“My relatives who are professionals abroad…are treated as if they’re superior to my other relatives who are blue-collar workers abroad.” Films involving Political films as a “Why not? (films reflect the OFWs in the mirror of the thoughts of a people) Given production can reflect political thought the right set of people to work the thoughts of a on OFWs towards its production, people preferably those who have had the experience of being OFWs themselves…” Respondent #4 Political films as Definition of “…political films are those movies that exhibit political films that portray certain realities realities through a using specific points of view. perspective “Political films can be those Political films as that ‘talk’ about political movies that discuss ideologies or the situation of ideologies and the governments government Vitality of films Importance of “Political films are important rooted in helping the political films because they help the general public grasp certain public understand things that issues they would neglect reading about or listening to.” Wariness towards some political films “…these films do not always due to possibility of reflect the current state of our showing ‘reality’ society—or at least his is inaccurately dependent on the filmmakers.”

“Some political films may even distort the reality, for certain personal gains.” The issue of brain Views and “There’s a term that we call drain is connected to opinions on “brain drain” and it is an

76 the issue of Filipino Filipino labor unfortunate, if not sad, labor migration migration phenomenon…”

Labor migration “…Filipinos are not satisfied entails unsatisfaction with the situation in the with the situation country and they’d rather with the country pursue their future outside as that would lead them to Mass exodus of the greener pastures…” working power may lead to more suffering “…Filipinos who are left for those who were inside the country suffer even left in the country more because we lose professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc., or other service providers who can alleviate our current situation.” “I believe this (Filipino labor migration) is a pressing issue that clearly portrays the poor situation of the country.” Unfortunate situation Root cause behind “One cause would be the poor of the labor sector of the phenomenon labor situation here in the the country is a cause of Overseas country—low wages, unfair of labor migration Filipino Workers working conditions, the existence of contractualization Government and such.” promotion of working abroad affects “Instead of alleviating the people’s decisions to working conditions inside the work abroad country, the government, instead, promotes labor Possibility of migration.” providing a better life for themselves and “…it would be better if the their families push government would focus their OFWs to work in energies on keeping Filipinos foreign countries inside the country for the sake of other Filipinos too.”

“…one more factor, I think, is the promise of a better future for those who decide to become OFWs. I think what OFWs think about the most is their families’ situations.” OFWs may have a Nature of familial “…I would say they may be distant relationship relationships of detached with their kids, with their children OFWs especially if these OFWs left when their kids were still More mature family young.” members may understand the “Children might not yet situation of OFWs understand why their parents choose to work abroad, far Films or shows depict from them.” that relatives ask for money from OFWs “Older relatives, on the other hand, might better understand their plight, and are more accepting of the fact that they can’t always be there, especially during important, special occasions.”

“…films or tv shows tend to show the situation (relatives asking for money from OFWs) like that, but I don’t know for sure if that’s really the case.” Presence of prejudice Opinion on the “There is a prejudice against against blue-collar possible existence blue-collar workers, both workers in both the of prejudice inside and outside of the domestic and against blue-collar country.” international realm OFWs “…I often read articles or View of blue-collar comments about degrading jobs as dirty behind blue collar workers, especially this prejudice domestic helpers.”

“Feeling ko kasi iniisip na (sic) ibang tao na ‘maduming’ trabaho ang pagiging DH (domestic helper), and lagi lang silang nauutusan sa bahay ng mga employers nila..” Existence of films Political films as a “There are films that really try that do its best to mirror of the to portray the situation of demonstrate the state political thought OFWs and their families in the of OFWs and their on OFWs Philippines—one memorable families film that I have watched regarding this is the movie Possibility and the ‘Caregiver’. need for films to reflect the thoughts of “I think films can reflect the people regarding thoughts of people regarding OFWs OFWs, and films should do this in order to widen the understanding of Filipinos regarding the matter.” Respondent #5 A film can be Definition of “A film can be considered considered as political films political if…it displays various political if it shows notions of politics and different ideas of how government—from its culture, politics and dynamics, political parties, government work officials, etc.”

Political films can be “It (political films) may have defined as movies various purposes ranging from containing promoting one’s propaganda propaganda…to even introducing conspiracy One can regard a film theories about certain events.” as political if it shows conspiracy theories about happenings Relevance of political Importance of “Dahil sap ag-advance ng films attached to their political films technology, marami sa’tin ang ability to show nakakalimutan na yung history

79 history or the current ng bansa. Pero with these state of society in a films, aside sa nabibigyan modern way niyang bagong interpretation yung mga events and history natin napapakita niya rin yung mga pwedeng nangyari noon…”

“…yung mga truths na ngayon lang nalalaman ng mga tao at pati na rin yung ibang situations na pilit binabaon or tinatago ng iba.”

“…yung fictional character na si Joven (character in a political film about Philippine history)? As part of the youth na nakikialam, nakikipaglaban and curious sa mga nangyayari sa bansa niya. Ngayon prevalent na yung mga youth na nakikibaka and sumasama sa laban ng masa.” Filipino labor Views and “…mahirap siyang piligan migration as a hard opinions on (pigilan) and alisin given the issue to solve due to Filipino labor circumstances ditto sa present state of the migration Pilipinas—unfair wage, lack Philippines of job opportunities, bureaucratic process sap ag- Existence of abused apply ng jobs tsaka sa mga OFWs in foreign SSS, etc.” countries Labor migration as Root cause behind “I personally have a number of phenomenon that has the phenomenon relatives who are working been present in the of Overseas abroad and all of them have Philippines that Filipino Workers the same reason, ‘mas Malaki stemmed from the pera du’n’.” Marcos regime “Well, it has always been a

Migration of Filipino thing here in the Philippines workers due to larger na nagsimula nu’ng salary in foreign administrasyon ni Marcos, I countries guess?” Distance between Nature of familial “…malaki rin ‘yung impact ng parents affects relationships of pag-alis ng mga Filipino sa children of OFWs OFWs bansa para magtrabaho abroad—one is yung Family of OFWs psychological effect sa OFW become dependent of tsaka sa anak? Na hindi nila the salary of OFWs makakasama ang (and) makikilala ang isa’t isa.”

“…’yung very dependent na ng mga naiwan dito sa Pilipinas du’n sa mga OFW, na hindi na sila mag-sstrive harder for their own kasi nga “Malaki naman pera du’n”.” Not sure but assumes Opinion on the “I guess so (that there is that there is a possible existence prejudice against blue-collar prejudice against of prejudice workers)? I’m not really sure, blue-collar workers against blue-collar walang factual basis…I’m due to Filipino OFWs basing my answer sa fact na culture hypocrite and judgmental mga Pilipino in general.’ Films based on the Political films as a “…like if they actually took actual experiences of mirror of the the time to consult or at least OFWs can reflect the political thought interview actual OFWs para thoughts of a people on OFWs mapakita and mainterpret regarding OFWs ‘yung na-eexperience nila.” Respondent #6 Political films defined Definition of “(Political films are) movies as movies that show political films that portrays a political history or whose goal context or a political history is to show a stand or that aims to present a political message to its stand or message to the viewers audience.” Regards political Importance of “It (political films) is films as important but political films (important). However, it is useless if not watched useless if they are not

81 by an audience promoted properly. What is the use of a political film if Political films must there is no audience to watch focus on the reality to it(?)” be regarded as relevant “I find Liway (political film) timely since it is focused on the reality of Martial Law and since Mindanao remains to be under military power, I think it is indeed timely.” Filipino labor Views and “Studying in UP made me migration as an issue opinions on realize that it’s a much bigger that affects not only Filipino labor issue compared to how it was the basic unit of migration presented in elementary. society but also the Migration od not only affect whole nation the individual’s family but, the entire country as well…” Factor behind the Root cause behind “If there were enough jobs exodus of Filipino the phenomenon here in the Philippines then no workers as the low of Overseas Filipino has to ever leave their capacity of the Filipino Workers family and their country just to country to provide be able to eat something in the employment table.” Cannot generalize but Nature of familial “…some classmates of mine there are cases where relationships of have parents who are OFW OFWs and their OFWs and they remain to be close children are not close with them but, some are obviously the opposite case.” Some relatives of the OFW tend to ask “Some are abusive that they them for money think their relative earns gold so they ask money so much.” Filipino culture as the Opinion on the “Prejudice against blue-collar main perpetrator of possible existence workers is present no matter the existence of of prejudice where they work, may it be as prejudice against against blue-collar an OFW or a worker here in blue-collar workers OFWs the Philippines.”

“…here in our country, a

degree seems to put you in the pedestal where you are supposed to be “better” than people with no degree. So, I guess Filipino culture also enters in the picture.” Political films about Political films as a “If the movie is written around OFWs can reflect the mirror of the Filipino migration and if it is thoughts of a people political thought produced properly; and if it if it is based on on OFWs serves its purpose to give a Filipino migration message, then maybe it will.” and if it is made properly Respondent #7 Political films as Definition of “(Political films are) films movies that look into political films which tackle the society and the status of the even politics. Those which nation and its politics present the concerning issues through a cinematic in a dramatic or romanticized process way.” Political films as a Importance of “I see these kinds of films as reflection of the political films something which mirrors the current state of present and even the past society and even past issues and concerns of the issues of society society.”

Political films as a “…they (political films) can way to spread help spread awareness and awareness to a people open the eyes of those who do not come across such societal issues first-hand Filipino labor Views and “For me, not that much. The migration as not a opinions on current issues we have on our huge issue however it Filipino labor own land seem to be a bigger is still a problem migration problem lately. However, it would be wrong to disregard Wariness of brain- the issue of migration.” drain “We should be weary of problems such as “brain- drain” if we continue to send

our people abroad to work.” Cause of Filipino Root cause behind “…we can look at the issue of labor migration the phenomenon migration as a problem of the rooted upon the of Overseas country not being able to country’s inability to Filipino Workers provide sufficient jobs for its provide employment people.”

Larger income and “Lack of domestic work. Lack better opportunities of good paying jobs. Inability from foreign to be employed in one’s own employment or country.” countries “Some Filipinos have migration as a first option in finding work while some have it as their last wherein they will only resort to migration if they cannot land a job within the country…”

“…Filipinos have the mentality that once you go abroad, their lives will get better.”

“(people become OFWs) to be able to have better opportunities in earning compared to working in the country itself.” Relationship between Nature of familial “Some of them, if left at a OFW and children relationships of mature age, may be able to depends on the OFWs understand the situation. maturity of the child However, if they were left at a when the OFW left young age, they may feel detached from the family Other relatives member that went abroad.” feeling proud of their family that became “For extended family OFWs members, I think they are at

times even proud of it due to Some family the fact that the person was members see OFWs able to go and stay abroad as sources of funds which not a lot of people are capable of.”

“Some of them (family of the OFW) may see them as money lenders or even providers since they are able to earn “larger” amounts.” Some blue-collar jobs Opinion on the “Yes (to there existing a regarded as possible existence prejudice against blue-collar embarrassing of prejudice workers), there exists cases. against blue-collar Some may see such works as OFWs “nakakahiya”, regardless if done inside or outside the country.” Political films as an Political films as a “Yes. It (political films on avenue to see how mirror of the OFWs) is capable of giving us OFWs feel political thought a glimpse of what the specific on OFWs populations which works abroad are feeling.”

