2012041596
MOLINA, FRANCHESKA D.
4CA4
The Philippine Educational Theater Association, on its 48 th Theater Season, brings back the
modernized version of the classic novel-turned-into-play entitled “Noli at Fili Dekada Dos Mil” which is directed
by Mr. Soxie Topacio and written by Dr. Nicanor Tiongson. The piece is starred by the most skillful actors of
this generation namely, Lucho Ayala, Kris Bernal, and Liza Dino-Seguerra. Other cast members include: Raul
Alfonso, Jojo Atienza, Renante Bustamante, Roi Calilong, Buddy Caramat, Mikou David, Eric dela Cruz, Jess
Evardone, Rhenwyn Gabalonzo, Gio Gahol, Neomi Gonzales, Joseph Madriaga, Nicole Manlulo, Gie Onida,
Kitsi Pagaspas, Joanne Pamintuan, Norbs Portales, Raffy Tejada, Jack Yabut, and many others. “Noli at Fili
Dekada Dos Mil” reopened at the PETA Theater Center last weekend of September 10 until September 13,
and moved to a bigger venue at the Springs Production Studios in New Manila with performances last Sept.
22-27 at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The run ended with a Rizal-themed festival entitled, "Sa Aking Mga Kabata: An
arts festival on the life and works of Rizal" last September 25-27 which includes workshops, performances,
and lectures.
Last September 19, 2015, it was held in Spring Production Studios in 51 10th Rolling Hills Village in
New Manila, Quezon City. But more than that, the play has been performed for more than 50 times all over
the nation. Its first performance was in 2008, wherein it gained several nods and positive reviews among the
critics. Currently, the performances are still ongoing across the country.
Students from various schools and/or universities flock in to watch the play which would be extremely
helpful for being in line with their studies, especially for those in secondary school who are currently studying
the novels of Dr. Jose Rizal – Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. The play would also be enjoyed by
others who have the interest in recalling the past of our country. In short, this performance is for every Filipino,
for them to realize the significance of our history.
The modernized rendition of the classic novel by our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, which was turned
into a marvelous play aims to educate the youth about the cancers of the society not only during the earlier
centuries but also the present illnesses in this contemporary era. The story mostly focuses on the political
atrocities, corruption and unreliable system of governance in the country. It depicts the hardships and
grievances experienced by the Filipino people during the modern times – which are paralleled to the
adversities of the past centuries on the hands of the Spaniards. In relation with this, the writer of the play,
Tiongson, stated his sentiment about the present society, in which he said: “Iyon pa rin ba ang sakin na
pumapatay sa lipunan ngayon? Ano kayang isyu ang maaring itapat dito sa kasalukuyan? Sunud-sunod na
mga iskandalo sa gobyerno kaugnay ang garapal na korupsyon ng sistema ang nagpatunay na walang pinagiba ang kanser sa panahon ni Rizal at sa kasalukuyan. Sa loob ng tatlong dekada, nakisangkot ako, tulad
ng maraming Pilipino, sa iba't ibang kilusan para sa pagbabago, sa EDSA I, II, at III, ngunit sa halip na
makaahon ay lalo lamang nabaon ang bayan sa kahirapan at korupsyon. Marahil ito rin ang kawalang-pagasa na naramdaman ni Rizal nang sulatin niya ang ‘Fili’ noong 1890-1891, nang nasa pinakamadilim na
panahon ang bayan, bago maorganisa ang Katipunan. Kung hindi natin iwawaksi ang kasakiman sa ating
personal na mga buhay, hindi uunlad ang lipunan kahit ilang beses pa tayong mag-EDSA, dahil ang ipapalit
natin sa pinatalsik ay kasing sakim ng pinalitan. Tama nga si Rizal: kung walang tunay na pagbabagongloob, ‘ang alipin ngayon ang manlulupig sa kinabukasan’.” Tiongson wishes to materialize the relevance of
the message and the influence of Dr. Jose Rizal’s work to the present conditions of the Philippines. For the
setting, Tiongson used the 2004 Infanta landslide, which was cause by the typhoon ‘Winnie’, as an inspiration.
