Spoof on indie filmmakers wins at 1st Sineng Pambansa

The Grand Jury prize win of the film, Ang Mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro, capped the awards night of the first Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival in Davao last July 1 at the Abreeza Mall in Davao City.

In photo (from left), Jose Ramon del Prado (Best Animated Short Film for Si Pagong at si Matsing), Raul Morit (Best Actor Ensemble for Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro), Nonie Buencamino(Best Actor Ensemble for Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro), Dwight Gaston(Best Actor Ensemble for Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro), Sigfried Barros Sanchez (Best Director for Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro), Ronnie Lazaro (Best Actor Ensemble for Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro), Epy Quizon (Best Actor Ensemble for Ang mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro), Ed Lejano (Director for Qwerty, Grand Jury Prize). Seated from left, Mai Saporsantos (Best Animated Short Film for Si Pagong at si Matsing), Sue Prado (Best Actress for In Bangka Ha Ut Sin Duwa Sapah), Mc Robert Nacario (Best Artistic Contribution for Qiyamah), Cierlito Espejo Tabay (Best Documentary for Walay Tumo’y ng Punterya).

Ang Mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro is a film about a ragtag of frustrated indie filmmakers that resorted to and orchestrated the kidnapping of “the most famous Filipino indie film actor” –Ronnie Lazaro. The ensemble, composed of Ronnie Lazaro, Nonnie Buencamino, Epy Quizon, Dwight Gaston, Soliman Cruz, Hector Macaso, Raul Morit and Mon Lee, garnered the Best Actor award. The film script was penned and directed by Sigfried Barros Sanchez.

Sanchez is an Urian nominated independent filmmaker, screenwriter, TV and advertising director, actor, and an awarded music video director. He took up a bachelor’s course in Political Science student at the University of the East in Recto but eventually dropped out of school to pursue his passion in filmmaking. To work on his craft, he joined the 11th Ricky Lee Scriptwriting Workshop, the 10th Cinema-As-Art Filmmaking Workshop at the UP Film Institute, the Marilou Diaz Abaya Filipino Feature Filmmaking Workshop in Ateneo, and the Negros Summer Workshop with Peque Gallaga at the De La Salle-Bacolod.

As an independent filmmaker, he has directed three indie films such as “Lasponggols” for the 1st Cinemalaya Film Festival, “Ang Anak ni Brocka” for the first Cinema One Originals and “Tsardyer” for 2010’s Cinema One Originals. His last film has earned him six nominations from the 37th Gawad Urian namely for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, and Best Supporting Actor.

In 2007, the University of the East in Recto gave Sanchez a special award for his exceptional contribution to the performing and visual arts.

The quirky Sanchez, who dedicated his latest triumph to fellow Filipino indie film makers, was more euphoric over his film’s screening schedules: “Way before the awards night, we already felt like winners when it was relayed to us that the Spiderman movie got bumped off from two theaters at the Abreeza Mall venues just to accommodate the public clamor for our film. With that, we felt have triumphed over Hollywood at their game,” enthuses Sanchez. “We are now looking forward to have film shown in Metro Manila theaters, curious of the audience reception here.”

Direk Sigfried Barros Sanchez

Another feature film entry, In Banka Ha Ut Sin Duwa Sapah, was co-directed by Sanchez with Fyrsed Alsad Alfad III. Its lead actor, Sue Prado, won as Best Actress.

Rounding-off the roster of winners were: Ramon del Prado and Ayene Pineda, Best Animated Short for Si Pagong at si Matsing; Mc.Robert Nacario, Best Cinematography for Qiyamah; and Cierlito Tabay, Best Documentary for Wala’y Tumoy na Punterya. The Jury prize went to Eduardo Lejano Jr. for Qwerty and Guttierez Mangansakan II for Qiyamah.

The Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival is a joint undertaking of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and the city of government of Davao under Mayor Sara Duterte. Sineng Pambansa is the flagship program of the FDCP featuring full-length features, documentaries and animation shorts from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Seventeen film finalists were screened during the festival at the malls in Davao from June 29 to July.

Deserving film projects were given seed money and competed under the full-length feature, documentary, and animated short film categories. Through this film fest, FDCP aims to encourage creativity of filmmakers, showcase the country’s indigenous cultural heritage through film and expose the new generation of Filipino filmmakers to a wider audience. The festival entries are unique with use of the local languages in their dialogue or narration.
The jury was composed of international film authorities: Paolo Bertolin ofVenice Film Festival adviser; Kim Je Seok of the Busan International Film Festival; Dr. Rolando Tolentino, Dean of the UP College of Mass Communication; and Sabrina Baracetti of Udine Asian Film Festival. For the documentary section, the jury was composed of Christian Merer of the French Embassy in Manila and documentary filmmaker Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala.

