Remembering Lino Brocka

If Lino Brocka were alive today, he would have stressed time and again the mission of the artist to take part in the formation of a society where freedom and justice reign, a society where the rights of every human being are respected.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO 
Bulatlat.com

Last May 22, only a handful of friends commemorated the 12th death anniversary of acclaimed filmmaker Lino Brocka.

Brocka was raised in poverty and, for the most part of his youth, had to lead the life of an exploited and even abused worker.

After losing his father, he found himself working as a houseboy in an aunt's house. The aunt physically and verbally abused him. He eventually ran away and lived a hand-to-mouth existence with his mother and brother.

He took his elementary and secondary schooling in public schools. He then finished high school with honors and then took a pre-law course at the University of the Philippines (UP) as a scholar. At the end of his first year at UP, he lost his scholarship, and had to work to pay for his tuition.

Brocka the director was not born overnight. He had odd jobs in various places - including Hawaii - before getting a shot at filmmaking.

It was in theater where Brocka started out as a director. He joined the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) in 1969, and worked there successively as an errand boy and scriptwriter and led theater exercises before getting to direct in the group's television series.

In 1970, Brocka directed his first film, “Wanted: Perfect Mother.” He did a number of other commercially-oriented films before finally getting to make the kind of films he became known for.

In 1974, he directed “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang.” In the years that followed, he directed masterpieces like “Maynila: Sa Kuko ng Liwanag,” “Jaguar,” “Insiang,” “Bona,” “Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, Gumapang Ka sa Lusak,” and “Orapronobis.” These films won awards both in the Philippines and abroad including in the Cannes festival.

Brocka’s films carried graphic depictions of social injustice. It was most probably the kind of life he led in his younger years, combined with his rich background in the humanities, which instilled in him a profound social consciousness.

In the world of show-business where the absence of principles is prevalent, Brocka provided a shining example of fervent conviction. He chose principle over profit. At some point in the 1970s, he found himself in dire financial straits. At about this time he received offers from the martial law regime to be paid for making films it approved; he never entertained second thoughts about refusing the offer.

Brocka became an activist in the latter part of the Marcos years. He became a leader of Free the Artist movement and, in 1983, co-founded the Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP).

He was convinced that artists are citizens first of all and therefore have the responsibility to take part in social and political action. His example was an inspiration to the Bembol Rocos and Gina Alajars who often found themselves with him in protest actions. At one time, he was arrested for taking part in a nationwide transport strike.

In 1985, Brocka won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts "for making cinema a vital social commentary, awakening public consciousness to disturbing realities of life among the Filipino poor."

In 1986, Brocka was selected by the newly-installed administration of Corazon Aquino as a member of the Constitutional Commission. He shortly resigned in disgust after sensing that the Constitutional Commission was headed toward the creation of an anti-Filipino and repressive constitution. But not before he fought for the insertion of the freedom of expression clause.

Indeed, he was responsible for Article III, Section 4 of the Constitution which states: "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances."

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he took part in the broad campaign to eject the United States' military bases from the Philippines.

Untimely death

But he did not live to see the removal of the military bases. He met an untimely death in a car accident on May 22, 1991.

Lino Brocka's death anniversary should not have gone by hardly noticed. Not only because the quality of most films today makes one wish he had not died.

For if Brocka were alive today, he would have stressed time and again the mission of the artist to take part in the formation of a society where freedom and justice reign, a society where the rights of every human being are respected. Bulatlat.com

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