Dulaang UP apologizes for Irene Marcos' presence at play's opening

MANILA -- (UPDATE) Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP) on Sunday apologized to the public for the presence of Irene Marcos-Araneta during the opening night of its play "The House of Bernarda Alba" last Friday.

A group of some 30 university students had staged a flash protest against the presence of Marcos, the third child of the late dictator Ferdinand and wife Imelda, during the play’s 10-minute intermission.

"We also wish to apologize to the members of the audience, the cast and staff for the disruptions during and after the performance," Dulaang UP said in a statement.

The theater organization assured the UP community and the public that it would be "more discerning in its actions in the future."

"We have not forgotten the atrocities of Martial Law and we are one with the community in its protest against human rights abuses," it said.

Dulaang UP artistic director Banaue Miclat-Janssen, in a separate statement, clarified that Marcos was not a special guest and that the organization did not receive any financial sponsorship from her.

"Her name is in the acknowledgments page because it is Dulaang UP practice for directors to freely mention people whom they want to thank personally, without their financial compensation. She is not a sponsor," she said.

"I stand by my personal statement alone, but I also stand by the Dulaang UP statement that a collective effort of the faculty of the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts worked very hard on to create."

Miclat-Janssen, who said she was born in Beijing after her parents were exiled during the Martial Law for their leftist involvement, said her history did not prevent her from being involved in performances attended by the Marcoses.

"I was never fired from a production that Irene Marcos supported because I am my father’s daughter. In the same way, I never quit a production because of Ms. Marcos’s support for its director," she said.

"The play is about a matriarchal tyrant, and all who watched it are meant to have taken away something from this daluhong. Might a certain audience member face a bit of their family’s own tyrannical actions in the process."

In April, Marcos' attendance for the launch of Arete Amphitheater at Ateneo de Manila University also drew criticism, prompting its director to resign.