The film festival’s Ikalawang Yugto (Second Chapter) will be held this November in Davao City. The Manila premiere of Ang Mga Kidnapper in Ronnie Lazaro is scheduled on July 26 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In Bangka Ha Ut Sin Diwa Supah and Ang Mga Kidnapper ni Ronnie Lazaro will be screened on August 4 at the UP Film Center in Diliman.

Johnlu Koa: Baking Bread to the Top

Twenty-three years ago, Johnlu Koa as a budding Filipino entrepreneur stepped on uncharted territory when he opened The French Baker, the first French bakery cafe in the country. Complementing the malls experience, The French Baker created its own niche category. Totally unheard then, Koa introduced live baking on each store with fully-equipped kitchens and ovens that caught the attention of customers that kept coming back to take advantage of real fresh-baked products, especially the French croissants and baguettes.

“You cannot find crusty buns and rolls in any other bakeries. We are so dedicated to making them. Our mission is to bake hard-to-bake breads,” shares Koa. And the difference with their baked products is in its taste, flavor and symphony of crackle that comes only from good bread.

Fast forward to present time, The French Baker remains on top of its category after opening 43 stores located mostly at the SM Supermalls. In 1994, The French Baker received the Agora Award for the Company of the Year by the Philippine Marketing Association. For 2003 to 2004, the bakery cafe was included in the Superbrands Philippines’ roster, then in 2010, the Hall of Fame Award by the Philippine Retailers Association.

Koa’s keen sense on market opportunities and formidable drive to product development helped The French Baker to remain relevant in the market to this day. “We would rather understand the market and pursue what we can potentially do for them that others could not,” reveals Koa. “Our success formula is to be focused on mall customers, on what they want that we can offer.”

To keep ahead, Koa observes international trends by having frequent trips abroad as well as taking suggestions from local chefs and foodies. From there, he then takes his cue and foresees the same trend two or three years happening locally. The French Baker achieved a breakthrough when it started carrying 100 percent whole grain, the purest whole wheat bread available in the market today. Lately, he introduced giant-sized “Parisian Macaron” cookies filled with French butter cream in pistachio, mocha, raspberry and chocolate that can be eaten as a snack or dessert. “I believe my macaron comes very close to the ones in Paris,” muses Koa. Every Christmas season, Koa bakes his “pure Danish butter cookies” and packs them in an attractive jar. “Customers look forward to it as I do it only once a year,” he adds.

Soon The French Baker will be coming out with gluten-free pizza, cupcakes, chocolates and birthday cakes even though the market is so small according to Koa. “There is no other baker who is willing to produce gluten-free baked products and we want to be the first. We do not mind having a longer payback period as long as customers’ interest and approval remain high.”

A stickler for quality that, ultimately, begets customer satisfaction, Koa adheres to the highest standards in every part of the baking process which he personally supervises. For example, French Bakers’ carrot cake is made from real carrots and juice just like the fruit cake having real bits of fruits, walnuts and almonds.

Koa’s passion and drive toward excellence has earned him many accolades. In 2006, he was hailed as an emerging entrepreneur by Ernst & Young. Ten years after he was recognized as one of The Outstanding Young Men for Entrepreneurship.

His presence in the market through the French Baker opened local taste buds to sophisticated flavors and pushed baking to the top rung of the culinary arts. “With French Baker, you know, we are a serious baker. Baking involves very punishing work– physically and mentally. To make a piece of bread, you’ll need a minimum of four to 15 hours. To bake a cake, it only takes 40 minutes. Baking bread is definitely ‘not a piece of cake’. A baker needs to know the art and science behind it, understand the process of fermentation and all the aspects of bakery production. Bread is now looked upon not just as another snack but an interesting product worth going back to,” said Koa.

Moving on to new challenges, Koa now repositions The French Baker as a worthy alternative to a popular chain of coffee shops by introducing his “La Brasserie” concept restaurants inside French Baker stores. “We have more food choices, drinks and offer free access to high-speed wi-fi Internet connection to our dining customers that encourages them to stay as long as they want. We provide universal outlets to allow easy recharging of their laptops. We brew Tchibo, Europe’s finest coffee. We are quite focused on their dining experience.”

Koa, a cum laude in Business Administration, is a former faculty member and Secretary of the College of Business Administration in the UP College of Business in Diliman. He taught while earning his Master’s degree. He won the TOYM for Entrepreneurship in 1996 and the “Ernst & Young Emerging Master Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2006. He currently writes a regular column for the monthly F&B World/ Baking Press Food Magazine. He also shares his experience and knowledge through his involvement in the GoNegosyo movement where he gives free public lectures on entrepreneurship and strategic marketing, and baking demonstrations all over the country.