Summary and Conclusion

Throughout this study, the researcher aimed to find out whether or not one can use

Philippine political films to study and assess the political thought of a population. To narrow the field of the study, it was decided to focus on films centering on OFWs and to assess whether or not they reflected or mirrored closely the political thought of UPM CAS students. The research question “Do Philippine political cinema reflect the thought on migration of students from the

College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila?” was posed at the start of this study. The researcher then suggested a tentative answer that Philippine political films regarding OFWs do reflect the thoughts of UPM CAS students.

However, as political thought does not encompass the thought of a whole population, this also applies to this certain instance. Through conducting an in-depth analysis of Philippine movies about OFWs, literature on Philippine political cinema, and OFWs the researcher was able to find out and discuss the role of political films in society—which is to reflect the realities of the society, to socialize individuals into their environment, and to reflect history.

Through a brief situationer of the state of Filipino labor migration, the researcher found out that Filipino labor migration is still a huge issue in Philippine society due to high numbers of

OFW deployment, issues of maltreatment, withholding of salary, and the termination of contracts between OFWs and their employers. This has only made researching the current thought on

Filipino labor migration an even more pressing and interesting field of study.

By researching the current information available in the state of knowledge, the researcher was able to find out two gaps: (1) current data available about Filipino labor migration does not

86 look into how people perceive OFWs, and (2) studies about films do not center on how political films can be used as an avenue of studying political thought.

To further study about this, the researcher used DeScantis and Poole (1994)’s Structural

Adaptation Theory to test the relationships between the different variables of this research. This theory basically argues how technology affects humans—this was proven in doing an in-depth analysis of the related literature—and how human interaction can mold technology. In this research, technology is specified as Philippine political films. Thus, what is left for us to prove is whether or not human interactions with films and their creators can affect and mold films.

Through our analysis and discussion, it was determined that film directors immerse themselves into the society they want to talk about. Political films, especially, have directors who are particular in understanding the narratives of their subject matters. Here we can see how human interaction shapes how technology (political films) are further molded by their creators.

Thus, we can say that this thesis further strengthens and proves the Structural Adaptation Theory as created and popularized by DeScantis and Poole.

Another concept we have found out about in our research is that UPM CAS students’ thoughts are not affected by watching films about OFWs. Whether or not they have viewed these types of films, their opinions and beliefs stay unaffected. However, it is best to note that UP students (especially those from CAS) are well-versed and delve into socio-political topics. The researcher could have had a more different outcome depending on the types asked during the interviews and in the questionnaire—this will be further discussed in the section for recommendations. In addition to this, this research has also contributed to the known current role of political films. Other than the currently known roles of political films in our society— socialization of individuals, reflection of state of society and history—political films are also

87 made by their directors to provoke critical thinking among their audience. Largely different from popular commercial films which are made to entertain its audience, political films are made to pose questions in the minds of their viewers.

To add to these findings, although we have further strengthened the theoretical framework we have used in this study, as it was aforementioned in the analysis and discussion, political films centered around OFWs mostly reflect the social thought of our chosen population.

Nonetheless, we still found out that we may use Philippine political films about OFWs to study the social thought of our chosen population. This was due to the results wherein majority of

UPM CAS students mirrored or generally agreed with the thoughts portrayed in the chosen films for this study. To specify, the study found out that both Philippine films about OFWs and UPM

CAS students exhibit Dthoughts such as:

a. OFWs may have a distant relationship with their children,

b. Many extended family members perceive OFWs as sources of financial funding,

c. OFWs experience prejudice for being blue-collar workers,

d. Filipino labor migration is seen as a way to escape poverty in the Philippines, and

e. Harsh living conditions in the Philippines contribute to the continued migration of

OFWs.

To conclude this study, the research was not able to prove that Philippine political films about OFWs can reflect the political thought of UPM CAS students. However, it was able to find out that films about OFWs are more likely to reflect the social thoughts of a certain population.

However, the study was able to discuss all of its specific objectives such as to discuss the perspective of film directors on political films as a reflection of the society, to discuss the political thought on Filipino labor migration of UPM CAS students, and to discuss the means

88 through which Philippine political cinema could influence the political thought regarding migration and if it can be a guide in analyzing the political thought of a population.

Recommendations

Although this research was able to discuss its objectives and was able to contribute to the state of knowledge in the realm of political science, there are still many improvements the researcher could have done to further make this study accurate. First, the researcher recommends those who shall further conduct this study to use a larger and more encompassing group of people as their population to represent the Filipino people. If given the chance to conduct this study in a longer period, the researcher prescribes to give out more surveys and to set one on one interviews with more individuals from the population and to compare the views of a certain population with another. For this specific type of study, the researcher recommends that one should compare the thoughts of CAS students and non-CAS students.

. This is to further understand the political thought of a certain people in a more general manner. Second, the researcher proposes for future studies to conduct interviews with more

Philippine political film directors. This is so one can also generalize their thoughts and opinions.

Other than this, future researchers can collect more opinions from film directors about how the

Philippine cinematic industry works, and how film makers process their films. Third, the researcher highly recommends to focus on an issue that is more political and more relevant to the political landscape during the time of conducting the study. Although the issue of Filipino labor migration is an issue that is very relevant today, it is one that many pass as a social issue. If one were to study about political thought, the researcher recommends to study issues that are more related to government implementation. For example, during the years 2018 and 2019, a political issue that is used as central themes in Philippine political movies is the war on drugs as advocated by the current President Rodrigo Duterte.

However, one must also be careful in conducting studies about hot issues in their countries. Many also advise against these types of study due to safety concerns for both the participants of the study and the researcher. Another recommendation is to ask participants in the study whether or not they have relationships with OFWs—whether these be familial or friendly connections—so as to determine if their opinions have a basis or not. This may not have a huge effect in the study, but it may also show added information behind their answers, opinions, and thoughts.

Lastly, the researcher recommends future researchers to, if time permits, do a generational study so as to see if there is a significant difference between one generation’s thoughts and another’s thoughts on a certain subject matter. To do this, the researcher advises future studies to also look into films and group them into clusters based on their time frames.

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Appendix A: Informed Consent Form for Persons to be given Survey Questionnaires from the University of the Philippines Manila

This informed consent form is for students of University of the Philippines Manila.

Principal investigator: Jaira Rica J. Tadeo

Name of Organization: University of the Philippines Manila—Department of Social Sciences

Name of Sponsor: Dr. Josefina Tayag

Good day!

I am Jaira Rica J. Tadeo, currently doing my undergraduate thesis in the University of the

Philippines Manila. I am a political science student researching on the political cinema and if this reflects the political thought of a people. I am going to give you information and invite you to be part of this research. You do not have to decide today whether or not you will participate in the research. However, I would need your reply by November 23, 2018. Before you decide, you can approach me to talk about this research in a more detailed manner. Should this informed consent form include words that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to approach me. Please ask me to stop as we go through the information and I will take time to explain in a more thorough manner. If you have questions later, you can reach me through texting my number (0995-264-

4155), or you can e-mail me ([email protected]).

Part 1: Information Sheet

Introduction

This research will be about the political cinema in the Philippines. I would like to know if political films concerning migration reflects the political thought of selected students from UPM.

To do this, I will have to interview you about your thoughts on migration and political films. It is your choice if you will participate or not.

Purpose of the research

Political thought is something that has not been researched about in the past decades.

Usually, this is connected to the era of Andres Bonifacio and Jose Rizal, however, I think it is vital for our generation to document the political thought of our present people. To add to this, innovating the documents in which we gather political thoughts from is something we should start. Text books and writings were once used. Nowadays, photographs are being utilized to study history. And now, I think it is important to explore different avenues of gathering information, and in this study, I will focus on films. This research will help broaden our knowledge on political thought and avenues of information.

Type of Research Intervention

The procedures for this data gathering will vary depending on the type of method. Survey questionnaires will be given to gather your views and opinions on the current political climate regarding migration. This will be done physically or online and will only transpire for about 20 to 30 minutes. A copy of the questions are also attached to this informed consent form. All of these will take place where it is most convenient to you. You may contact me or tell me in person when and where you are free for the interviews.

Participant Selection

You are being invited to take part in this research since you are a student under the

College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila. Other than being a student of the said university and college, there are no other criteria needed to be filled out.

Voluntary Participation

Your participation in this research is entirely voluntary. It is your choice whether to participate or not. If you choose not to participate at any given point or time, your answers will be deemed null and will be deleted from the data.

Procedures

I am asking you to help me gather more information on your views and thoughts on labor migration to collate enough data to find out the current political thought of students from UPM towards migration. Your role is to fill out a survey as provided by yours truly (Jaira Tadeo), I will also collect the survey form that will be given to you. You may answer the questionnaire yourself, or it can be read to you and you can say your answers out loud and I shall write them down. If you do not wish to answer any of the questions included in the survey, please do tell me.

This means that you cannot participate in the survey anymore.

Duration

The research takes place from January 2019 until June 2019. During that time, we will store your answers in different storage devices such as a USB, google drive, and my personal computer. No one will have access to the data I will be recording except for me. To be clear, I shall dispose and delete all data from our interviews after two years. I shall dispose of all

97 information in a manner that ensures that no one will, even myself, have access to the data you have given. This informed consent form will also be valid until the permanent deletion of the data I will gather from the survey you shall fill out.

Risks and Benefits

However, I must warn you that I will ask questions regarding your views and opinions on migration, thus, this may be confidential information and you may feel uncomfortable sharing this. The research will also have no direct benefit to you, but your participation will be of great help in producing literature on migration and shedding light on how the cinema can be further used as an information source. You will not be given incentives to take part in this research, however, I will provide a small token to show my appreciation for your participation.

Confidentiality

I assure you that your identity will not be used in this research and only your answers in the survey will be showcased. To show this, including your name will be optional. However, for documentation purposes, I will have to ask you to include your course. I will not be sharing any information to anyone about you or your identity, or even the fact that you participated in this research.

Sharing the Results

Nothing about your identity will be shared with anybody, and nothing will be attributed to your name. The knowledge that I derive from your answers, however, will be shared with you and with those that will read my thesis.

Right to Refuse or Withdraw

You do not have to take part in this research if you do not wish to do so, and choosing to participate will not affect anything in your life aside from the few minutes that it will take to answer the survey. I will give you an opportunity to withdraw from the research at any time, and you can ask to modify or remove portions from your survey at any given time as long as the research is still on going.

Who to Contact?

If you have any questions, you can ask them now or later. If you wish to ask questions later, you may contact me at any given time. However, please give me time to reply since I will not always be available. But I assure you that I will answer as soon as I can. You may contact me through e-mail ([email protected]) or phone (0995-264-4155).

Certificate of Consent

I have read the foregoing information, or it has been read to me. I have had the opportunity to ask questions about it and any question I have asked has been answered to my satisfaction. I consent voluntarily to be a participant in this study.

