Not a few people were left teary-eyed after the premiere night of "Öras De Peligro" at the SM Megamall Cinema 1 last Feb. 23. They said they were touched by the wave of nostalgia presented by the movie which is helmed by director Joel Lamangan .Among those in the crowd were noted personalities present during the historic 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution such as Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Sr. Mary John Mananzan, Jim Paredes and Mitch Valdez.
"Oras De Peligro" goes head-to-head in the box office with Darryl Yap's "Martyr or Murderer" on March 1. Both films delve with certain aspects of the country's history. "Oras De Peligro" touches on the situation of an ordinary family who must deal with the grief of their slain patriarch while a bloodless revolution is going on. The timeline begins four days before the flight from power of the ruling family and actual footage of what exactly transpired in 1986 in EDSA are shown.
"Maraming lumalabas na hindi totoo, Napaka-importanteng makita ito (movie), lalo na ng mga kabataan na hindi nakaranas ng panahon ng EDSA. Ito ang nangyari, ito ang totoo. Kaya nilagyan ko ng maraming tunay na video footages para paniwalaan. Hindi ito gawa gawa lamang," Lamangan said.
(A lot of things are coming out which are not true, It is very important for people to see this (movie), especially the young ones who did not experience EDSA People Power. We want to say: this is what happened, this is the truth. That is why I put a lot of real video footage so viewers will believe it. We are not making up things.)
Lamangan revealed that he was "red-tagged, tortured and imprisoned" for a few years during Martial Law. "However, I did not show any torture scene in this movie.. What I depicted was a family's quest for truth and justice."
"Kayong lahat tulungan nyo kami, sabihin natin sa buong bayan na panoorin nila ang pelikula para magkaroon pa ng susunod na pelikulang kagaya nito na nagsasabi ng totoo, na pumapanig sa katotohanan at hindi nagbabaluktot, hindi nagsisinungaling," he stressed.
(All of you, help us convince the rest of the Filipinos to watch the movie, so that there will be other films like this which speak the truth, side with the truth, and do not twist facts or spread lies.)
"There are many kinds of truth. The truth dictated by those who serve the favored few, and the truth that voices out the interest of the majority. I am siding with the latter truth," he noted.
Members of the cast also appealed to the public to support the movie, which is also being planned for showing in certain schools as part of history lessons. Present during the media conference in Megamall were the award-winning lead stars Allen Dizon and Cherry Pie Picache who play husband and wife, respectively, in the movie. Likewise seen were the supporting cast which includes Dave Bornea, Nanding Josef, and Mae Paner.
Picache said she's "proud of the movie, which is based on a beautiful script by Bonifacio Ilagan and Eric Ramos."
"My role as Beatriz in the movie is very good. I am in unity with the advocacy of campaigning against disinformation and false news. It's really important that future generations keep the spirit of nationalism and love of country alive. And we can do this by knowing about our history," she pointed out.
First-time producer Bagong Siklab Productions, owned by lawyer Howard Calleja and Alvi Siongco, also earned raves from people for being brave enough to invest in a movie like "Oras De Peligro."
"We hope the film does well commercially but also brings the right message to the people. The theme is something that revolves around the Filipino and love of country. If the people like what we offer them, then there should be no problem making a second, third or fourth movie," Calleja said.