For developmental change and progress of Leyte

In October 2010, Leyte was named as Most Business Friendly Province by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry during the 36th Philippine Business Conference and Expo. This is the second time the province received such recognition and it comes with no surprise. For the past three years, many businesses have located in Leyte showing a growing confidence in the province’s capabilities and viability to accommodate industry and investments.

Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho “Icot” Petilla said he was glad that the province’s efforts in promoting Leyte as a business destination has been recognized again.

To achieve this fete, Petilla and his team complimented the local government’s capability of providing the locators’ requirements such as electricity, telecommunications, and transportation, among others, by working closely with possible locators.

“Years back, we found out that investors were looking for location with mall. For some businesses, the presence of a mall is gauge or barometer of the economic maturity of a place and governance as well,” clarified Petilla.

Banking on more opportunities in the offing, Petilla formed a team to tap possible mall owners. Eventually, they chose Robinsons Land Corp. to put up the first mall in the island. “Because they are the most aggressive in this venture. They visited us 17 times,” Petilla added. “The moment Robinsons mall was built, APAC entered. APAC was the first call center to be located in a municipality.”

In 2009, APAC, a business process outsource company, located its operations in Palo with 950 employees.

Under his term, Governor Petilla was also able to locate three more coco oil mills, making a total of four coco oil mills operating in the province.

For tourism development, Petilla veered away from the traditional formula based on capacity building in terms of creating a tourism council, beautification projects and trainings.

“You can have the nicest place even more beautiful than Boracay but if you do not have a hotel, you cannot have tourism. My concept of tourism is a hotel destination, period. In fact, even if the place is not good, you can have a hotel and a golf course then it’s a destination. If you fast-track capability building, it will only go to waste,” explained Petilla. “What we are looking right now is for one hotel operator. If we do find one, our job is done.”

Unlike the typical politician who automatically think of infrastructure as part of their priority projects, Petilla believes it’s not bridges or roads that Leyteños want. First and foremost it is proper education and employment. “We try to make sure that the private sector increases and that our focus is on investments because that is what Leyteños need – jobs.” For Petilla, a growing private sector will be able to provide employment opportunities.

Now serving his third and last consecutive term, Petilla believes that “governance is about consulting the people and asking them rather than assuming what they want or need. By doing so, we focus on the social aspect of society.” And that focus comes with clear goals and practical solutions. To his credit, his programs, that are sometimes unorthodox and far from the norm, brought development and delivery of basic social services to the province.

EDUCATION
To equip Leyteños more competencies for employment, Petilla sought to make education matter. Inspired by community colleges in Vancouver, Canada he visited, Petilla developed certificate programs in the local high schools.

The ICOT-P program is in answer to the state of education in the province wherein 20 percent of high school graduates actually go to college according to a study conducted in 2005. “Now, it is 14 percent,” Petilla added.

In collaboration with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Petilla added an additional year in high school wherein courses on farming, electrical vocational course, small engine repair, hotel and restaurant management and carpentry are offered. Approved by Education Department, the program started in 2005 and ventured with community colleges located in 112 high schools.

As a former instructor in Ateneo de Manila University for five years, Petilla believes that “education should matter.” “Our mission is for a high school graduate to be more employable than a college graduate. We can do this. We created these courses because that is what the community needs but we will teach them in high school not in college.”

The program also ventured to teaching software development. Confident that students can very well adapt to the challenge, Petilla believed that “It only takes interest. What you need is a great appetite for learning. That is all what it takes.”

In 2005, the region registered 14,112 high school graduates with 7,988 were certified in information technology-related discipline. Some graduates were already employed and started earning P5,000 per month while some have started their own businesses. Others sought employment in Manila and are earning P33,000 per month in a prestigious BPO company.

Aside from these developments, Governor Petilla had also rehabilitated the rural hospitals in the province “without spending a single centavo.” Skeptics tried to discouraged him but he believed he is on the right track. With provincial hospitals taking up a third of the provincial budget, the provincial government made the hospitals earn their keep.

In the past five years, significant improvements were noted at the Leyte Provincial Hospital, Ormoc Disctrict Hospital, and the Western Leyte District Hospital in Baybay. Other district hospitals were also provided with facilities and building amenities to improve rural health care systems.

“We made an ordinance charging for each operation rather than closing the hospitals which was initially met by opposition. Through its earnings, the hospitals are surviving right now. Their budget allocation remained the same since 2004. Otherwise, we could have closed the hospitals,” reveals Petilla.

In November 2004, the first private room became available in the province at a price of P800 per day. “Since then, the room has never been vacant. Not many people realize that if you can provide good service, people will pay for it,” shares Petilla.