Print name of participant: ______

Signature of participant: ______

Date: ______

Signature of Researcher/Person taking consent: ______

Appendix B: Questionnaire for UPM Students

Survey Questionnaire for UP Manila Students

Name (optional): College: Student Number (required):

Please encircle the letter of your answer 1. Have you watched any film about Overseas Filipino Workers? a. Yes b. No

2. Are any of these choices some of the OFW themed movies you have watched? a. Nars (2007) b. Katas ng Saudi (2007) c. Caregiver (2008) d. Others (please indicate) ______

3. Do you think movies about OFWS can show how people perceive or see the life of an OFW? a. Yes b. No Please put a check on how much you agree or disagree with the statements listed below Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Agree Disagree

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) may have a hard time in bonding with their children after coming back from abroad because of a long time being away

There is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers, carpenters etc.)

The hard life in the Philippines (living

100 condition, difficulty in getting jobs, low- paying work) is a reason behind the continued immigration of OFWs

Many extended family members see OFWs as sources of money or people to run to if they have insufficient money

Becoming an OFW is seen as a way to get out of poverty in the Philippines

101

Appendix C: Informed Consent Form for Experts on Political Films

This informed consent form is for experts on Political Films

Principal investigator: Jaira Rica J. Tadeo

Name of Organization: University of the Philippines Manila—Department of Social Sciences

Name of Sponsor: Dr. Josefina Tayag

Good day!

I am Jaira Rica J. Tadeo, currently doing my undergraduate thesis in the University of the

Philippines Manila. I am a political science student researching on the political cinema and if this reflects the political thought of a people. I am going to give you information about this thesis through this informed consent form and formally invite you to be part of this research. You do not have to decide today whether or not you will participate in the research. However, I would need your reply by April 22, 2019. Before you decide, you can approach me to talk about this research in a more detailed manner. Should this informed consent form include words that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to approach me. Please ask me to stop as we go through the information and I will take time to explain in a more thorough manner. If you have questions later, you can reach me through texting my number (0995-264-4155), or you can e-mail me

([email protected]).

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Part 1: Information Sheet

Introduction

This research will be about the political cinema in the Philippines. I would like to know if political films concerning migration reflects the political thought of selected students from UPM.

To do this, I will have to interview you about your thoughts on the creation of political films and the impact of these in our society. It is your choice if you will participate or not.

Purpose of the research

Political thought is something that has not been researched about in the past decades.

Type of Research Intervention

The procedures for this data gathering will vary depending on the type of method.

Interviews will be done to gather your views regarding political films or Philippine political thought. All of these will take place where it is most convenient to you. You may contact me or tell me in person when and where you are free for the interviews.

103

Participant Selection

You are being invited to take part in this research since you are an expert on political films. You may be a director, producer, and/or writer of such films.

Voluntary Participation

Procedures

Duration

The research takes place from January 2019 until June 2019. During that time, we will store your answers in different storage devices such as in a USB, in google drive, and in my personal computer. No one will have access to the data I will be recording except for me. To be clear, I shall dispose and delete all data from our interviews after two years. I shall dispose of all information in a manner that ensures that no one will, even myself, have access to the data you have given. This informed consent form will also be valid until the permanent deletion of the data I will gather from our interview.

104

Risks and Benefits

The research will also have no direct benefit to you, but your participation will be of great help in producing literature on migration and shedding light on how the cinema can be further used as an information source. You will not be given incentives to take part in this research, however, I will provide a small token to show my appreciation for your participation.

Confidentiality

Due to the fact that this is a key informant interview, I will be using your name in this research, this is to assure the readers that relevant and knowledgeable people are included in this research. However, should you want your name redacted, please do tell me and I shall do so. If you would ever want this, I shall label you as a “political film expert” or an “expert on Philippine political thought”.

Sharing the Results

The knowledge that I derive from your answers, however, will be shared with those that will read my thesis.

Right to Refuse or Withdraw

105 you can ask to modify or remove portions from your interview at any given time as long as the research is still on going.

Who to Contact?

Certificate of Consent

Print name of participant: ______

Signature of participant: ______

Date: ______

Signature of Researcher/Person taking consent: ______-

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Appendix D: General List of Questions for Political Film Experts

1. How do you make your films?

a. Do you base it on your own thoughts?

b. Do you do research or ask around in a community?

2. How do you classify if a film is political or not?

3. What is your thought on labor migration in films?

4. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people? Why or why not?

5. Do you think political films can be used as avenues of learning? Why or why not?

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Appendix E: Informed Consent Form for the Students from the College of Arts and

Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila

This informed consent form is for students the University of the Philippines Manila.

Principal investigator: Jaira Rica J. Tadeo

Name of Organization: University of the Philippines Manila—Department of Social Sciences

Name of Sponsor: Dr. Josefina Tayag

Good day!

I am Jaira Rica J. Tadeo, currently doing my undergraduate thesis in the University of the

Philippines Manila. I am a political science student researching on the political cinema and if this reflects the political thought of a people. I am going to give you information and invite you to be part of this research. You do not have to decide today whether or not you will participate in the research. However, I would need your reply by May 8, 2019. Before you decide, you can approach me to talk about this research in a more detailed manner. Should this informed consent form include words that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to approach me. Please ask me to stop as we go through the information and I will take time to explain in a more thorough manner. If you have questions later, you can reach me through texting my number (0995-264-

4155), or you can e-mail me ([email protected]).

108

Part 1: Information Sheet

Introduction

This research will be about the political cinema in the Philippines. I would like to know more about your insights on political films and your political thought regarding Overseas

Filipino Workers (OFWs). To do this, I will have to interview you about your thoughts these said subject. It is your choice if you will participate or not.

Purpose of the research

Political thought is something that has not been researched about in the past decades.

Type of Research Intervention

The procedures for this data gathering will vary depending on the type of method.

Interviews will be done to gather your views regarding political films and your political thought regarding labor migration. All of these will take place where it is most convenient to you. You may contact me or tell me in person when and where you are free for the interviews.

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Participant Selection

You are being invited to take part in this research since you are an undergraduate student of the University of the Philippines Manila from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Voluntary Participation

Procedures

Duration

110

Risks and Benefits

Confidentiality

Sharing the Results

The knowledge that I derive from your answers, however, will be shared with those that will read my thesis.

Right to Refuse or Withdraw

111 you can ask to modify or remove portions from your interview at any given time as long as the research is still on going.

Who to Contact?

Certificate of Consent

Print name of participant: ______

Signature of participant: ______

Date: ______

Signature of Researcher/Person taking consent: ______

Noted by:

Dr. Josefina Tayag

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Appendix F: General list of Questions for undergraduate students from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines Manila

This questionnaire will be for the one on one interviews for the student participants from University of the Philippines Manila.

1. What do you consider as political films? a. Are there any political films that you can name? 2. What do you think of these political films? a. Are they important to our society? b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society? 3. What is your view on Filipino migration? a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention? 4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)? 5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs? 6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money? 7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not? 8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs?

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Appendix G: Informed Consent Form for Experts on OFWs or Filipino Labor Migration

This informed consent form is for experts on Overseas Filipino Workers and/or Filipino labor migration

Principal investigator: Jaira Rica J. Tadeo

Name of Organization: University of the Philippines Manila—Department of Social Sciences

Name of Sponsor: Dr. Josefina Tayag

Good day!

I am Jaira Rica J. Tadeo, currently doing my undergraduate thesis in the University of the

Philippines Manila. I am a political science student researching on the political cinema and if this reflects the political thought of a people. I am going to give you information and invite you to be part of this research. You do not have to decide today whether or not you will participate in the research. However, I would need your reply by April 23, 2019. Before you decide, you can approach me to talk about this research in a more detailed manner. Should this informed consent form include words that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to approach me. Please ask me to stop as we go through the information and I will take time to explain in a more thorough manner. If you have questions later, you can reach me through texting my number (0995-264-

4155), or you can e-mail me ([email protected]).

114

Part 1: Information Sheet

Introduction

This research will be about the political cinema in the Philippines. I would like to know if political films concerning migration reflects the political thought of selected students from UPM.

To do this, I will have to interview you about your thoughts on migration and political films. It is your choice if you will participate or not.

Purpose of the research

Political thought is something that has not been researched about in the past decades.

Type of Research Intervention

The procedures for this data gathering will vary depending on the type of method.

115

Participant Selection

You are being invited to take part in this research since you are an expert on political films or Philippine political thought. The interview will take no less than 15 to 30 minutes and I will make sure to not waste any of your valuable time.

Voluntary Participation

Procedures

Duration

116

Risks and Benefits

However, I must warn you that I will ask questions regarding your views and opinions on migration, thus, this may be confidential information and you may feel uncomfortable sharing this. But, you can refuse to answer such questions, should this be the case. The research will also have no direct benefit to you, but your participation will be of great help in producing literature on migration and shedding light on how the cinema can be further used as an information source.

You will not be given incentives to take part in this research, however, I will provide a small token to show my appreciation for your participation.

Confidentiality

Sharing the Results

The knowledge that I derive from your answers, however, will be shared with those that will read my thesis.

Right to Refuse or Withdraw

117 you can ask to modify or remove portions from your interview at any given time as long as the research is still on going.

Who to Contact?

Certificate of Consent

Print name of participant: ______

Signature of participant: ______

Date: ______

Signature of Researcher/Person taking consent: ______

118

Appendix H: General List of Questions for Experts on Philippine Labor Migration

1. When and how did the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) start?

2. What is the current state of our OFWs?

a. What are their living conditions?

b. Do they cope well in different countries?

3. During 2007 and 2008, I have noticed that there was an influx of Political films regarding

OFWs. What was happening from 2006 ‘til 2007 that could have spurred this influx?

4. Are there any statistics on how the general Filipino public perceive OFWs?

a. If yes, what are some examples of these?

b. If no, do you think this information is relevant?

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Appendix H: Transcriptions of the Interview with Film Director Brillante Mendoza

Question: How do you make your movies?

Yung paggawa ko kasi ng pelikula, basically meron kaming sinusunod na pinapractice sa filmmaking naming. Ang tawag doon ay Found Story which is from the Found Story School of Filmmaking. Ang bumuo doon ay si Armando Rao (??) ang mentor ko. Iyon ang ginagamit naming. Sa Found Story, kailangan talaga nakabase yung kwento mo sa totoong buhay. Ibigsabihin, sa totoong buhay ng tao. So meron kaming referent. Pero siyempre, referent is only one process of filmmaking. Eventually ia-apply naming yung language of filmmaking. Pero yung pinaka-basic requirements ng Found Story dapat base siya sa totoong buhay. So pag totoong buhay ang pinagbasehan mo, lalong lalo na ang buhay ng Filipino, maraming aspeto iyun. You have to consider hindi lang yung cultural aspect or yung tradition, yung lahat ng aspeto na bumubuo sa pagkatao ng Pilipino at sa buhay ng Pilipino. Before and present. Ibigsabihin dun, representation din naming ang Filipino in a way, in general. That’s why ang mga kwento ko, nagfofocus sila sa mga marginalized at the same time, when you look at the bigger scheme of things, they belong to the lower class of our society, eh yun naman ang composition ng ating society. 80 something percent of our society. So, hindi mo ma-help na yung kwento mo o yung mga kwento ng character mo eh they belong in that bracket. So, pag tinignan mo yung composition ng bracket na yun mahirap siya. So, pag iyon ang finocus mo sa kwento mo, whether you like it or not nagkakaroon ka agad ng social issues. Nagiging political na kaagad siya kasi merong mga social issues kang tinatackle. So nagiging pulitikal na kaagad ang pelikula mo without you trying hard to make it political. Or magfocus sa social issues kasi nga iyon ang napili mong kwento. That belongs to the majority of the Filipinos that belong to the lower class of society.

