Charo Santos-Concio on Maalaala Mo Kaya: ‘We don’t lose anything by saying sorry’ |
| by Rachelle Siazon | July 30, 2009 8:03 AM | |
Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) has always prided itself on featuring dramatic true-to-life stories, but this was called into question when an episode entitled Blusa aired several months ago. The episode which starred Angel Locsin detailed the life of a University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) student who despite graduating summa cum laude ended up as a stripper and eventually, a taong-grasa. UPLB maintained that no such student existed.
When this issue came up during the anniversary press con of MMK last Wednesday, July 28, Charo Santos-Concio humbly related that her team had learned their lesson the hard way since then. “I hope you don’t mind my sharing this (in reference to the MMK staff who also attended the event). I met with the staff after the incident. Sabi ko, when an institution is concerned, you have to verify the facts of the story. Of course you’re listening to the version of the storyteller's perspective, pero sabi ko kapag meron nang institution kailangan i-verify natin. Another thing is to just be very, very careful. You can change naman certain details ‘di ba? You don’t have to mention (names of prominent organizations involved). You know kung nagkamali tayo, let’s apologize. We don’t lose anything by saying sorry,” she explained.
There were similar circumstances when MMK featured Charice Pempengco’s story and the paternal side of the family refuted some of the events in the episode. Direk Dado Lomibao clarified, however, that it’s a matter of finding the balance between two sides of a story. “Kinuha namin yung kwento from the point of view of Charice’s mother. Although nung nakatanggap kami ng feedback ng kamag-anak [from her dad’s side] sinabi namin sa kanila na ito yung sinasabi ng asawa mo, ni Charice, ganyan-ganyan and sila meron ding ibang version. Kaya nga as much as possible, we medyo toned down yung side nung lalake at nag-focus kami sa kwento nilang mag-ina.”
They further shared that while some minor details of a letter-sender’s narrative are changed to fit cinematic purposes, the conflicts are basically preserved. “Minsan based sa research alam mong yung kwento hindi aakyat. So ang fiction dun would be to push the drama but the essence of the drama is intact,” Direk Olive Lamasan explained. Sometimes the letter-sender would even tell them after an episode that the show’s creative input actually occurred in real life. “Minsan ayaw natin makasakit ‘di ba? Yung subject mo minsan iniisip din niya yung image nung kinukwento niya at ng sarili niya. There's such a thing as verbal and non-verbal (communication). Dapat marunong kayo bumasa ng kung anong hindi niya sinasabi. If it’s logical that something else happened, that’s what you do,” Direk Olive Lamasan explained.
The process of getting stories, picking out the best ones, and preparing them for production is definitely no mean feat. “We have only featured true to life stories in MMK. That’s our brand equity and we have stayed true to that. Ang creative team natin, aside from reading letters that they continue to receive, pumupunta sila sa iba-ibang parte ng Pilipinas. Kasi meron tayong mga Kapamilya na hindi marunong magsulat katulad nung mother nung tatlong mentally-challenged children (played by Gina Pareño in Rehas). Kahit dun sa mga hindi napipili, it’s been very, very cathartic to them na maihinga lang nila sa aming mga researcher ang problema nila sa buhay. Malaking bagay din yung importansya na nararamdaman nila kasi ang programa na ang mismong lumalapit sa kanila.”
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