Lessons in mercy, compassion & forgiveness

Our house while I was growing up had a busy kitchen. This was particularly true after the Old Congress and Senate were shut down by martial law. My mother, a lawyer whose job it was to determine whether the laws being passed by legislators were constitutional or not (apparently, even in those days, some lawmakers weren’t sure of what they were doing), suddenly found herself with a lot of time in her hands.

An excellent baker, she made pastries and even accepted orders for wedding cakes. But even if the whirring of her heavy-duty mixer reverberated all throughout the house even late into the night, that didn’t necessarily mean we always ate cake. Most of the pastries were given away as gifts to relatives and friends and a few were sold if there were orders.

For merienda, we had snacks that didn’t always hurt the household budget. Kamoteng kahoy was cheap and readily available in the public market. We often had caramelized kamoteng kahoy, which was easy to do. More laborious was cassava cake, which I loved so much I didn’t mind volunteering to help grate the kamoteng kahoy for as long as I had a bigger share than the rest. Even as an adult I would always be on the lookout for good cassava cakes sold in various outlets and the best for me is that one sold in a store off the highway in Sariaya, Quezon. For decades, cassava cake had always been a favorite snack for me.

It was therefore with shock that I read the headlines just a couple of years ago about how scores of schoolchildren died after eating kamoteng kahoy in a town in Bohol. This tragedy was in the news for weeks and for a while a kamoteng kahoy scare enveloped the country.    

This incident, still fresh in the minds of the public, had been made into a movie under the Sine Direk series of Tony Tuviera’s APT Films and is currently showing in selected theaters.

Directed by Maryo J. de los Reyes from a script written by Ricardo Lee, the film (graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Board) features various characters whose lives change after the tragedy. We first meet Nash Aguas whose parents, Gerald Madrid and Anna Capri, are separated and is considering living with his father’s new family.

Then there’s the husband and wife tandem of Anton Bernardo and Marissa Sanchez whose daughter (Sharlene San Pedro) has a talent for music and is to showbiz inclined.

Pitiable is the character of Robert “Buboy” Villar, an orphan under the care of an aunt, Irma Adlawan, who maltreats him and wishes him dead. In school, the other kids ostracize him because he has scabies and fresh wounds all the time all over his body. His situation at home is no different and it is revealed later in the story the source of the wounds.

The place inhabited by these characters is basically quiet — until tragedy strikes. Simultaneously, the school children fall ill and die after eating a snack sold by an old vendor, played by Gloria Romero. A pious woman with a soft spot in her heart for children, she, too, has her own issues at home: Her son, Yul Servo, is planning to leave for abroad just like his siblings and she is against the idea. Little does she realize that a bigger problem is in store for her when she is accused of killing the children with her contaminated kamoteng kahoy.

The story of Kamoteng Kahoy covers only a short period of time — before and after the poisoning — and this allows Ricardo Lee to have a tighter grip on his script and characters. His material therefore always keeps the viewers interested on the next twist and are forever glued for further character developments.

Some parts of the film are quite complicated to stage — the actual Mass poisoning in the schoolyard and the hysteria that follows in particular — but trust Maryo J. de los Reyes to efficiently put these together. The film also has a lot of dramatic moments that would move movie audiences to tears, but without necessarily manipulating their emotions. In some instances, lachrymal glands work overtime, especially after recovering from the shock of the whole incident and we realize the pain and hurt that hound the hearts of parents who lost their children to this tragedy. 

But while our heart goes out to those who died and the loved ones they left behind, we also worry about the old woman who faces condemnation for accidentally poisoning the children (even she couldn’t figure out how and why it happened).

The whole scenario becomes even more heart-wrenching with Ms. Romero cast in the role and playing the part so convincingly. She is most effective in the entire sequence where she shows disappointment over Yul’s decision to seek greener pastures in another country, but is simply magnificent in all those scenes she is being tormented by the townsfolk crying out for blood. After Fuchsia (also produced by APT Films) where she recently won Best Actress in a comedy role (in the Golden Screen Awards), she gives another sterling performance here in Kamoteng Kahoy. Yul, to his credit, also delivers another fine acting job and he is impressive in his scenes with Ms. Romero.

Also remarkable is the performance of Marissa. I’ve known Marissa to be a brilliant comic on TV, in the movies and on stage where she sings and does comedy routines. It turns out she is just as gifted in the drama department and she shines in the scenes where she grieves over the daughter she loses to food poisoning.

Two young performers, however, steal the film from the adult characters: Nash and Buboy, who — undeniably — are the two best child actors of this generation. I noticed Nash first when he appeared with Iza Calzado in the Yaya episode of Shake, Rattle & Roll 8 some years back. I got impressed with the kid from then on. Buboy, who first gained prominence as Marian Rivera’s sidekick on Dyesebel, seems to have been born to face the camera. Although he is not likely destined to grow up into a matinee idol, he surely will deliver significant contributions to the entertainment profession through sheer talent. These two boys who become fast friends after the tragedy have such amazing chemistry. They should be cast together more often in future projects.

Kamoteng Kahoy also features other stars in cameo roles: Luz Valdez as the superintendent, Meryl Soriano as another grieving mother, Julio Diaz and Neal Ryan Sese as priests, Say Alonzo as Gerald’s second wife and other talents most moviegoers had seen in past Maryo J. de los Reyes films. All these personalities on screen show how lives are altered and how strength of character is tested in the face of tragedy.

Kamoteng Kahoy may not be an extravaganza. It is a simple film set in a small town. But it is one gem of a movie that teaches mercy, compassion and, more importantly, forgiveness. And all that was triggered by this lowly and humble root crop called kamoteng kahoy.