Researcher: Uhmm Do you ask about them about sa…mga pinagdadaanan nila ?

Of course, kasama iyon sa kwento. Kasama sa kwento ng character kung, maliban sa direksyon na gusto mong malaman sa character, kailangan mo muna malaman yung kabuuan ng character. Yung buhay niya, yung mga pinagdadaanan niya, yung aspirations niya, kasama doon.

Question: Do you consult researchers?

Mayroon akong team of researchers. Part of our script development is the first process—to do research. Para maintidihan ko hindi lang yung character kundi yung grupo ng mga tao who lives in that bracket of society. Halimbawa lang, boxers. O, kailangan mo rin yung buhay ng mga

120 boxers. Alam mo yung kanilang buhay. Hindi lang sa personal na buhay ng isang boxer but boxers in general. Halimbawa, mga Filipino boxers, saan ba nanggagaling yung mga pinakamagaling na boxers sa Pilipinas? Sa bayan ni Manny Pacquiao. Tapos tatanungin mo bakit dito? Then why Manny Pacquiao? So marami na iyonng aspeto. Although ang kwento mo ay tungkol lang sa boxers. But you have to know yung mundo 360 degrees kasi hindi lang yung ito yung aalamin mo kahit hindi mo makikita lahat ng information na iyan sa pelikula but as a writer, as a director, well-informed ka doon sa gusto mong ikwento at sabihin.

Question: Do you include your own thoughts?

Of course, this is when you utilize film language. Yung mga pinagaaralan naming sa film school. Dito naming ina-apply yung Found Story principle. So dito kasi marami kaiming ina-apply diyan. Of course, yung kwento specific yun eh. Personal iyon. Kami naman hindi kami nagfofocus sa personal story ng character or ng referent. Sa amin kinukuha lang naming yung specific experience niya pero ina-applyan naming ng Found Story principle using film language. Example, sinabi niya sa kwento niya, ang nagpapaalala sa akin para maging mabuting tao ako ay ang binigay sa akin ng nanay ko na gloves or whatever, maybe rosario. Kasi rehilyoso siya bago mamatay. So, rosario yung sinabi niya. Halimbawa, iyon ang kinwento niya, eh simple lang naman iyon. Sa buhay naman natin, may mga ganun tayo, pero sakanya specific ang rosary. So ang gagamitin naming ay ang rosario at icoconnect na naming iyon sa religion. Halimabawa, ang topic naming ay religion, gagamitin na naming yung rosario. Hindi naming gagamitin yung ibang kwento niya. Ang buhay naman ng tao may bracket yan eh. So ang bracket ng buhay mo 20 years lang, compared sa akin na 58, times 3 na iyan. So ang bracket ng buhay ko may 58 years. So I can choose which part of my life ang ikekwento ko. Ito ba yung nanalo ako sa Cannes, ito ba yung namatay ang nanay ko. Kasi pag kinwento ko lahat ng iyan, ang laki laki ng scope ng buhay. So ibigsabihin kung ano man ang gusto kong ikwento sa buhay ko kailangan kong maging specific kasi masyado siyang general. So sa Found Story, specific yung gusto nating tahakin.

Question: Do you consider your films as political?

Ayun na nga, whether you like it or not, political sila kasi they tackle social issues. So hindi mo ma-help iyon. Kumbaga, naka-attach na ang pagiging political niya. Kasi may assertion ka agad. May assertion ka about the society, about the government. Especially yung sa mga film naming, I don’t focus on the personalities, I focus on the system. So, ang sistema and focus ko hindi yung tao. So kahit na sabihin mong gumawa ako ng pelikula during the time of Aquino or Duterute, I will still do the same type of stories or themes na umiikot sa sistema. Kasi, pag tao ang personality, kunwari inattack ko si Duterte sa pelikula ko, masyado na lang siyang specific. Mayroon din namang mga president na mayroong mga flaws katulad ni Duterte. Pero kapag

121 halimbawa ang focus ko ay governance, oh diba mas general siya? So ibigsabihin, hindi lang governance ni Duterte, ni Aquino, ni GMA, kundi governance ng mga presidente. So we focus on that. Kapag ganun, nagiging political siya. Hindi lang sa mga personality, kapag personality kasi nadidisorient ang mga tao. Kasi pag gumawa ka ng anti-marcos, political na kaagad? Hindi. It’s a propaganda against Marcos. Hindi porket gumawa ka ng Marcos, pulitikal na siya. Political ang inaassociate nila doon, pero kung si Marcos ang inaattack nila doon at hindi Martial Law per se, nagiging propaganda siya. Propaganda films against a person. Pero kung inatake mo ang Martial Law so it becomes a political film. It’s about the system, it’s not about the person. When you make a film about social issues, whether you like it or not, naka-attach na doon ang political. Hindi mo pwede mong ihiwalay ang political sa social issues.

Question: Do you think films can reflect the thoughts of a people?

Well, the thoughts of the people, depende sa klase ng films na ginagawa mo. Kasi halimbawa gumawa ka ng pelikula ni Vice Ganda, does it reflect the thoughts of the people? Hindi. That’s the thought of the filmmaker and Vice Ganda. Pero halimbawa, depende rin sa intent ng film. It’s not like the general thoughts of the people ang nagrereflect sa film. Halimbawa ngayon, ano ba ngayon ang mga naghihit na mga pelikula? Sabihin nating romcom. Thoughts of the people ba iyon? No. Romcom kasi naghihit yan sa younger generation. And ito yung mga movie goers who are fantasizing about their lives. About what they want to happen in their lives. Thoughts din nila yun, pero fantasy rin nila yun. (more of escapism) Oo, hindi yung tumatakbo sa utak natin. Otherwise, romantic comedy ang tumatakbo sa utak ng tao. So hindi mo masasabi na thoughts nila yun, that’s what they like. So you cannot really equate yung thoughts ng mga tao sa mga kalse ng pelikula na ginagawa in general. So depende yun. But if you ask, let’s say, ako or si Lav Diaz, o yung mga iba. It’s not necessarily the thought of the people, but it’s what you want the thinking audience to see and to think about. Not necessarily our subject matter. Ang subject matter ko ay ang mahihirap pero hindi siya kayang intindihin ng mahihirap. Kasi it’s about them. Ang pwedeng magintindi sa mga pelikula ko ay ang mga may pinagaralan, educated, at yung pwedeng makagawa ng pagbabago. Our films are, sa totoo lang kahit sabihin mong mahirap tanggapin, elitist ang mga films. Okay? Especially ang mga films na medyo deep. Pang elites iyan. Although ang kaibahan lang iyon, hindi ko ineexploit ang mga mahirap. Otherwise, ang mga films ko ay magiging poverty porn. So, I think dito pumapasok yung intent. Kung ang intent mo ay ang i-exploit ang mahihirap sa pelikula mo then it becomes poverty porn because you are using them for their own benefit. But if you use their own story to awaken, not necessarily them because di naman nila maiintindihan ang pelikula mo, but to awaken the game changers, the stakeholders. Sino ba ang mga stakeholders dito? Edi yung mga may kaya. May kayang baguhin ang buhay ng mga mahihirap, hindi yung mahihirap.

Question: For example, in Ma Rosa, do you think it is a reflection of what people think of the police?

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It’s really what’s happening. It doesn’t have to be a reflection. Alam naman nating may mga corrupt na sa mga pulis. At alam naman nila iyon, nageexist naman iyon. So, it’s not just a reflection when you do a scene like that, gusto mo lang i-ano na mayroong mga tao who make use of their power—who abuse their power. There are groups of people who abuse their power, it just so happened that they are policemen. They abuse their power, so they are not using their power to help people or to punish people but to take advantage of these poor people. It’s as simple as that. Whether dito yan sa Pilipinas or sa ibang bansa, may nangyayaring ganun. It’s not special in our country. Nangyayari yan sa Thailang, sa Malaysia, sa Indonesia at sa ibang bansa. Its just that maybe they are not showing it. But I know for a fact na nangyayari siya 100%. Ngayon ang sinasabi ng iba, eh bakit mo siya pinapakita eh sila nga hindi pinapakita. Eh mga duwag sila. Kasi hindi nila pinapakita yung mga nangyayari sa kanilang bansa. Kapag pinapakita mo, alam mong nangyayari, it becomes an open secret. Nangyayari siya, alam ng lahat pero hindi siya pinapakita. At least dito pinapakita natin, alam natin na nangyayari. So aware tayong lahat sa nangyayari. So we know what to do the next time because the people are informed. We are informed of this situation versus other countries, they know that these things exist. It is in existence a long time ago but they are not allowed to show it in cinema. So nakatago, pero nangyayari at ginagawa nila. So ikaw, papipiliin kita, doon o dito? Diba?

Questions: Can films be used as an avenue of learning?

Of course! Depende rin sa film. Depende rin sa intent ng filmmaker. Hindi mo pwedeng i- generalize ang film kasi iba’t ibang klase ang genre. Paano magtuturo ang horror, ang comedy, ang fantasy? Eh eto yung mga popular films. So, hindi mo rin masabi ang independent films kasi karamihan din ng independent films ay romcom din. They don’t focus on societal issues. But if you ask me, yes. Because that is really the intent. To provoke critical thinking among the audience. So, at least, yung mga nakakaintindi. Not necessarily to my subject matter. Kasi yung subject matter ko at yung object ko, katulad ng sinasabi ko kanina, hindi rin naman nila maiintindihan yan eh. Ang makakaintindi lang niyan ay yung thinking audience. Yes, it will provoke critical thinking and maybe in the future, they can make the necessary changes. For example, I did a film about an Aeta teacher. So when I showed it, people from the upper class society, they’ve seen it. Somebody got in touch with me. They want to know about yung character kong Aeta, so gusto nilang tulungan. Gusto nilang puntahan yung lugar. So I gave them the address. I gave them the location of the film. And they went there. Nagbigay sila ng mga computer, pinaaral nila. And this was a group of women from Forbes park. So yun ang living proof that films can somehow provoke critical thinking and pwede silang gumawa ng hakbang for yung mga tao who can do something for these people, for my subject matter. Diba yung mga women of Forbes. I’m not expecting the Aeta community na magaral pag napanuod nila yung pelikula ko. I am not expecting them.

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Question: Can films be a mirror to what is happening to our country right now?