Now, there are seven private rooms with a rate of P1,000 per day. “In government hospitals, if you are an indigent, the services are free. If you have some money, you can go to the ward and pay a small fee. If you can pay, avail of the private rooms where it is cleaner, airconditioned and has a television.”

Petilla also revitalized operations at the San Benito Mental Hospital in Babatngon. “We took care of the poorest of the poor that are mentally ill. Afterwards, we try to locate their families and reunite them.”

For these efforts, Petilla and his office have been cited by the Philippine Hospital Association in the Hall of Fame Leadership Award last year.

GOVERNMENT SERVICE
On his initial term as governor, Petilla sought to increase productivity in the provincial offices. The provincial government remains the biggest employer in the province. “Productivity in government is at little more than 50 percent. Roughly around P500 million is paid for payroll in the province thus, we are losing P250 million. I had to make an institutional change. I am not looking for 100 percent increase in productivity. I am looking at 80 percent. That is the most of what we can do.”

To achieve this, Petilla got rid of bundy clocks and replaced them with biometrics time keeper. Closed circuit cameras where installed to monitor activities of government workers. The “no wrong door policy” was enforced to institutionalize assistance to people in need of service from government officers. He also devised a system wherein bonuses were awarded based on work merits. Remarkably, Petilla reported a 25 percent increase in the last four years.

Fully-motivated to fulfill his mandate, Petilla clearly has set his direction in governance. “This is how to define the government. Everytime you do something you have to define your goal first. When you ran a hospital, you have to define what kind of hospital you want to run. When you ran a bureaucracy in government, you have to define what kind of bureaucracy. And then if it’s defined and have a clear understanding about it and then it will work. You can maximize your efforts. I derived satisfaction from drawing something, implementing and acting on it. That is the best part of the job – the productive part and seeing the results,” concluded Petilla.

Womanly Touch to Success

Her demeanor exudes femininity. It may be man’s world out there but Annette Gozon-Abrogar, the President of GMA Films, Inc. and GMA Worldwide, Inc, proved that caring your femininity in the workplace can be an asset. Her womanhood transcends to the network’s TV programming and movie offerings and that is where her success lies.

Formally known as Atty. Anna Teresa M. Gozon-Abrogar, Annette has both degrees in law and management engineering from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University, respectively, both with honors as cum laude. She got her Masters degree in law from Harvard University. She became a junior partner in Belo Gozon Elma Parel Asuncion & Lucila and an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines, College of Law where she taught taxation. “I was a full-time lawyer before but with GMA, I became a part of the team that makes the final decision when it comes to content and program schedules. That is where I started,” Annette explains.

Currently, the GMA Kapuso Network enjoys top ratings on most of their shows during prime time and daytime viewing in Mega Manila and the rest of Luzon. Interestingly enough, a number of the network’s top rating shows headline women as protagonists. “Most of our viewers are women. They are our main target audience. Having a perspective of a woman provides a lot of benefit. We do not have to second-guess what our largest audience wants,” shares Abrogar. “For GMA, we want to portray the woman in her entirety, so we will be able to show the realities surrounding women in an inspiring way. We would like to show their strength as modern women and empower them to be the best women they can be.”

“We often show women as heroines, as fighters, as strong people in celebration of womahood. The best example would be the four sangres of Encantandia that showed different strengths of women yet, also the bonds of sisterhood, of the mother and child relationship, among others. That show encompassed the many facets of womanhood.” Most shows on QTV11, co-produced with GMA Network, are also geared toward women audiences, “but we also target the whole family”, adds Annette.

As one of the network’s executives, Annette Gozon-Abrogar is very comfortable being herself and a woman and her position further boosts her confidence. “There are a lot of females in the (media) industry. As to gender issues, I particularly did not have any difficulties. I would say we have a woman-friendly environment.” True enough, she credits her feel of the market to her innate, womanly attributes. “Being a woman is advantageous. Women are naturally more emotional speak more than what the mind says. We are more in touch with our emotions and that is needed in programming.”

Definitely, Annette is passionate about her work but she equally shares that passion for her family. As a mother of two children, ages five and nine, she makes sure she attends to them whenever she is at home. “Being a mother is fun and at the same time exhausting. My children are demanding of my attention and of course, I give in. We play and cook together and go malling. For me, a successful woman is happy and content with herself and her family. Women today play a lot of roles in the workplace and at home. But whatever role she plays, as long as there is happiness at home, there is already success. The key is to find the right balance between work and family.”

Speaking on top of her game, Annette Gozon Abrogar shares her vision for the Filipina, “I want the Filipina to be empowered. Given any situation, they should always find strength within themselves. But they should also not lose that special feminine touch that enables them to be caring persons…be it as mothers, co-workers, relatives or friends. As for GMA, our audience can always expect that we would exert all our efforts to give them the best programming possible.”