MANILA, Philippines — The producers behind the indie film and Cinemalaya 2024 Special Jury winner "Alipato at Muog" appealed to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to reconsider the "X" rating it gave to the movie that tackles the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos in a mall in 2007.
Film director JL Burgos, the brother of Jonas, wrote a letter of appeal posted on the Facebook page of "Alipato at Muog".
The director said that they were receiving good feedback from the moviegoing public where cinemas in malls were "jampacked."
Their high morale was "quickly dampened" when they heard the news that "Alipato at Muog" was given an X rating classification, which would render their docu-film not suitable for public viewing.
Burgos said they had applied a permit for the movie to be classified fit for public viewing but they did not get the rating they were hoping for.
"On August 22, 2024, the 1st reviewers - which is composed of three (3) members of the board - disapproved our film from public exhibition. According to the reviewers, the reason for such classification is because 'the film tends to undermine the faith and confidence of the people in their government and/or duly-constituted authorities,'" Burgos wrote on Facebook.
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The Facebook post was accompanied by the screenshot of a document that cited the reason for his movie's X rating by the review board.
Burgos said they are working on having "Alipato at Muog" to be reviewed for the second time even though they have to "shell out" money for it. He noted that their film was independently produced with grants from the Cinemalaya Foundation and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.
"We will abide by the processes of such undertakings as we have done from the very first day of the search of my brother. We will also submit the documents of the Jonas Burgos case that they are asking from us," he said.
Burgos added," Kaya kami ay nakikiusap, please open your hearts and be the voice of the voiceless. Please stand for what is right and what is just. Because when that happens we can truly say we live in a democratic country where there is no censorship and there is freedom to express one's thought without fear or favor."
"Alipato at Muog" is among the winners of the Special Jury prize at this year's Cinemalaya Film Festival. It was cited for “its effective use of the resources of documentary cinema to shed light on an actual case of enforced disappearance and reveal dark truths about human rights in the Philippines."
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