Of course. Parang kami yung nagdadala ng kwento ng kung ano ang realidad. Kasi ang films namin, reflection yan ng buhay. Siyempre ang artist, kina-capture niya iyan. Kung ano yung nararamdaman niya. Kung ano yung nararamdaman ng nakikita niya, kung ano yung environment niya. Ayun, tinatranslate niya sa film. Tinatranslate niya yung gusto niyang ibig sabihin sa film. Kasi, otherwise wala kang basehan, wala kang basis kung hindi mo nakikita to. You don’t expect me to make a film about America or about the American people or about the lives of people in America. Or even the thoughts and attitudes of American people in the Philippines. O kahit na sabihin mong Americano ako, that’s why walang Americanong gumagawa dito. O kaya pag may gumagawa ditong Filipinos who were born in the United States, or in other parts of the world, gagawa sila ng pelikula about here in the Philippines. Disconnected palagi ang kanilang mga pelikula. Because they are no longer connected with our culture and our people.

Question: What drives you to make your movies?

First of all, I’m happy with what I’m doing. So, I don’t think I can find and I can feel this kind of fulfillment in other jobs. Or ibang trabaho or in other things. Except in making films. Cause iba yung paggawa ng films, yung pagbuo ng pelikula, mahirap siya. Kasi marami siyang prosesong pinagdadaanan. And every process is an achievement in itself. From research to script development to production and then post-production. Because there is always magic in its process. Kasi you were parang able to create something. And then something out of that process. Even from the research itself. Kasi pag nagresearch ka, hindi lang naman isang tao. You go from one place to another. You talk to different kinds of people. So, you hear different kinds of experiences of these people. So, somehow naeempower ka. Kasi you’re so privileged to peek into their lives. And then you develop the script. So, you create your own world out of the stories of these people. And then you produce it. Ire-recreate mo yun. It-translate mo iyon into cinema. And then after that, you make your post-production. This is where the different elements of filmmaking come in. You know the editing, the sounds, the music. So, you are creating something, hindi ba? And then after that, ipapalabas mo siya. Pag pinalabas mo siya iba-iba ang take ng mga tao. Iba-iba ang reaksyon, and that’s another feeling, hindi ba? Another journey. So every time you create, every time you make a film, parang may naka-attach doon na fulfillment, diba? And yet, it’s very challenging. Mahirap siya. It’s you know, mahirap siyang buohin kasi, unang-una, mahal ang gumawa ng pelikula. And at the same time, you have to take into consideration that yung film na ginagawa mo, hindi naman siya commercial film. So you’re not even sure if people will watch it. And yet, you keep on doing it. So, ayun ano siya, you feel fulfilled as a human being and as a person. And at the same time, it also becomes a source of living as well. Maaring hindi gaano kalaki yung kinikita mo but you know people they trust you because you can deliver something.

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Question: Would you make a movie about martial law?

It depends, I don’t know. It depends on what provoked me in doing something. Kasi, was I inspired. Na-bother ba ako. You know, depende. I cannot say na just because nag-martial law eh gagawa na ako ng movie about martial law. Kasi nagmartial law naman before. Na-experience ko naman ang martial law. Pero hindi pa ako handa gumawa nun kasi feeling ko wala pa yung thoughts ko sa issue ng martial law. Kasi feeling ko, hindi siya relevant sa buhay natin ngayon. We are enjoying so much freedom. Bakit ko iisipin ang martial law at this time. Eh minumura nga yung president mula ulo hanggang paa. Diba? Kinucurse nga siya. Lahat sinasabi. Pumunta kayo sa Malaysa, sa Indonesia, sa Singapore. Gawin nila iyan. Tignan natin nag mangyayari. So ayun, sometimes hindi natin nakikita yung privilege natin especially. Kasi nakikita lang natin yung kahirapan, nakikita lang natin yung people suffering. But I think it’s very Filipino to complain, pero hindi rin kasi natin nakikita how privileged we are. Napakayaman ng Pilipinas. Magsipag ka lang dito sa Pilipinas hindi ka magugutom. Wag ka magsquat sia Maynila, magsquat ka sa probinsya magtanim ka ng talong doon. Pag hindi ka doon nabuhay. But of course, iba kasi yung pananaw natin sa buhay.

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Appendix I: Transcription of the Interview with Film Director Jose Javier Reyes

Director Jose Javier Reyes

Question: How do you make your films?

A: Well this specific case itong Katas ng Saudi. It’s very controversial especially in the case of the here and now because the star is Jinggoy Estrada. During that time, Jinggoy was very wary whether I will accept his project because he knew that I was in the anti-Erap movement in 2000—I was one of the front liners of ousting his dad from Malacanang. But then, you know, there was a what? 7-year gap since that time. So sabi ko you know, my work naman has nothing to do with my political position at the time. Especially with him as a senator at the time. So, when we met, when I looked at him, sabi ko you know, what sort of film would you want. Sabi niya “ay I want something sort of funny, down to earth.”. I wanted to look at the person, I wanted to make a movie about an every man. A Filipino who is very identifiable to the public because his experience is very common and very timely at the time. And maybe until now. And during that time, I know a lot of OFWs who are in various states and positions and the kind of anguish that they go through. Ugh, there are some themes that are touched in Katas ng Saudi…ah. A number of OFW stories are centered on women. Seldom do they center on men. Mainly because if you do dramas it always has to be female centered as far as Philippine cinema is concerned. But I did not want to do a drama. I wanted to deal with a serious topic but making it dramatic and funny because I think, you know, the situation of the OFW is both dramatic and at the same time the Filipinos’ resilience explains itself in humor. So I wanted to do a story about an every man—an OFW—who really wants to come back, settle down in the Philippines, thinking that he has made enough money to forget Saudi and live here. Only to find out that he is a stranger to his own family, he is a stranger to his own nation. But more so, he has no money. Because of various reasons. I wanted to touch on so many things also which are funny because akala ng mga tao, pag nagtatrabaho ka abroad, ang yaman yaman mo. So maglalabasan lahat ng mga kaibigan mo, lahat lahat ng mga kamaganak mo. And I wanted him to express that. Uhm, my actor was not a glamorous figure. Jinggoy looks like an every-man. And when we did that movie, Lorna Tolentino was not paid anything. Because she wanted to work there as a kind of thank you to Jinggoy because Jinggoy was the one who took care of Rudy (?). So it was a very personal thing for the both of them. And we wanted to create the alienation of children. Why did I make Katas ng Saudi? I wanted to make a movie which has a social statement but not taken to a really crazy dramatic point. But make it funny at the same time. And I know, I cannot make…Jinggoy is no Piolo Pascual or no John Lloyd Cruz. So he had to be unique in terms of his branding. And I was glad that we were able to pull it off. Actually I had a joke. Sabi ko, “pag nanalo si Jinggoy Estrada ng best actor dito, magreretire ako sa pelikula. Nanalo. Hindi ako nag

126 retire. Nanalo siya sa MMFF ng best actor tapos nanominate pa sa Urian. So I said “Ay pucha it’s the Lord telling me *laughs* okay okay. Yun yun. That’s the reason why.

And I have a soft spot for OFWs because I know a lot of families who are with parents— father or mother or both—who are OFWs. And I know what they go through. And how it affects their children. And especially now because I am back teaching. I have a lot of kids here who are children of OFWs And wow it’s…iba yung dilemma nila. It’s a phenomenon of a certain generation raised by surrogate parents. In which your concept of a relationship with your parent is through Skype. Through chat. Di ko pa na-tackle yun sa Katas ng Saudi because that was 2007 but if I were to do something like that right now, that’s their concept of a relationship.

Question: Did you do research on how people perceived OFWs?

A: Well most of it came from personal experience because I do know a lot of OFWs. So actually, the character of Jinggoy here is a compilation of so many OFWs that I know. Both men and women. Yung aspect niya na paguwi niya wala siyang pera—may kilala akong ganun. Na nagtrabaho sa Riyadh, di niya alam na nauubos yung pera niya kasi nasa college ang mga anak niya. That was ahh…ang gastos. Ang gastos hindi ba? Akala mop ag nagpapadala ka rito may naiiwan, naiipon, pero mahirap mag-ipon dahil mahirap din ang buhay. Yung the fact na, hindi na kilala ng mga anak ang kanilang mga magulang, ang daming ganun. Ang daming anak na ganyan. Lately, may isa akong estudyante na hindi niya mahal ang kanyang tatay. Dahil di niya kilala ang tatay niya. Kasi di niya kilala. Yung tatay niya, Imbis na umuwi ng Christmas, nag oovertime. Iniipon yung pera. Yun ang irony nun eh, hindi ba? Nag-iipon yung tatay ng pera para dun sa anak pero yung anak walang pagmamahal dun sa tatay dahil di niya kilala.

One thing that really gets me is calling OFWs “bagong bayani”. Ano yung “bayani” nila? Na sinakripisyo nila yung buhay nila para sa pera? At the expense of really destroying nuclear families. And you’re calling them heroes because you’re exporting them. I mean that’s not heroism, that’s exploitation. I really resent calling them “bagong bayani”. Why? Because they’re redeeming us with the value of the dollars that they’re sending? Yung kapalit nun, cannot be replaced by denominations or money. Because you’re ruining families. You’re ruining the growth of children. And relationships between men and women. I wanted to show that in Katas. Kaya nga the ending of Katas is very sad. Bumalik siya ng Saudi kahit ayaw niya. Because he has to. Hindi ba? And ang daming ganyan. Most recently, I had one of my best housekeepers said that she’s leaving. Kasi pupunta siya ng Kuwait. So, ang bait niya so sabi ko, you can stay until you leave. Kasi you know, you still need sweldo. And she’s preparing, I think she’s leaving really soon. I think she’s leaving this month. Kasi pumirma na siya ng kontrata. And it’s in Kuwait, Iha. I’m so scared. Because everyone who comes from Kuwait, they say they are the most maltreated Filipinos. Originally doon siya sa Jordan daw. Pero puno na ang Jordan, so sa

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Kuwait siya. But I understand. She has three kids. Ang sweldo niya sa Kuwait ay equivalent to 20,000 pesos. Kung kakayanin ko lang, tatapatan ko yun pero di ko kaya. Naintindihan mo rin na “omygod. What a loss.” You have a good hard-working Filipina, but sabi niya 2 years lang daw pero I doubt na babalik pa siya.

Question: Would you consider Katas ng Saudi as a political film?

It’s not a political film. It’s more of a social film. It’s a film with a degree of social commentary. I think the whole phenomenon of the OFW is not necessarily political in nature although it started during the Marcos years. Hindi ba? When Filipino families literally evacuated from the Philippines. To pursue their lives abroad feeling that the Marcosian rule will limit their growth. I know that because my brother left during the Marcos years. I grew up without my brother because I was 1st year college during Martial Law. Exodus talaga. The best and the brightest were leaving the country. How sad? Even up to now, tinatanong ko yung mga estudyante ko kung anong plano nila. Karamihan ang plano ay mag-abroad. Hindi ba? I’m sure maski sa UP, I’m sure na mahina na ang 40% of every class would want to go abroad. Yung graduating class ko nagulat ako mga 30% lang sa amin ang naiwan. Kasi kami ang children of martial law eh. So yeah. It’s a social film because it gives a commentary on the need to leave the country to have a better life. Isn’t that so sad? That you have to leave your home to find a better life for the people you leave behind? And the dreams of the people you leave behind is also to leave? God. Ngayon naman we are being replaced by the Chinese, hindi ba? Sakop na tayo. Hindi na tayo sinasakop.