He conducted extensive research on Rizal’s novels and immersed himself on the province of Quezon (where
the tragedy happened) which contributed his drive to write the story and mold the characters of Noli at Fili
Dekada Dos Mil. “Ang sunod-sunod na mga iskandalo sa gobyerno,kaugnay ng garapal na korupsyon ng
sistema, ang patunay na walang pinag-iba ang kanser sa panahon ni Rizal at sa kasalukuyan -- ang walangpakundangan at talamak na kasakiman ng mga nasa poder. At upang maipakita ang network at mga antas
ng kasakiman, pumili ako ng isang isyung panlipunan na lumalala sa kasalukuyan at nagpapakita ng
mabalasik na mukhang kasakiman -- ang walang-habas na pagputol ng mga puno, na pangunahing dahilan
ng mga pagbahang ikinasasawi ng libo-libong mamamayan sa buong sangkapuluan,” he added in his writer’s
notes.
Quantitatively speaking, the play was divided into two parts – the Act I and the Act II – which depicted
Dr. Jose Rizal’s two novels – Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, respectively. Tiongson remarked that
one of the challenges in re-telling and modernizing a classic story is the idea of a ‘revolution’. He also noted
that El Filibusterismo is harder to retell than Noli Me Tangere for the former encompasses that challenge of
revolution. Furthermore, he believes that the modern production of these two novels would become a way to
explore and analyze the influences and parallelisms of Dr. Jose Rizal’s work in the modern day conditions of
our society.
The act I – which was dedicated to the modern rendition of Noli Me Tangere – starts off with a scene
of various Filipino residents of Maypajo, Quezon in Southern Tagalog being victimized by one of the deadliest
natural disasters (which is rampant in the Philippines for being a tropical country) – the strong typhoon
coupled with flooding. The residents tried their best to rescue their belongings as the flood waters devour
their houses. In the meantime, they climbed on the top of their roofs to save themselves from drowning.
Everyone screamed for help. Everyone screamed at their loved ones to be safe. Everyone shouted their
prayers in hopes that the raging heavens would hear them. There were ropes wherein the people could hold
as they cross along the angry waves of the flood waters. Everyone helped each other in the best way that
they can.
The story then progressed to the aftermath of the typhoon, wherein there were almost 3,000 citizens
affected by the typhoon, and almost 200 households were destroyed and submerged into the flood waters.
The people lost not only their homes and material possessions but also their loved ones. They were extremely
helpless and desperate for any assistance that they could get from anyone – but most especially from the
government which has the greatest ability to relieve and redeem them from their adverse situations. However,
every administration is composed of the good ones, and the not-so-good ones. The good ones, of course,
focus on the public interest and continually aim for the welfare of everyone in the society. Meanwhile, the
not-so-good ones focus on their personal interests and aim for their personal gratification.
It then transitioned to the actual modern spin-off of the novel Noli Me Tangere, wherein it retained
the original characters – but also with a modern spin-off. Mayor Ibarra Marasigan (the modern day spin-off
of Crisostomo Ibarra), the main protagonist, plays as one of the good ones in the administration of the
Philippine government. Clarissa (the modern day spin-off of Maria Clara), serves as Ibarra’s love interest,
which also supports the latter’s advocacies to help the Filipino people. However their good intentions are
contradicted by Provincial Commander Colonel Salvador Salvatierra (the modern day spin-off of Padre Salvi),
Monsignor Damaso (the modern day spin-off of Padre Damaso) bishop of the newly established diocese of
San Lorenzo, and Governor Santiago Santos (the modern day spin off of Kapitan Tiyago). Ibarra was in the
process of making vigorous moves against deforestation of the Sierra Madre when these antagonists
hindered his plans. He was determined to pass the law regarding the log ban, but then he discovered the
whole network of corruption between the three antagonists. The irony is, Ibarra was the one viewed by the
citizens as the antagonist for his desire to stop the illegal logging in the mountains of Sierra Madre because
it would take away numerous jobs from numerous workers. In consequence, he was removed from the office
by the “People Power” and he was forced into jail. Eventually, his childhood friend Kumander Elias (the
modern day spin-off of Elias) of the National Liberation Army (NLA) helped him escape out of the prison.
