As of press time, director Darryl Yap’s movie, "Maid in Malacañang," has grossed more than P250 million at the box office. It has been trending on Twitter for 11 weeks now, on Facebook’s popular now list for 13 weeks, and the No. 1 movie trailer on YouTube.
In the Philippines, it has beaten the sales of international Marvel movie "Thor." The number one trending director in social media for the past 11 weeks sent me personally in messenger, the sales of the movie MIM in the U.S. and Canada where it is currently showing.
In Canada, on its first day alone, the movie beat the earnings of its competition. Yap has also reported a very successful movie premiere of the Viva film in Japan. The brilliant director graced the premiere in the land of the rising sun with Viva Artist’s Agency actress Christine Reyes, who portrays the role of Senator Imee Marcos in the movie. The cast will be touring other places such as London, Israel, Australia and Dubai in the coming weeks.
Indeed, MIM has become a household name due to its popularity. But popularity comes with a cost, and we all know the saying in show business that you cannot please everybody. In this case, the historians. Asked what he thinks of historians, Yap reacted to the comment in his interview with Boy Abunda: “Sa tingin ko lahat ng tao naman ay historian. Sa palagay ko lahat tayo may pinanghahawakan sa kasaysayan, at may iba’t iba tayong tingin sa kasaysayan. I don’t believe that historians should be a profession. I believe that historians are researchers. Masisipag sila na kumalap ng impormasyon."
Historian Xiao Chua, a U.P. graduate and a current professor at De La Salle University, was triggered by Yap’s words and responded: “Being a historian should not be a profession? I am just an ordinary person, but with whatever little power I have, I will give my middle finger to you.” In a YouTube program entitled Facts First hosted by Christian Esguerra, Chua explains why his emotions were enraged. “I am commenting on how he said these things, that we (historians) should not be a profession. Hindi lang siya simple remark eh. You want to disable us like you disabled the media.”
Yap responded to Chua’s interview on his Facebook page. “Mula noong ginamit mo ang propesyon mo para ilagay sa pedestal ang idols mo, disabled na. Xiao Chua, masyado kang maraming sinasabi. Ang kwento ng bansang ito ay hindi nakabase sa kwento ng idols mo. Hindi ikaw magsasabi sa mga Pilipino kung ano ang kulay ng aming pagkatao. Magpakyuhan tayo until the end of time.”
I am hoping that when these two brilliant men meet face to face, they can just shrug off the words that have been said to each other, and it's water under the bridge. “Maid in Malacañang” is still showing in its third week, with long lines of moviegoers. The film stars Cesar Montano as President Ferdinand Marcos, Ruffa Gutierrez as Madame Imelda Marcos; Christine Reyes as Senator Imee Marcos; Diego Loyzaga as President “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.; and Ella Cruz as Irene Marcos. The three “maids in Malacañang” are Elizabeth Oropesa, Karla Estrada and Beverly Salviejo.