Question: What did you want to highlight most in your film?

The whole futility of it. It’s a vicious cycle. He goes back in the end. His children are going to be like him. If I were to make a sequel of Katas ng Saudi, his children would also have left for abroad. Kasi, how many would choose to stay here? Lalo na sa mga pangyayari ngayon. Diba Iha? The more people wanna leave. And it’s a vicious cycle. It’s an endless cycle of people leaving abroad. And these are the best and the brightest. How can you possible improve this country if the best and the brightest leave. The reasons may be selfish. Di ka nationalistic bla bla bla. Well, there’s self-preservation first, hindi ba? In a country where exportation of labor is deified and is honored, how can you possibly have a nationalist idea kung ang pinupuri mo ay ang mga umaalis. Hindi ba? Diba, sabi nila ang biggest exportation ng Philippines ay yung labor—is the Filipino? I think that’s so sad. And even the perception of people, of Filipinos, ang baba ng tingin sa atin. Example, have you gone to Hong Kong? Ako, hindi ko alam kung awa o inis ang iiral sa akin pag nakikita ko on a Sunday all these Filipina domestics nagkalat yan. May mga baon, kumakain ng adobo sa mga parts of the mall. Kung tignan sila ng foreigner parang ang bababang uri ng tao. Yun lang ang diversion nila eh. Napanuod mo ba yung Sunday Beauty Queens? May mga ibang foreigners, pero nako yung iba. Yung mga Hong Kong -Chinese, ang

128 baba ng tingin nila. So sabi ko, magtataka ka kung bakit ang baba ng tingin sa mga Pilipino. It’s because we put ourselves in such a situation. Hindi ba? And, my ultimate dream is we don’t have to leave this country in order to find a good life. When this exodus stops, god knows. Ay nako, lalo na sa ngayon, hindi siya matatapos.

Question: Do you think your thought is embedded in this film? Oh yeah, in Katas ng Saudi. I wish I had more opportunities to do films like this. Kasi ito, hindi land ito drama it is a comedy. It was meant to be funny but you laugh and think. But you see nowadays you rarely have opportunities like this. I don’t know. I hope it (Alden and Kathryn’s new movie) gives a social commentary, I hope it gives you a glimpse of the life of OFWs. I wish we can do more films about Filipinos abroad hindi ba? The Filipinos in Singapore. Iba naman ang experience nila ruon. Or even Filipinos in Canada which I find so interesting because there’s a Mississauga there. Or even in the States there is a Daly City or Pacifica na puro Pilipino. How you tend to recreate a mini-Philippines while at the same time being so alienated for being a Filipino.

Question: Do you think films could be used as a reflection of the political thought of people?

They should. And you know what, it’s so sad now because such films are really not making money. We have made films into escapist routes. We watch these romcoms because we want to fall in love or at least approximate the feeling for 90 minutes. But you know, films can make such a bigger statement eh. Without directly being confrontational or political eh. It’s not that it can. It’s that it should. Because right now, of course I could never do it. But I could never do a film about the Chinese invasion. About how the Chinese—the mainland Chinese—are so entitled with this country. And how they are also hated by the Chinoys. But that is not only a political statement, but that is also a reflection of the here and now. Hindi ba? I’d love to make a film about the divisiveness of the Filipino because you’re either dds or dilawan. Diba? Yung away tayo nang away. We thrive on divisiveness. It’s bad enough that our country is made up of 7,000 islands with 70 languages. We’re naturally divided. But we still emphasize on divisiveness. The sila-tayo obsession. Kapamilya vs Kapuso; Dilawan vs. DDS. We’re always in teams, hindi ba? I don’t agree with it.

Question: Do you consider films as avenues of learning?

Oh yes. That’s why I wish we could do films which make people think. For me, the most effective films are at the end of the movie, you’re still thinking of the movie. A film does not give answers, better yet, it poses questions. Because when you step out of a movie house, nag-

129 iisip ka. That’s when the film is successful—because you trigger your audience to think. No offense because they serve their own purpose, but when you watch a Vice Ganda movie maybe the question you’ll be asking is “Ba’t ko pinanuod yung pelikula na iyan?”, hindi ba? But you know precisely why, because you want to be anesthesized (sic) for 90 minutes na di mo iniintindi o iisipin yung mga problema mo. Gusto mo lang tumawa, hindi ba? Alam mo yung sa lakas nang hagalpak ng tawa ng audience, doon mo masusukat kung gaano karaming pera ang kikitain ng pelikula or kikiligin ka. Pero wala kang matututunan sa pelikula. Wala kang matututunan sa kilig. Nangangahulugan na maaring magpaligaya sa iyo for a few minutes. Maaring makalimutan mo ang mga problema mo. Pero it doesn’t mean na pag kinalimutan mo yung problema mo in 90 minutes ay mawawala yung problema mo. At hindi mo masosolve yung problema mo kung hindi mo pagiisipan yung problema.

Question: What made you want to make Katas ng Saudi?

Matagal ko nang gusto gumawa ng OFW film. Matagal na. Nahanap ko lang yung tamang pagkakataon through Jinggoy because he has the looks and he has the resources. And at the same time dahil pulitiko siya, naging statement niya rin yun as a politician for OFWs. So it was really a double-edged thing. Bago sumabog ang Napoles issue na ito na nakulong siya, we were supposed to do the sequel of Katas ng Saudi. Na this time, noong pagbalik niya, wala na yung pamilya niya. Kasi nga umalis na yung mga anak niya. Yung mga anak niya nag OFW na. Ngayon di na pwede talaga with all the kaguluhan. Sabi ko, ang masaklap niyan, kahit tratuhin ko si Jinggoy as an actor, ang tingin ng tao, political statement pa rin if I work with Jinggoy. Kasi we tend to take actors very personally. We don’t see them as actors, we see them as people. Ang daming bumatikos sa akin dahil nakatrabaho ko si Jinggoy. “Magnanakaw iyan sa set” pero sinasabi ko hindi iyan magnanakaw sa set, artista ko iyan sa set. Hindi naman namin pinaguusapan kung ako kinukurakot niya, ano. Tapos may magtatanong sa akin, tingin mo, magnanakaw magnanakaw? Trato ko sakanya tao! We don’t discuss politics. At ang naappreciate ko sakanya, kahit may mga pulitikal siyang mga ka-meeting, pag tinatawag na naming siya nasa set na siya. Artista siya. At tsaka what I appreciate with Jinggoy, katulad ng tatay niya, which is ngayon ko lang na-experience sa artista, kung ano ang kakainin niya, kakainin din ng utility. Which is old school eh. Minsan gusto niya ng yellow cab, pucha lahat may yellow cab. Pati yung nagbubuhat ng ilaw, may yellow cab iyan. May slice ka. Kasi ganun ang nakasanayan niya. Nagnanakaw siya, okay. Pero nakikita kong tinatrato niya yung mga tao. Sabi nga nila (laughs) nagnanakaw lang naman ang pulitiko kasi dami dami mong kailangang bayaran.

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Appendix J: Copy of Online Interview with Ms. Frances Dumalaog

1. When and how did the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) start?

The Center for Migrant Advocacy summarized the country’s history of labor migration into four

(4) waves. The first wave spurred with the country’s pre-colonial trade relations with China and the Galleon trade during the Spanish colonization period. The second wave began in 1940s when

Filipino migrants arrived in the United States of America to work in Hawaii’s sugar plantations and Alaska’s fishing canneries. The third wave happened after the end of second world war.

Filipinos started migrating to Asian countries in the 1950s. Some of them were also employed in

American army bases. Furthermore, the phrase “katas ng Saudi” was popularized during this wave. Filipino engineers and technicians began migrating to the Middle East to work in oil rigs and construction sites. The final wave was marked by the institutionalization of labor migration under the term of former President Marcos. The protection of “every citizen desiring to work locally or overseas by securing them the best possible terms and conditions of employment” is one of the statement of objectives in the Labor Code of the Philippines (Book 1 Article 12). Due to the worsening conditions during the Martial Law, migration became a stop gap measure to appease the people. However, the stop gap measure became a permanent one with the directives from succeeding administrations.

In terms of aspirations for working abroad, there are three theories that may describe the reason why people choose to work abroad:

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• Theory of planned behavior – migrant network (e.g. family, friends, etc) affects/influences the decision of the worker to work abroad

• New economics of labor migration - People from labor abundant and low waged country go to labor scarce but wage abundant countries in order to improve their economic standing

• Historical Structural Approach - globalization and neoliberal policies led to massive unemployment. It argues that migration is a forced decision due to the lack of employment or livelihood opportunities in the country of origin.

2. What is the current state of our OFWs? What are their living conditions? / Do they cope

well in different countries?

Based on PSA’s 2017 Survey on Overseas Filipinos, there are 2.3 million OFWs. In terms of sex there are more females (53.7%) than males (46.3%). “Higher percentage (24.1%) of female

OFWs were in the age group 25 to 29 years, while the male OFWs were reported to have higher percentage (19.8%) in age group 30 to 34 years.” In terms of the nature of work, the table below shows that more than half of female OFWs are working in elementary occupations1 while a quarter of male OFWs are plant and machine operators and assemblers.

I opted to give the figures above because the foregoing discussions will be focused on the living and working conditions of female OFWs who are in elementary occupations. After all, they comprise the significant portion of OFWs who seek employment abroad. Sayres (2007) discussed that there are several anecdotal and case reports of Filipina OFWs being abused and exploited in countries of destination. They often experience maltreatment, non-payment of salary, discrimination, and verbal, sexual and physical abuse from their employers. Worse, others fall victim to human trafficking.

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Although legislation requires a contract for all OFWs, most migrant domestic workers experience violation of and false information in the terms of reference. Female migrant domestic workers are required to render long working hours without compensation for overtime or allotted day off. They are also assigned to do work outside of their household duties. Furthermore, employers also fail to pay their social benefits. Worse, even their salaries are not paid at all. With these exploitative conditions, OFWs cling to the following motivational factors in order to keep going:

• Filipino Communities as support group (religious, regionalistic aggrupations, etc)

• Cellphones and internet as survival weapons

• Romance

• Aspirations for Family left-behind

3. During 2007 and 2008, I have noticed that there was an influx of Political films regarding

OFWs. What was happening from 2006 ‘til 2007 that could have spurred this influx?

You may read the following news articles:

• https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/content/118362/15-filipina-domestics-who-died-in- lebanon-mostly-fell-from-buildings/story/

• https://news.abs-cbn.com/pinoy-migration/10/31/08/34-ofws-face-death-penalty

• https://news.abs-cbn.com/pinoy-migration/10/23/08/survivors-ofws-have-endured-major-crises

• https://news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/03/09/15/ofw-who-killed-saudi-employer-executed- riyadh

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4. Are there any statistics on how the general Filipino public perceive OFWs? a. If yes, what are some examples of these? b. If no, do you think this information is relevant?

Apologies. Unfortunately, I do not know any statistics that tackle this concern.

