In praise of direk Marilou

Today’s column is dedicated to director-producer Marilou Diaz-Abaya, courtesy of Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre who is an avid fan.

Recalled Edmund, “I was a student intern at IBC 13 News & Public Affairs in the late ’80s and I often saw Marilou at IBC 13, seriously editing Sic O’Clock News. I couldn’t take my eyes off her but when she looked at me or when we met at the corridor, I would avoid eye contact with her. I couldn’t look at her straight in the eye dahil sa taas ng paghanga ko sa kanya. Para din kasing mataray siya kaya hindi na ako nag-attempt i-approach. I still love her dearly. I even have a DVD copy of Jose Rizal na pina-autograph ko pa kay Cesar Montano when I met him here in NYC.”

Edmund is saddened by the fact that Marilou is battling the Big C.

“I’m praying that Marilou win the battle,” added Edmund. “Sana humaba pa ang buhay niya. She can do a lot more not only for the industry but for the country.”

Here’s Edmund’s tribute to his idol:

Marilou Diaz-Abaya will forever live with her magnum opuses like Brutal, Moral, Karnal, Muro Ami, Baby Tsina, Sa Pusod ng Dagat, Bagong Buwan and the multi-awarded period masterpiece Jose Rizal released in the ’90s and still gets screened to this day in schools and historical festivals even abroad. 

Left: Marilou Diaz-Abaya today. Above: With her Ikaw Ang Pag-ibig stars (from left) Marvin Agustin and Eddie Garcia.

The demi-goddess director, however, has another excellent achievement in a different medium that the new crop of filmmakers can learn from — the bold and brave TV satire Sic O’Clock News.

Aired in the ’80s following the EDSA People Power Revolution, Sic O’Clock was one of the best things that ever happened to Philippine television that it rightly deserves a good spot in the long list of legacies Marilou will leave behind. As everyone knows, the versatile and youthful director is courageously confronting Stage 4 breast cancer and has been confiding in interviews how she’s preparing to exit.

Described as the first of its kind when it first aired on IBC Channel 13, a major network sequestered by the post-Marcos government, Sic O’Clock redefined comedy in the Philippines as it pushed the envelope and reasserted the newly-regained democratic freedom of Filipinos.

Most likely inspired by America’s long-running weekly comedy sketch Saturday Night Live (SNL), which up to now enjoys a huge following on NBC network, Sic O’Clock spoofed each week’s hottest news and figures in politics, showbiz and every field under the sun.

While it kept viewers entertained, it also updated them on current events, and helped them understand intelligently how the news affected their daily lives and even their future. The show made people pause and think while laughing at themselves or their situation.

It’s a shame that no show as daring and fearless as Sic O’Clock is around to magnify in lighter perspective the hottest news in the country such as the Corona impeachment trial, the dispute on West Philippine Sea, the Iggy Arroyo controversy, the P-Noy-Grace Lee love affair, the oil price hike, contraceptives and population control, and even Charice’s controversial fashion sense. 

At present, there are at least four gag shows that bring laughter to millions of Pinoy households — GMA 7’s top-rating Bubble Gang, ABS-CBN’s Banana Split, TV 5’s Lokomoko and the ABS-CBN kiddie show Goin’ Bulilit. Once in a while, they dare to lampoon issues and figures hogging the headlines, but they always revert to the shallow.

The Sic O'Clock News production staff and cast

None could match Sic O’Clock’s consistency and social relevance, as well as the theatrics and discipline of its talents, many of whom were plucked from the academe and stage by Marilou herself, and Sic O’Clock writers Amado Lacuesta and Jobart Bartolome, and other notable figures in the industry. 

The weekly news satire was magnificently anchored by the tandem of Jimmy Fabregas and Ces Quesada who both became big names on TV and remain  active to this day.

Sic O’Clock was often focused on hardcore political and social subjects — ranging from corruptions under the Marcos and Aquino administrations, to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the rejection of the RP-US Military Bases Treaty — and never failed to provide something to talk about around the water cooler. 

What made the show laughable and lovable was that every scene was well-thought-out and never reckless. Despite cheap production design — actors are often superimposed on stills or film clips that served as backdrops — the message in every scene was clearly delivered.

Sadly, its counterparts today are fixated on the trivial and hardly challenge the maturity or contribute to the social awareness of the viewers. True, Boy Pick-Up and Cheche Bureche bring so much fun to millions — even Miriam Santiago has joined the pick-up line craze — but we also want to see the joke on the senator-judges or the prosecution panel in the Corona trial. Even the Annabelle Rama-Nadia Montenegro legal battle is a good parody.

Sic O’Clock also gave birth to many intriguing characters such as Marcurakos and Presidentita, referring to the late Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, and, likewise produced a number of superb comics like Joji Isla, Ching Arellano, Manny Castaneda, Jon Achaval, Wilson Go, Khryss Adalia, Errol Dionisio and Rene “Chitae” Requiestas.

Edmund will be happy to know that in a recent interview with GMA’s Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, Marilou revealed that she’s in that stage in life where she wants to transfer everything she knows to fledgling directors who are the future of Philippine cinema. This she’s trying to accomplish through the Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center, which she opened in 2007.

I agree with Edmund that although Marilou no longer has the vitality to resurrect Sic O’Clock News, she can always pass the torch and serve as guiding light for those who are willing to do it and learn from the master. Original cast members like Jaime and Ces can be asked to return on board and help groom a new breed of brilliant comedy performers, directors and writers.

  Incidentally, I’m sure Edmund will shed tears when he sees Ikaw Ang Pag-ibig, Marilou’s latest work about a troubled family healed (in more ways than one) by Our Lady of Peñafrancia. It was Marilou who also produced the movie topbilled by Marvin Agustin, Eddie Garcia and Ina Feleo.

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