The ashes and ghosts of Tayug
THE 5th Quezon City Cinema International Festival which opened last week will last through October 28 with the showing of eight films funded by the QCinema Film Development Foundation. Among the competing films is Chris Gozum’s Dapol tan Payawar na Tayug 1931, a drama-documentary that retells the story of a rebel leader, Pedro Calosa , from three angles – a silent film dramatizing the return of Calosa to his hometown; the story of writer Frankie Sionil Jose who follows the aging supremo together with two historians as Calosa searches for a sacred cave in 1966; and a filmmaker who revisits the sites and interviews townspeople about the 1931 Colorum uprising in Tayug, Pangasinan for a film about Calosa.
Chris says the script based on recollections of writers and historians (A.V.H. Hartendorp, Kerima Polotan, and Milagros Guerrero) and news articles, is a reflection on the nation’s historical amnesia. Here is a man who led an uprising that was regarded by many as one that had inspired the Sakdal as well as future labor and agrarian reform movements, but almost everyone interviewed several decades later had not heard of him.
The first part (the silent film) shows Calosa who had just arrived from Hawaii where he lived for 11 years and where he led the 1924 strike of Filipino workers was banished back to the Philippines for the crime of union organizing. In 1929, he founded the Tayug Colorum because of the onerous conditions of land tenure and repeated protests of aggrieved tenants throughout Luzon. The Tayug uprising, also known as the Sociedad ti Mannalam (land tenants) ti Sinamauay (mutual organization for improvement of barrio conditions). Calosa was then a 34-year old farmer who was regarded as the Primero General of this society which even had a flag of its own – with suns taking the place of the stars. The Tayug uprising on January 11, 1931, was a revolt against the feudal system that lasted for only a day. About 70 peasants, armed with bolos, attacked the constabulary garrison and burned the records of taxes, land titles, debts, and tenancy contracts as their sign of protest. Five Americans, two officers and three enlisted men were killed together with over a dozen rebels. This part was shot in Bayambang, Pangasinan.
Several decades later, we see Calosa together with the three companions on the mountain trek. It was a long trek which could have been boring were it not for the beautiful scenic shots of mist, and wild vegetation. We see him and his companions revisiting the ghosts of the past. We also witness the townspeople, steeped in rituals and traditions. Shortly after, Calosa was murdered, a shot in the back by an unknown killer.
Historian Mila Guerero and A.V.H Hartendorp (who was often quoted in the film) wrote about people’s perceptions about the Colorum uprisings. Guerrero cites newspaper articles stating that both government leaders then as well as the people regarded the members of the Colorum as fanatical and ignorant. In conclusion, Guerrero noted that the “Colorum uprising, being politically unsophisticated, failed to sensitize the people to a new spectrum of possible identities. However, the emergence of a politically sophisticated Sakdal Party, may well owe its establishment to a recognition of the simplicity, defects, and relevance of the Colorum movement. The Colorum uprising was but the beginning.”
When I asked Chris about the most challenging episodes in the filming of Dapol tan Payawar (which was shot for a total of nine days), he said it was the part which was shot in Kabayan, Benguet. They had to travel along dangerous roads to reach the mountain location. At times, they had to stop shooting because of heavy rains. One location was on red alert but they had to carry on nonetheless.
The third part shot in Tayug this year showed the filmmaker interviewing mostly young people from various walks of life and from various parts of the province. One difficulty that the director encountered was that many did not speak Pangasinan and Ilocano, the two languages used in the film. Otherwise, the production staff bonded quite well.
Besides Chris who was director and script writer and co-producer, the other principals in this film include Fe Ging Ging Hyde, Vivian Palisoc, Jun Lava, Perci Intalan, Perry Dizon, Soliman Cruz, and Cedrick Juan. Again, Chris demonstrated very fine directorial skills. The silent film reminded me of the early Charlie Chaplin films. And the burning of records of taxes and land titles is reminiscent of the tearing of cedulas by Bonifacio’s followers.
Chris studied film at the University of the Philippines and is an alumnus of the 2006 Asian Film Academy of South Korea. His films received the CCP Award for Alternative Film and Video (2005), the Best Short Film (2007), the Ishmael Bernal Award for Young Filipino Filmmakers (2008), the Lino Brocka Grand Prize (2009), and the Best Director Award (2009), all in the Digital Lokal section of the Cinemanila International Film Festival. Gozum was a former overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia from 2007-2015. He is now based in his hometown in Bayambang, Pangasinan.