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Appendix K: Copy of Online Interviews with UPM CAS Respondents

Respondent #1

1. What do you consider as political films? a. Are there any political films that you can name?

For me, political films are films who sought to share awareness to the people. They are the films who aims to shed light on both the atrocities and the supposedly good things that the government made. They can also be films that shows how political theories, such as the ones in IR, works and historical events brought on by politics. Some political films that I can name are: JFK, Reds, Heneral Luna, Buy bust, Dangerous life, Liway, Bato etc

2. What do you think of these political films? a. Are they important to our society? b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society?

They are important in our society for not only they provide information, but they also spread awareness. Unless the movies are used as propaganda, they are good in spreading education to the masses who always consume films in the cinema. Yes, they reflect the current state of our society since most political movies are observed to portray “their relevance” in the current society.

3. What is your view on Filipino migration? a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention?

It is a recurring phenomenon here in the country wherein individuals go abroad, leaving their loved ones, for better job opportunities and wages. Since the phenomena is being practiced for

135 decades now, it no longer catches my attention since it is now considered a norm and it is kind of expected seeing the current poor state of this god-forsaken country.

4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)?

Lack of employment opportunities, poverty, low minimum wage, and annoying relatives that most families can not bear to interact with (JKJK)

5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs?

People typically look for better employment opportunities, this led to some people becoming OFW with advance economies providing larger minimum wage. They choose to become OFWs to support their love ones financially and to alleviate them from poverty. Some force/support/encourage their leech relatives to be OFWs to help them be self-sufficient. Furthermore, some become OFWs because other countries are much better, less crimes, pollution and chaos, compared here in the Philippines.

6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money?

It depends on the relationship of the OFW with his/her family before he became an OFW. If he/she is especially close to the family, then naturally the family would miss the relative, feeling lonely without them. If it is the opposite, where the relative is not that close to his/her family then for them, it is just normal and inevitable that the relative is abroad.

7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not?

I think there is a prejudice because even though they earn more abroad, they are still blue-collar workers. Sometimes professionals who work abroad settle for blue collar jobs. Here in the country, there is a deep-rooted judgement on blue-collar workers, it is no different whether they work here in the country or not.

8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs?

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Yes, they do, I believe that most films are inspired by real-life experiences, perceptions and thoughts of the people. Thus, the movie can accurately portray the scenario/phenomena

Respondent #2

1. What do you consider as political films? : Para sakin, political films yung may mga may real life issues na tinatackle. Madalas, yung mga problema sa isang society sa isang point in time, or pwede ring tackling a constant problem that hasn’t been solved yet. Pero yung pinakaunang pumasok sa isip ko dahil “political” is something that involves the government or important people in history. a. Wala ako masyadong alam since hindi marami yung napanood ko na. Marami lang familiar sakin. Tulad nung Dekada ’70, somehow familiar sa akin yung name pero di ko pa napapanood. Yung Buy Bust, since about sa drugs, feeling ko somehow may relation rin yun sa current war on drugs (hindi ko pa rin siya napapanood, though). 2. What do you think of these political films? : Well, di ako qualified to make a review of these films since hindi ko pa sila napanood. But if I talk about political films in general, tingin ko may role silang importante hindi lang sa arts kundi sa society in general. Kasi sino ba yung mga manonood, mga tao rin naman. People who are still learning and shaping their opinions and reinforcing their values. a. Are they important to our society? : Importante sila. Pakiramdam ko kasi hindi ganoon naaappreciate yung stories kapag sa libro lang. Lalo na kapag among the youth pa yung gusto mong matuto. Saka kapag films kasi, parang mas navivisualize yung realidad ng situations. b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society? : Oo. Kahit given na na yung movies ay kailangang may dramatic effect para magkaroon ng impact, tingin ko somehow accurate pa rin naman yung pino-portray. Kaya lang ginagawang dramatic minsan para mas tumagal emotionally sa mga nanood at ma-urge sila to take action.

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3. What is your view on Filipino migration? : Una kong naisip, nakakalungkot. Kasi walang maayos na trabaho dito na makakabuhay ka ng isang pamilya. Feeling ko halos lahat overworked and underpaid kaya madalas umaalis na lang. Ito naman yung reality kaya di rin natin maba-blame yung mga umaalis. a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention? : Yes. Kasi feeling ko normal na lang satin na may kakilala tayong pumunta ng ganitong bansa, nag-sacrifice para makapagpadala ng pera, ganyan. Nakakalungkot na hindi masolusyunan ng gobyerno yung ganun, eh alam naman nilang hirap ang mga tao kaya sila umaalis eh. Kahit matagal nang problema yan sa Pinas, ang lungkot na wala pa ring nangyayari hanggang ngayon. 4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)? : Pakiramdam ko kulang yung trabaho dito. Kung meron man, masyadong abuso. Sobrang tagal ng trabaho, sobrang kakarampot ng suweldo. Paano ka magbubuhay ng pamilya kung buong araw ka na ngang wala sa bahay dahil sa trabaho, tapos konti lang nakukuha mong pera in return? Mas mabuti pa na magtiis na lang sa ibang bansa, kahit matagal man yung hours ng work, mas mataas naman kita. Di tulad dito na sobrang baba talaga. 5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs? : Kasi kulang sa opportunities dito sa Pinas. Mababa sweldo, matagal trabaho, tapos minsan abusado pa. Nakakalungkot nga na isipin na tinitiis na lang rin sa ibang bansa kahit abusado pa yung work hours or even physically or emotionally inaabuse basta may maipadala lang sila. 6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? : Dahil matagal silang nawawala-wala, pakiramdam ko habang lumalaki yung bata palayo nang palayo yung relationship nila. Sa extended family members naman, feeling ko madalas ginagawa silang source ng pera or utangan, kahit alam nilang di naman ganoon kadaling ipunin yun. Or magpapabili ng pasalubong pag- uwi. a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money? : Yes, you took the words right out of my mouth. Nakakalungkot man isipin. Sa situation din kasi sa Pilipinas na ang baba baba nga magbigay ng sweldo, wala rin

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silang choice minsan kundi lumapit na lang doon sa at least medyo mas mataas yung naiipon. 7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not? : Oo. May naalala akong post diyan. Basta foreigners saying Filipinos equals maids. Ang daming na-offend na Pinoy. Not gonna lie, ako medyo na-offend rin. Pero napaisip ako, the mere fact na medyo unpleasant syang marinig sa akin (yung judgment ng foreigners na kapag Filipinos equals maids), feeling ko doon pa lang may prejudice na kaagad. Naisip ko, bakit kaya somehow na-offend ako? Ano naman masama sa pagiging blue-collar worker? Saka one more thing, kapag medyo matataas yung positions or white-collar workers, ganyan, bilib agad yung mga tao pag kinwento mo. Pumuntang ibang bansa to pursue career, eme eme. Pero pag blue-collar (for ex. maid), yung pagkaka-frame ng stories, laging “napilitang mamasukan dahil sa hirap ng buhay sa Pinas”. Syempre, it can be dahil sa context natin na maraming mahihirap, which gives them no choice but to work abroad. Still, may prejudice nga just because most of the jobs they take are blue-collar ones. 8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs? : Oo. Especially kung accurate yung pagkaka-portray. Pakiramdam ko male-lessen yung prejudice kung malalaman nila kung gaano kahirap maging OFW at yung context noon sa Pilipinas, especially nung nag-decide sila na umalis na lang.

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Respondent #3

1. What do you consider as political films? a. Are there any political films that you can name?

I think the films I consider to be “political films” are those that carry a certain political ideology – like communism, socialism, ode to capitalism, etc. – or those that present a situation relevant to a certain country / part of the world, whether truthfully or otherwise. The films do not have to be done in a way that closely resembles reality (like documentaries), they can come in the form of sci-fi and I could still consider them “political films” just because they carry a certain “political” message. Yes, I can name political films, examples of which are Reds (1981) and Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)

2. What do you think of these political films? a. Are they important to our society? b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society?

Yes, I believe films are important to our society. However, I do not necessarily believe that they reflect the current state of our or any society for that matter. Time and again, films have been good sources of propaganda, particularly because they cater to a large number of audiences in one sitting, something that newspapers or books can no longer do especially at the height of technological development. With that said, films can be used by detractors or perpetuators of fake news or black propaganda. Likewise, the people behind the film may not have done sufficient research to make it realistic or historically accurate.

3. What is your view on Filipino migration? a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention?

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This is an issue close to my heart because I have a lot of relatives who migrated. I believe the Philippine government has failed them enough that they even considered migrating in the first place. Imagine being away from your families, not being with them during special occasions. We know how tight-knit families are in the Philippines, and the fact that they disregarded that to migrate to other countries shows their urgency to leave behind the circumstances they had in the Philippines before.

4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)?

I believe the root cause of labor migration and the existence of OFWs is the failure of the government to provide requisites that will lead to the attainment of a good life. While I do accept that people should not be spoon-fed with everything they need, we know that something is wrong with the government when it fails to even provide its citizens with BASIC services such as healthcare and housing.

5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs? Their need to survive, perhaps? Arguably, a lot of Filipinos tend to go abroad to look for jobs in order to support their families. They stomach being away from them in exchange for earning good money. In the case of my relatives, I remember how they reasoned out that they’re transferring to another country because they have better services there. For example, I have relatives in Canada who went there because they had free education way earlier than the Philippines did. I also have relatives in New Zealand who went there primarily because they liked the country’s education system. 6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money?

I feel like being away from their relatives and kids makes them sort of distant from them? While I believe technological development in recent decades has made a way to make communications easier, nothing beats physical connection or being there for your family physically. Also, although it does not apply to all, I know of certain cases where relatives treat OFWs as banks from which they can take out loans (and not pay them, because “we’re family).

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7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not?

Certainly. Other people argue kasi na why do OFWs go to other countries “only” to become helpers or caregivers? Also, the fact that many Filipinos are domestic helpers abroad has become the subject of ridicule in certain films or shows. And this is something that I feel during family reunions also. I do not need to look far. My relatives who are professionals abroad (researchers, professors, dentists, and doctors) are treated as if they’re superior to my other relatives who are blue-collar workers abroad.

8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs?

Why not? Given the right set of people to work towards its production, preferably those who have had the experience of being OFWs themselves…

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Respondent #4

1. What do you consider as political films? a. Are there any political films that you can name?

- In my opinion, political films can be vaguely defined and categorized, because a lot of factors make one film “political” so and so. But I think, political films are those that portray certain realities using specific points of view. Political films can be those that “talk” about political ideologies or the situation of governments. Some political films I can name would be “Sister Stella L.,” “Dekada ’70,” and “Batas Militar.”

2. What do you think of these political films? a. Are they important to our society? b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society?

- Political films are important because they help the general public understand things that they would neglect reading about or listening to. Because these realities are portrayed in a more creative manner, people may probably choose to pay attention to it. Unfortunately, these films do not always reflect the current state of our society – or at least this is dependent on the filmmakers. Some “political” films may even distort the reality, for certain personal gains.