Unfortunately, whilst Kumander Elias was covering his escape, he was killed by the armed men. On the other
hand, his fiancée Clarissa, was forced to marry Provincial Commander Colonel Salvador Salvatierra since
Ibarra got in bad terms with Clarissa’s father, Governor Santiago Santos, before his imprisonment.
The story then transitioned into the Act II, wherein this part was dedicated to the modern rendition of
El Filibusterismo. Analogous to the novel, Mayor Ibarra was now trotting the streets as Simoun, and joined
the rebels. He did this to plot his revenge against the government officials who were responsible for the fall
of Mayor Ibarra Marasigan and his friend, Kumander Elias. Ibarra joined forces with the rebels to oust the
irresponsible and unfit government officials, and also some of the church officials who are also caught in the
web of corruption. They conspired to fight the evils of the administration which destroy the common good and
jeopardize the welfare of the citizens. On the other hand, Clarissa’s marriage with Provincial Commander
Colonel Salvador Salvatierra in which the latter constantly hurts the former since the night of their wedding
day. Clarissa then swore to herself that she would never learn how to love Salvi because Ibarra was the one
whom she truly loves. Through the course of events, Clarissa dies. The rebels then accused of Simoun of
having a different purpose in joining them. A woman, who turned out to be the wife of the late Kumander
Elias, confronted Ibarra. Simoun’s real identity was then revealed and that Ibarra/Simoun was the reason
why Kumander Elias died. It was said that Simoun only joined the rebels to avenge the fallen Mayor Ibarra
Marasigan and his lover, Clarissa. And now that Clarissa’s dead, Simoun does not have any purpose to
continue fighting. The play ended with a song which calls for the attention and action of the people to fight
against the evils of the government.
Qualitatively speaking, the play was excellent in depicting the modern day “cancers of the society”
in reflection with the novels made by our national hero. The story clearly portrayed the present hardships and
grievances of the Filipino people due to the faulty governance of the country. The rampant corruption, the
blatant deception of the Filipinos by the powerful ones greatly contribute to the backward progression of our
country. It also showed how powerful money is in controlling the minds and decisions of most people –
especially the political leaders. They can exchange their morals and principles for money and power. On the
other hand, the poor people are being suppressed helplessly because if they try to go against those in the
government, their lives would be in great danger.
The actors who performed were very effective in embracing and portraying the characters assigned
to them. Every single one had their distinct personality and identity. They have successfully crossed the
borders of time through the portrayal of the past characters in the novel to their modern renditions in the play.
Perhaps one of the biggest spin-offs among the characters is Padre Salvi who turned into a military man in
the name of Provincial Commander Colonel Salvador Salvatierra. Maria Clara, who was forced to become a
nun in the novel, was now named as Clarissa, who was forced to marry Provincial Commander Colonel
Salvador Salvatierra in the play. Crisostomo Ibarra was still portrayed as an idealistic young man through the
character of Mayor Ibarra Marasigan who wants nothing but goodness and prosperity for his country and its
citizens.
The dialogues of the characters clearly expressed their sentiments and caught and retained the
attention of every single one of the viewers. The musical accompaniments suited every scene which helped
in building up the emotions. More than that, Noel Cabangon composed a song for the finale as a call to action
for the audience to be aware of the issues affecting the country and to fight for their rights against the
oppressors. The set was simple but it successfully embodied the context of the story and it symbolized
significant elements in which designer Gino Gonzales created a different set for this new production, with
tree stumps that turn into industrial pipes and smoke stacks growing from the stage to clearly represent the
widespread pollution and the deforestation.
