Nagpadala ng sulat kay MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando si Malou Santos, ang Managing Director ng ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. (Star Cinema).
Ang ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. ang producer ng Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, ang pelikula na itinanghal na 2nd best picture sa Gabi ng Parangal ng 32nd Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) noong December 29 sa Aliw Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex.
Naniniwala si Malou at ang mga bumubuo ng ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. (Star Cinema) na ang kanilang pelikula at hindi ang Enteng Kabisote 3 ng OctoArts Films at M-Zet TV Productions ang karapat-dapat na nanalo ng best-picture trophy.
Pagkatapos nga ng awards night ay nagpahayag si Malou na nagkamali siya ng desisyon na muling sumali sa MMFF pagkatapos ng apat na taon.
Umabot sa tatlong pahina ang sulat ni Malou para kay MMFF Chairman Fernando. Nakatanggap din ng kopya sina Atty. Expiridion Laxa (Chairman ng Film Academy of the Philippines), Manny Nuqui (PMPPA President), Wilson Tieng (MPDAP President), Ric Camaligan (SM Leisure Group First Vice President), Dominic Du (GMTA Vice-President), Rolando Josef (MMFF Secretariat Head), at ang mga film producers na sumali sa MMFF.
Ito ang kabuuan ng letter of appeal ni Malou sa executive committee ng MMFF:
To millions of our fellow Filipinos of modest means who work hard and sacrifice most forms of leisure all year, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) holds a special position of trust.
Filipino moviegoers part with their hard-earned money every Christmas, trusting that the entertainment we present them, and the manner in which our peers judge these works of entertainment, are conducted with transparency, honor and a commitment to the truth.
Filipinos trust that we, producers, love our movies as much as they do, and that we respect, cherish and honor the moviegoing experience as much as they do.
Their trust humbles us. It is an important responsibility that impacts not only on the livelihood of producers and artists, but also on the image of local film festivals, the future of all aspiring filmmakers, and consequently, the public's perception of the integrity of the officials who head these affairs.
It pains us that this trust is betrayed.
For several years, we have refrained from joining the Metro Manila Film Festival. This season, out of sheer love for the industry, we decided to be a part of the festival again with the hope that it would be a celebration of the film community, and a Christmas gift of values and qualities that Filipinos admire.
The recent MMFF awards once again compel us to critical self-examination.
After the festival, we still ask ourselves—were we able to give the public the film festival that they deserve?
We leave our film festival experience with painful questions:
1. According to the MMFF Executive Committee, they implemented 3-pronged criteria for judgment: commercial viability (as translated into film gross) 40%, creative and technical excellence 40%, and cultural values 20%.
How can film gross comprise 40% of the awards criteria when the awards were given only on the fourth day of film showing, with at least 10 more days of screenings to go? Isn't this criterion unfair to the producer and deceptive on the public?
In the case of Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, if it overtakes Enteng Kabisote 3 in gross receipts, will the awards then be remanded and handed to Kasal? We doubt that, as much as we doubt the integrity of this criterion.
2. Assuming that the 4-day gross was enough valid basis, Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo did gross second highest in those 4 days (therefore high on commercial viability, 40 %), garnered 8 awards (creative and technical excellence, 40% ), and went to win the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award (cultural value, 20%). That should have summed up as an indisputably high score in the Best Picture category.
In contrast, Enteng Kabisote won zero awards.
How could Enteng Kabisote have scored on commercial viability high enough to surmount the other criteria, when commercial viability was pegged maximum of 40 percent? Simple arithmetic and logic leads us to question the decision.
How much longer can we compromise the public's already deteriorated trust? How long can the moviegoers be patient with our self-interest and one-upmanship?
Our beleaguered film industry already in the brink of breakdown from the many challenges that beset it, can only survive if we ourselves rise above our profit agenda, and set the example of honest and fair practice.
We hope the last MMFF recovers lost moral ground before Filipinos completely lose respect for our industry as a whole.
Before any intitution collapses, the decay always begins from within.We do not want to be party to the ruin of the Metro Manila Film Festival.
Let us treat the film festival for what it should be: a competition, yes, but also service to the masses and a covenant of kindred artists, well-meaning and supportive of each other.
We owe the truth to the industry that gave fulfillment and livelihood to our people.
We owe the truth to our children, the future generations of filmmakers, who will ask us if we are making a mockery of the very art that nurtured us.
We appeal to the MMFF Executive Committee to make a clean breast of the entire process: explain the deliberation and decision-making that went into this years's awards, rectify whatever dubious decision that might have occurred, and institute reforms that prevent any future anomaly. We owe the truth to every Filipino.