3. What is your view on Filipino migration? a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention?

- There’s a term that we call “brain drain” and it is an unfortunate, if not sad, phenomenon, because, for me, it entails two things: 1) that Filipinos are not satisfied with the situation in the country and they’d rather pursue their futures outside as that would lead them to greener pastures, and 2) that Filipinos who are left inside the country suffer

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even more because we lose professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc., or other service providers who can alleviate our current situation. We cannot blame people who choose to migrate to other countries to live a better life, but it is unfortunate that the country continues to lose its most valuable asset – its human resource. I believe this is a pressing issue that clearly portrays the poor situation of the country, but other issues like health, education, and governance comes in my mind first.

4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)?

- One cause would be the poor labor situation here in the country – low wages, unfair working conditions, the existence of contractualization, and such. Filipinos choose to find work outside the country not because they want it or it is “easier,” but because their situation (and their families’) here inside the country would probably be much more unbearable if they didn’t try to work outside. One more cause, I think, is the continuous promotion of working outside the country by the government. Instead of alleviating the working conditions inside the country, the government, instead, promotes labor migration. Being an OFW, of course, is a noble pursuit and every reason behind the Filipinos’ decision to work outside is valid, but it would be better if the government would focus their energies on keeping Filipinos inside the country for the sake of other Filipinos too.

5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs?

- I think a variety of factors affect their decision to become OFWs. As mentioned earlier, one of these factors is the poor labor conditions in the country; one more factor, I think, is the promise of a better future (or, at least, a better salary) for those who decide to become OFWs. I think what OFWs think about the most is their families’ situations.

6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money?

- Off the top of my head, I would say they may be detached with their kids, especially if these OFWs left when their kids were still young. Children might not yet understand why their parents choose to work abroad, far from them. Older relatives, on the other hand,

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might better understand their plight, and are more accepting of the fact that they can’t always be there, especially during important, special occasions. Regarding the issue of whether or not these people see OFWs as people who can they approach if they need money, films or tv shows tend to show the situation like that, but I don’t know for sure if that’s really the case.

7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not?

- There is a prejudice against blue-collar workers, both inside and outside of the country. I don’t really know where this stems from, but I often read articles or comments about degrading blue collar workers, especially domestic helpers. I guess people tend to think that even though they work hard or earn more money, their work entails being “dirty” or something. (Pwede bang mag-Tagalog? AHAHAHAHA) Feeling ko kasi iniisip na ibang tao na “maduming” trabaho ang pagiging DH, and lagi lang silang nauutusan sa bahay ng mga employers nila or something.

8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs?

- Yes and no, depending on the films. There are films that really try to portray the situation of OFWs and their families in the Philippines – one memorable film that I have watched regarding this is the movie “Caregiver.” Fortunately, I haven’t encountered one yet that mocks the OFWs situation, but unluckily, this is a topic that’s really not given much attention on by filmmakers. Yes, I think films can reflect the thoughts of people regarding OFWs, and films should do this in order to widen the understanding of Filipinos regarding the matter.

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Respondent #5

1. What do you consider as political films?

I think a film can be considered political if, first and foremost, it displays various notions of politics and government - from its culture, dynamics, political parties, officials, etc. It may have various purposes ranging from promoting one's propaganda, to encouraging distrust (or trust) to certain individuals and groups, showcasing the actual events that may have happened, or even introducing conspiracy theories about certain events.

a. Are there any political films that you can name?

Well, based on my definition, then I think I can include Dekada ’70, Heneral Luna, El Presidente (Emilio Aguinaldo), Honor: The Legacy of Jose Abad Santos and Goyo as some of the political films I can name.

2. What do you think of these political films? a. Are they important to our society? b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society?

Although these films were a combination of actual facts and some fictional aspect (bc of the various interpretation of some events, etc), these films are extremely relevant especially since patuloy ‘yung technological advancements na nararanasan ng tao. Dahil sa pag-advance ng technology, marami sa’tin ang nakakalimutan na ‘yung history ng bansa. Pero with these films, aside sa nabibigyan niyang bagong interpretation ‘yung mga events and history natin, napapakita niya rin ‘yung mga pwedeng nangyari noon – ‘yung mga truths na ngayon lang nalalaman ng mga tao at pati na rin ‘yung ibang situations na pilit binabaon or tinatago ng iba.

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Do they reflect our current state? Not necessarily siguro. Depende sa film. Pero kung kunwari, sa movies like Goyo and Hen Luna, reflection ng current state ‘yung fictional character na si Joven? As part of the youth na nakikialam, nakikipaglaban and curious sa mga nangyayari sa bansa niya. Ngayon very prevalent na ‘yung mga youth na nakikibaka and sumasama sa laban ng masa.

3. What is your view on Filipino migration? a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention? 4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)? 5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs? 6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money?

(answer to questions 3-6, sorry nasagot ko na pala succeeding questions mo nu’ng sinagot ko ‘yung number 3 HAHA)

Well, it has always been a thing here in the Philippines na nagsimula nu’ng administrasyon ni Marcos, I guess? In some way, mahirap siyang piligan and alisin given the circumstances dito sa Pilipinas – unfair wage (hindi lahat ng job na-mmeet ‘yung minimum wage na dapat nabibigay sa mga workers), lack of job opportunities, bureaucratic process sa pag-apply ng jobs tsaka sa mga SSS, etc. I personally have a number of relatives who are working abroad and all of them have the same reason, “mas malaki pera du’n.” Pero aside sa economic aspect niya, Malaki rin ‘yung impact ng pag-alis ng mga Filipino sa bansa para magtrabaho abroad – one is ‘yung psychological effect sa OFW tsaka sa anak? Na hindi nila makakasama ang makikilala ang isa’t isa. Another is ‘yung very dependent na ng mga naiwan dito sa Pilipinas du’n sa mga OFW, na hindi na sila mag-sstrive harder for their own kasi nga “malaki naman pera du’n.” Sa side naman ng OFW, I think mas lalo silang nahihirapan lalo na kung ‘yung mga boss nila hindi maayos? Like may abusive tendencies ganu’n or kaya hindi naman talaga malaki kita nila so they tend to have more than 1 job? Para lang makabigay sa mga kapuso and kapamilya nila. Ta’s I believe may cases pa na mas pinipili ng OFW na hindi na lang sabihin sa mga kamag-anak nila na nasa ‘Pinas ‘yung actual hardships na nararanasan nila.

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So, ayun, while some people chose to work abroad (be it kasi dream nila or kasi nandu’n ‘yung ibang family members nila), merong ibang pinipili maging OFW dahil sa kahirapan ng buhay dito sa bansa.

7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not?

I guess so? Pero I’m not really sure, walang factual basis HAHA I’m basing my answer sa fact na hypocrite and judgmental mga Pilipino in general.

8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs?

Depende siguro? Like if they actually took the time to consult or at least interview actual OFWs para mapakita and mainterpret ‘yung na-eexperience nila. Some films kasi purely fictional lang din or kaya hindi naman based sa stories ng OFW ‘yung napapakita talaga. Na baka overseas workers ng ibang states ganu’n ‘yung napapakita nila. So ayun depende.

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Respondent #6

1. What do you consider as political films? Movies that portrays a political context or a political history that aims to present a political stand or message to the audience. a. Are there any political films that you can name? I can only think about Liway as of the moment. I am not sure if it is a political film but, I think it is. 2. What do you think of these political films? a. Are they important to our society? It is. However, it is useless if they are not promoted properly. What is the use of a political film if there is no audience to watch it. b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society? I think this depends on the setting of the movie. Although, nowadays few directors and writers are inspired to make films that will have the power to make a message. For example, I find Liway timely since it focused on the reality of Martial Law and since Mindanao remains to be under military power, I think it is indeed timely. 3. What is your view on Filipino migration? a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention? Of course. I have been aware about this issue ever since elementary because brain drain was one of the things that we focused on in Civics and Culture. Studying in UP made me realize that it’s a much bigger issue compared to how it was presented to us in elementary. Migration do not only affect the individual’s family but, the entire country as well. so, yes it catches my attention. 4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)? Poverty. If there were enough jobs here in the Philippines

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then no Filipino has to ever leave their family and their country just to be able to eat something in the table. 5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs? Better opportunities, better jobs, bigger income. 6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members? I cant generalize as some classmates of mine have parents who are OFW and they remain to be close with them but, some are obviously the opposite case. So I think it really boils down on how both sides reach out to each other despite of the distance. a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money? Definitely. Some are abusive that they think their relative earns gold so they ask money so much. But, I also want to understand that their mindset is set to ask for money since the relative migrated to earn money. 7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not? Prejudice against blue-collar workers is present no matter where they work, may it be as an OFW or a worker here in the Philippines. I think this is because most blue-collar workers were not able to achieve a college degree. And unfortunately, here in our country, a degree seems to put you in the pedestal where you are supposed to be “better” than people with no degree. So, I guess Filipino culture also enters the picture. 8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of people regarding OFWs? If the movie is written around Filipino migration and if it is produced properly; and if it serves its purpose to give a message, then maybe it will.

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Respondent #7

1. What do you consider as political films?

Films which tackle the state of society and even politics. Those which present the concerning issues in a dramatic or romanticized way.

a. Are there any political films that you can name?

Dekada ‘70

2. What do you think of these political films?

I see these kinds of films as something which mirrors the present and even the past issues and concerns of the society.

a. Are they important to our society?

Yes, they can help spread awareness and open the eyes of those who do not come across such societal issues first-hand.

b. Do they think they reflect the current state of our society?

Yes. What other source and/ or inspiration would they have except for the society they are in or other societies?

3. What is your view on Filipino migration?

When we talk about migration, especially for the sake of work, I see it as a very strong option for Filipinos who wants to earn. Regardless if it is to earn alone or for the larger income which they may receive, Filipinos have the mentality that once you go abroad, their lives will get better. Some Filipinos have migration as a first option in finding work while some have it as their

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a. Is it a current issue that catches your attention?

For me, not that much. The current issues we have on our own land seem to be a bigger problem lately (ex. Upcoming Elections). However, it would be wrong to disregard the issue of migration. We should be weary of problems such as “brain-drain” if we continue to send our people abroad to work. Additionally, we can look at the issue of migration as a problem of the country in not being able to provide sufficient jobs for its people.

4. What do you think is the root cause for labor migration and the phenomenon of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)?

Lack of domestic work. Lack of good paying jobs. Inability to be employed in one’s own country.

5. Why do you think people choose to become OFWs?

To be able to have better opportunities in earning compared to working in the country itself.

6. What do you think is the general relationship of OFWs with their kids and their extended family members?

Some of them, if left at a mature age, may be able to understand the situation. However if they were left at a young age, they may feel detached from the family member that went abroad. For extended family members, I think they are at times even proud of it due to the fact that the person was able to go and stay abroad which not a lot of people are capable of.

a. Do these people see OFWs as people to approach if they need to borrow money?

Some of them may see them as money lenders or even providers since they are able to earn “larger” amounts.

7. Do you think there is a prejudice against OFWs who are blue-collar workers (domestic helpers, construction workers)? Why or why not?

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Yes, there exists cases. Some may see such works as “nakakahiya”, regardless if done inside or outside the country.

8. Do you think political films can reflect the thoughts of a people regarding OFWs?

Yes. It is capable of giving us a glimpse of what the specific population which works abroad are feeling.

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