I grew up watching Filipino movies or at least the ones that still had a little bit of originality and humor. I enjoyed movies like Oki Dok and Magic Kingdom to name a few, and I laughed at films like Bondying, which used good humor to deliver real life messages that are relevant to this today.
This is not to say though that many Filipino films today deliver few values; most do not at all. In any case, I used to love Filipino movies. In fact, I still watch some of them on TV reruns.
And of course, my real Filipino film experience would not have been complete without Comedy King Dolphy’s films, or as I recently found out, Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr., to be exact.
It is interesting though that after more than a decade of watching Dolphy, I did not know his real name, nor did I know anything about his personal life. I only knew him as the man along the railroad track, the man who sold dirty ice cream (which is really something we should avoid calling the product as the term has affected the livelihood of many ice cream sellers we call Sorbeteros), and as the old man who likes hitting people on the head.
I did not know until recently that he might be celebrating his birthday, July 25, in a hospital, suffering from pneumonia. I did not know that he fathered many children from different women, nor did I know that he started from humble beginnings as a stage performer during the Japanese occupation.
To this day, the man who started his career as Golay has made more than a hundred films, with tens of acting and special awards. To this day, he has made millions cry, and he has taught even more to treat others with respect and dignity through Kevin Kósme, Dino Dinero and more. He is a good man, who has done so much to help an already flat and stagnant film industry, well at least in my opinion, and he has been a good father, for the most part of his life.
The family considered getting him stem cell therapy (which has benefit many politicians and leaders in the world we could do without) as a means to prolong and strengthen the life of the man we know as Kevin Kósme, but it was too late.
Dolphy died at the age of 83, 15 days before celebrating his 84th birthday.
It is really intriguing though that many of us only started to research about him, and ask the most controversial and simple question: Why is Tatay Nic not the Philippine’s official national artist?
The answer they say really just comes from the criticism of his gay roles in the past, as well as his faults, and the church’s criticism of his movies; the institution was kind enough to brand the movie as inappropriate, knowing that Dolphy respected their statement and apologized for the unintended depiction.
That was his last movie.
The real reasons though, run deeper than the criticism of his films and his life because people make mistakes and bad choices in life, and if we were to award someone perfect, we might as well look for the abominable snowman.
It is crab mentality, selective hearing and judging, and politics, but most of all, it is about our lack of initiative to take a step further in trying to find the people who deserve an award, and it is about our lack of risk and courage to defend them.
The real sad thought is that there are many Dolphy’s out there who continue to do the things they love simply because of love. Carpenters, workers and writers who go beyond their duties to perfect their craft rarely receive recognition, and those who do, like the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are cheered on only because of the economic benefits the country stands to gain from them.
Rarely is there true recognition and respect; this even extends to the academe and to the students in DLSU.
Case in point, many professors who have contributed much in realizing the goal of the University to be a research university rarely receive enough credit from the institution and the students. In the same manner, many students who do the real “dirty” work rarely get the proper recognition; the ones wearing extremely clean long sleeves do, well at least in some cases.
Maybe it is, no wait, it really is the process in which we give awards. Take for example the Gawad awards. To have a chance of winning a Gawad, you have to apply for one, which is something that deserves serious evaluation.
Again though, the problem goes deeper than the process because we could change it all we want, but at the end of the day, the initiative to find the people who really deserve awards is not there.
And say some deserving students do apply, could we guarantee that the University would choose the best and the most hardworking applicants, knowing that application has opened the door to those who think they have done many things for the University?
Probably not, though it is amiable that we are starting to make little changes. Is it enough? Not really, but it is better than nothing right?
All I can say though is that the country has a long way to go in truly recognizing those who deserve credit and recognition, and for the many Dolphies out there, I hope they they consider their own stem cell treatments because they probably would not get the proper recognition in the near future.
And to those who really deserve a Gawad in the University, take the minimum number of units possible and delay, delay and delay.
Then again, would you really need official recognition if you have lived the life of a Dolphy?
