Darryl Yap on Sakristan series: ‘I’m ready for backlash’

An affair between the same sex is not really a big deal to many. However, if the affair happens inside the church, that is undoubtedly considered sacrilegious. Yet, that was still the plot that young director Darryl Yap opted to explore in his new, eight-part series, Sakristan.

“I did not hesitate to do Sakristan,” Darryl pointed out. “The story showed no discrimination in the LGBT community. This is (my) freedom of expression.”

This is not the first time that Darryl faced controversies when it comes to his work. Last year, he debuted on mainstream filmmaking with Jowable, starring Kim Molina. At that time, Darryl had to answer to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) because of an altar scene that showed Kim holding a bottle of beer.

Clifford Pusing (front) as Zachary Vigo and John Henry Villanueva as Christian Cordero in the BL series.

Sakristan, expectedly, is again laden with controversies even before the series debuted online last May 31. There has been a strong smear campaign against Darryl, who was tagged as “pedophile” by bashers on social media.

There was even a petition filed by certain religious groups branding Sakristan as a serious offense to the teachings of the CBCP and a film that promotes “homosexuality.” In all these, Darryl refuses to be thwarted by all the negative and malicious allegations.

“I’m ready for the backlash,” Darryl said. “It’s just a matter of standing firm on your ground. If I don’t value the opinion of the ones who have been saying nasty things about my work, that means those people are not important to me. I’m not affected anymore. Those who get mad only bring negative attention to what you created.”

Sakristan was inspired by Thailand’s popular Boys’ Love (BL) stories, a genre in fictional media that tackles the romantic relationship between two male characters. The trend started in Japan, where it was dubbed as “Yaoi” or “Boys’ Love.” Today, BL is also popular in China, South Korea and Taiwan.

“The conflict in this BL series is that the church does not approve of the relationship between two male individuals,” Darryl explained. “The script can talk about society accepting gays and falling in love with fellow gays. The church will definitely not accept it, that there are gays who want to be good persons, despite the temptations.”

Sakristan is Darryl’s audacious attempt to break the conservative norms of Philippine social media. “This is not heavy drama,” Darryl said. “A Catholic may be in love with an Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC). Or one male is secretly in love with another male. Everybody deserves to love and be loved. Believe me, even girls can appreciate the story.”

Shot in Olongapo, Darryl’s actual hometown, Sakristan finished its first two episodes while the city was in the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) phase. The lead actors, Clifford Pusing and John Henry Villanueva, are both residents of Olongapo. The supporting cast all hailed from the city, too.

Darryl insisted his staff and the small production crew of less than 10 people strictly followed the norms in the quarantine period. They observed all the protocols while shooting.

The Catholic Church does not need to worry, too, for any lewd or steamy scenes in the series. That was consciously observed not to happen throughout the shooting. “I’m known for being irreverent and edgy,” offered Darryl. “In the first three minutes of the series, you will instantly feel the theme that’s going to be tackled.”

Meanwhile, John Henry is not a first-time actor who worked with Darryl. The former previously appeared in Perstaym Taympers and Cheating, both directed by Darryl. John Henry also played the lead in Meteor Garden Reimagined and Super Gapo, as well as a bit part in Darryl’s upcoming film, Tililing.

John Henry is a theater actor from Olongapo’s independent theater company, Sawakas (Sa Aming Wagi ang Kultura at Sining) and a product of a Catholic school. His passion for his craft led the director to entrust him with the lead role in Sakristan.

Clifford got the role of Zach because he is a tri-athlete in real life, just like his character in the series. He recently won three gold medals for the athletic events in the Prisaa Regional Meet 2020. His other achievements include Iron Kids champion in Davao City and 2018 medalist in Subic International Triathlon, medalist in 2018 National Age Group.

A Darryl Yap original series released by Viva Films, Sakristan is presently being streamed on the VinCentiments YouTube Channel. Marion Aunor’s Delikado is the official soundtrack of the series.