Step 1. Say Yes. The money’s good, and in the age of disinformation and press releases, you can always get away with saying you’re doing it for free — the President’s propagandists will ensure that the President’s base (the 80% that approve of him according to surveys!) will believe you, and that’s all that matters. Of course you’d be stupid to do this shit for free. There is a price for the kind of shaming you know you’ll get, the raised eyebrows from your peers, the way history will judge you. No one will take it against you that you took on government raket; but history will judge you harshly for wanting to put this icon of this dark times in a good light. You need to get paid for this. And well.

Step 2. Embrace Denial. Duterte is not responsible for the thousands dead in the drug war. He is not responsible for the forced evacuation of the Lumad communities in the name of big business wanting to take over their ancestral lands. He is not responsible for the worsening poverty. He is not responsible for the killings of farmers and peasants. He is not responsible for the state of the nation where democracy is discredited, criticism is a crime, and activists are deemed terrorists.

The propagandists are paid to embrace denial. You are, too.

Step 3. Distract People. Duterte propaganda survives on lies, deception, distraction. The first director of the State of the Nation Address did it with those ultra-close-up shots that showed his pores and his large nostrils. People were distracted. The award-winning director known for poverty porn explained later on: “In aesthetics of cinematography, you get close to the person because you want to see his soul.” Never mind that his soul is nothing but a black hole.

You’re doing it with music. And not just any kind of music, but LIVE music, by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. You think: this shouldn’t be a problem. Government funds this cultural institution, and therefore they should be in the service of the President. No, wait. Taxes fund these cultural institutions so they should serve the people that are being killed by this President, and so they should … no wait. Basta may music. 

Step 4. Stop Rationalizing Your Actions. You are smarter than this, you are better than this. Many of those propagandists are in fact beneath you … please lang! Your stature is enough to keep you above the fray, it is enough to sustain the respect you’ve earned in your years in the industry. After all, you were chosen by government to direct the President. That is a measure of your greatness. That is better than winning an award — which you haven’t won anyway given the formulaic rom-coms and slapstick comedies that you do. And you don’t mind at all! These movies are aspirational. You have happy endings, you deliver lies about the lives we live so people come out of the theaters thinking their poverty and suffering are normal! It’s exactly what you want people to feel after watching the SONA. 

Step 5. Fall Back On Professionalism. When push comes to shove, or shit hits the fan, you just tell yourself this is about your profession. You are a professional director, and this means that when a job falls on your lap, you do it the best way you know how. This is not about anything bigger than yourself. This is not about nation. This is not about the thousands who have been killed since this man became President. This is not about the state violence we have all suffered under, regardless of whether we are targets or not. 

This is just about you, doing a job, and doing it well. You bring in all the skills you learned about filmmaking, you bring in your years of experience. As a professional, your goal is to make this SONA the best SONA ever. As a director, you have no choice but to celebrate this President. You have no choice but to make him and his past year in power look good. You have no choice.

You have no.

You have.

You.