On November 18, Malacañang issued a non-apology to the public who had been inconvenienced during APEC 2015.
A non-apology worded as a thank you “for your patience and understanding over the inconvenience brought about by our enhanced security measures.” And then it spun the difficulty of the commute to work, the fact of absences and tardiness that will mean less wages, and said: “You have shown to the 10,000 delegates what Filipino hospitality means.”
If it’s to sacrifice our time, energy, earnings the past week – well, we were forced into that kind of hospitality. If it’s Manila streets emptied of people and vehicles, shops closed, turned into ghost towns – that does not speak of the Manila we know at all.
If it’s the display of culture as revealed by the final APEC Dinner Performance for Leaders – then please lang. Not in our name.
Because that was a monstrous failure, an ill-conceptualized variety show, that was far from displaying “the best” of Philippine culture.
The agricultural-fail
Whose idea was it to begin with to use the Banawe Rice Terraces as a symbol of nation? Yes, it is a wonder of the world. But also it is not cared for, and endangered by tourism and the impending construction of a parking lot.
If we truly wanted to work with our environmental wonders, why not Palawan? Between El Nido and Puerto Princesa, the Underground River and the rock formations, the absence of large developments and the historical importance of the province, this would’ve provided a deep well of creative possibilities for any production.
The decision to work with the Banawe Rice Terraces, and the decision to work with the agricultural theme given that symbol, was the downfall of this production. Because other than being a wonder of the world, there is nothing to be said about the Banawe Rice Terraces that makes it a source of pride at this point, nothing to be said about it as far as modernity and cultural production are concerned, nothing to be said about it that would make it a fitting symbol of who we are as nation.
Unless of course the point was to show how neglected we are, how backward, how unprepared for the global economy, and yet how we have been forced into it by our APEC “friends”?
I’m pretty sure that’s not what this production meant to say. But for whatever reason, they picked the Banawe Rice Terraces, and it went downhill from there.
Modernity and the parochial
I trust Kenneth Cobonpue’s aesthetic and vision enough to know that he must have seen this as a great opportunity to meld together nature and modernity. But the Banawe Rice Terraces decision is one that is beyond modernizing, especially when one is bound to imagine it as agricultural symbol and nothing else.
Because we could’ve showcased the kind of Pinoy mind that went into building those terraces, and looked at the manner in which we have continued to construct and build for nation. Then it could’ve been a history of the constantly changing aesthetic of Filipino design, as bound to the needs of the populace. Then, it could have been a grand show of what we have become since, and what we imagine we can still do given our creativities.
Then we could’ve gone beyond the mounds of dirt and rice stalks, because there is nothing more fake than to show that we are all still bound to the earth.
Ah, but it could only get worse. The performance itself (press releases point to Gina Tabuena and Paolo Valenciano as in charge of production), could only imagine working with the old and tired, postcard images of performance as we have been taught it in our grade school Araling Panlipunan classes.
Women dancing with pots on their heads? Check. Men and women doing an indigenous dance decontextualized from the ritual it stands for? Check. Lumad boy dancing? Check. Choir in Filipinian attire? Check check check!
If the goal was to meld the old with the new, the traditional with the modern, then this production was better off using the LED backdrop to reveal the past, and have that stage used for the more modern, more contemporary imagination of its continuing influence and power. Because certainly Douglas Nierras’s Powerdance should’ve spent more time on that stage; in the same way that El Gamma Penumbra shouldn’t have been mere backdrop to Jessica Sanchez singing an unremarkable song.
Messy mash-ups
Watching this almost 40-minute show was really about seeing our talents underused and misused, listening to songs that were neither here nor there, and not at all bound by a concept obvious enough for the every Pinoy to understand. One can only wonder how it was understood by the APEC Leaders and Delegates at all.
What a waste of the talent of Cecil Licad, who should’ve been given more respect than to be given a spot number that was not properly contextualized, nor was it respectfully followed. Licad should have been given the opportunity to surprise us all with a show-stopping opening number, or a finale that would certainly elicit a standing ovation.
But no. She was placed between the badly chosen rock song “Stairway to Heaven” and the hiphop song “The Apl Song” as performed by Apl.De.Ap and Lumad boy – in full costume! – Renan. And then it was Charice singing another forgettable song in Tagalog.
Among these artists, there was an utter lack of energy, one that might have had everything to do with the lack of a concept, the lack of a strong enough vision that would tie the show together. By the time Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano get on centerstage – which is apparently the center itself of the tables where the APEC Leaders sat, it was just all pretty uncomfortable and sad. And quite an embarrassment.
This is the best of Philippine culture? This huge mess of a mash-up is what we’re proud of?
This show took the talent of this country and brought them together in an ill-conceptualized, badly-written show. You wonder why exactly the Valenciano-Tabuena duo got this gig to begin with. And how much we spent to mount something that is no better than a run-of-the-mill Linggo ng Wika variety show.
I wait for Malacañang to be transparent about this expense. ***
Published in The Manila Times, 22 November 2015.