Manay Ichu leads another industry battle

The local film industry has already faced battles probably a lot fiercer than those fought by Napoleon Bonaparte.

And most of the industry’s fights were actually led - ala Gabriela Silang - by Vera-Perez scion, Marichu Maceda, whose love and concern for local cinema is far boundless than the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

In 1983, foreign film distributors tried to wrest away from local movie producers the Dec. 25 slot (the most profitable playdate of the year) traditionally reserved for the annual Metro Manila Film Festival. But Marichu Maceda was among the industry leaders who fought tooth and nail to drive away those foreign invaders. Today, local films continue to enjoy the December playdate with the yearly staging of the Metro Filmfest - thanks in great part to Marichu Maceda.

And then, of course, there were the countless battles against censorship (with Armida Siguion Reyna among those leading the pack). Mrs. Maceda may not have always been at the frontlines of these rallies vs. censorship, but expect her to be lurking somewhere in the battlefields - mapping out plans in defense of the local film industry.

There are very few people like Marichu Maceda in this dog-eat-dog industry - or perhaps even anywhere else in this world. She is selfless and has devoted practically half her life to the development of the Philippine movie industry.

Actually, I’m very proud to say that I’m very close to her and that she’s very dear to my heart.

I was practically just fresh out of school when I was first introduced to Marichu Maceda. Looking back, I’d like to think that she immediately liked me. In fact, it didn’t take very long before we formed this mother-son bond between us. (I’m almost the same age as her eldest son, Emmanuel or Snooky, who is now a very accomplished professional in the United States.)

Oh, I remember those nights we’d spend together eating out (always her treat) - at Esperanza’s (before it became Annabel’s), Café Ysabel and at her office at the Sampaguita Compound. Sometimes, she’d have me fetched from my house and we’d sample some of the best Chinese cuisines in Makati.

For a while, she went on a self-imposed exile in the United States where she first tasted the joys of being a lola to her grandchildren. When she returned to the country in the early ’90s, we immediately sought each other out and set a date for dinner - at the Bangus restaurant in Greenhills. By then, I was already doing television work and was earning relatively good pay. I thought it was my turn to treat her out to a good meal. To this day, I still can’t forget the pride in my heart when I picked up the check for our bangus dinner (it wasn’t really much). I felt like I was handing my first paycheck to my parents as a form of gratitude for all those years they slaved out to send me to school.

A few weeks ago, we again went out to dinner - this time with Jo-Ann Banaga, executive producer of Pira-Pirasong Pangarap, the award-winning drama series the Vera-Perez sisters produce for GMA-7. Since I fell short on cash, she was back to paying for our meals.

When the Urian Anthology was launched early this month, Marichu Maceda was invited as one of the guest speakers. In her speech, she lamented the fact that it had to take a member of the TV industry (Tony Tuviera, producer of Eat Bulaga) to publish a book on local cinema. What a shame, she pointed out.

Mrs. Maceda left ahead of most other guests that night. (These days, she’s all zonked out by 10 or 11 p.m.) A week after the book launching, however, I got a letter from her - and I hope she doesn’t kill me for sharing it with you. Her letter reads:

My dear Butch,

Until that book launching last week, I never fully realized nor appreciated the role that the Manunuri has played in the Philippine motion picture industry.

Reading the book that same night simply overwhelmed me. I marvel at your perseverance and patience for an otherwise unappreciative and, at times, resentful movie industry. Really, I was so touched.

Now, you again ignite a bright light in our dark surroundings. Thank you so much -

Much love,

Manay

P.S. I would like to invite the Manunuri members to lunch within this week or next. Just want to serve good food in appreciation for everything.

Since it’s quite impossible to gather the Manunuri for lunch, Marichu served the Manunuri dinner instead last Saturday, Aug. 25 - at her townhouse in Valencia (right beside the Vera-Perez Gardens).

Days before the dinner at her house, she was already listing down the ingredients she needed for the dishes she was serving to the Manunuri members. (She’s really like that - she’ll never be caught unprepared.) The night before, she had her hands full putting to a boil the ham bone for her cocido. And what delicious cocido it turned out. The best I’ve tasted in my whole life. It even came with two dipping sauces: a tomato sauce and one made of mashed eggplant and squash.

More delicious was the conversation - mostly about the industry and its problems. Mrs. Maceda also shared stories about the Sampaguita Pictures days - its stars and the people who ran the studio. Although I’ve heard some of Mrs. Maceda’s stories many times over before, I still relished the retelling of each and every anecdote - especially the one on how her late father, the great star-builder Dr. Jose Perez, trained the Sampaguita stars on proper decorum.

We could have gone on and on talking about the local movies, except that everyone had to call it a night and hit the sack. Ordinarily, I would have bargained with Mrs. Maceda for an extra hour of chitchat. However, I knew she had to rest and regain her strength for the new battle the local film industry is facing. I‘m referring to the 20 percent withholding tax being imposed by the government on people in the entertainment profession. (I’ve already discussed this in my column last Tuesday.)

Although Marichu Maceda is not affected by this new problem, she’s still taking the cudgels for the industry members - as always. So expect her to be in full battle gear in the coming days. She’ll again be fighting tooth and nail for her beloved film industry.