Overall the main point is, nowadays, the youth are distracted by the modernization and by the ever
evolving technological innovations which yields to their materialistic attitudes. Various trends concerning the
trivial things over the influence of the internet mostly concern the teenagers instead of focusing on the real
important matters in the country. These young millennials develop this hedonistic attitude. They are much
more pre-occupied with how to make themselves look good and fit in the vast stereotypes of the new global
world. Thus, nationalistic attitudes and emotions are way far from their reach. The national issues and
problems are taken for granted, giving opportunist government officials the chances to take advantage of the
citizens’ negligence and commit corruption and other fraudulent activities.
The play encompassed values which are helpful in the present situation to remind not only the youth
but also every citizen of this country to be aware about the issues that our country is facing. It grabs
everyone’s attention and makes them realize that even in the smallest organizations – be it a student council,
interest clubs, non-profit organizations, etc. – there are still the good ones and the not-so-good ones. As
mentioned earlier, the good ones always aim for the betterment of their organization and for the common
good of their members, whilst the not-so-good ones merely focus on their self-interests and take others for
granted. Most importantly, it serves as a call to action for everyone not to keep their eyes and mouth shut
upon these injustices. They are encouraged to assemble and discuss the matters concerning the interest of
the public and the country; and upon determining the evils that they have to get rid of, they could exercise
appropriate actions to turn the unjust to the other way around.
Various philosophical issues are tackled in the play. One is the mentality of the Filipinos which are
usually gullible from the deceptions of the government officials. They are used to be passive upon the issues
thrown upon them as if they are blind and deaf and mute to react about these significant issues. Another is
the character of the government officials in which they exchange their morals and principles for money and
power. Moreover, most of the Filipino government officials are being used as ‘puppets’ by the foreign
colonizers and they tolerate it as long as they can have those money and power in return. Unknown to them,
the foreign colonizers are just taking advantage of them to control the people of their colonies.
With regards to the Public Relations strategy of the play, I could say that it was very effective and
efficient. Firstly, the subject matter is congruent to the studies of every student in the country. Thus, schools
and/or universities would most likely be inclined to require their students to attend the play, so as to learn
more with a new perspective in the works of our national hero. Secondly, not only students would benefit
from this because every Filipino citizen would be encouraged to watch the play for it encompasses
nationalistic values that every citizen of this country should have. It teaches how to be active and aggressive
with regards to the significant issues of the countries. It was said that the play pointed criticism against reallife political figures, including then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The director, Mr. Soxie Topacio
recalled that they even staged this play in Quezon with actual illegal loggers and government officials in
attendance. Finally, the play featured actors who are not only experienced in theater performances but are
also proficient in performing on television shows. The director, the playwright, the musical composers, the
production designers are also composed of the best practitioners amongst their own fields. Overall, the buildup of the image of the play would attract audiences for the implicit assurance that the performance would
give justice to the story, and to the audience’s time and money. Aside from that, the management exerted
efforts in promoting the play on various social media accounts, and various press releases in print and online
have made noises regarding the performances.
Applying the Theories of Public Relations, it can be seen that the play was excellently planned. The
first theory by Shannon and Weaver, was evident for they are sending a message (story), used a specific
channel to send their message (play), to the destination or receiver (audience). The theory by James Carey
which relied on the technological advances was evident for they used innovative devices to present the
performance better; they also encoded various messages in the play for the audiences to decode them. The
next theory which is the Grunig & Huntʻs 4 Models is probably the most often-cited theory of PR wherein the
four models are: The Press Agent Model, The Public Information Model, The Two-way Asymmetrical Model,
and The Two-way Symmetrical model which are evident in the promotion of the play in various print and
digital press releases. Robert Cialdini and Influence Theory is also evident in the play because in the first
place it talks about the influence of the works of Dr. Jose Rizal to the Filipino people, and in turn the play
aims to influence the audiences in the same way that Rizal did. Patrick Jackson and others’ Theory was very
evident in the play for it went through the stages to affect one’s behavior, namely: awareness, knowledge,
interest, preference, and action. Through the play, they created awareness and knowledge about the
significant issues of the country, hoping that the audiences would gain interest and preference to make
appropriate actions upon these issues. Mendelsohnʻs Three Assumptions for success was also present in
the planning of the play for they determined their target audiences (Filipinos, mostly students); they assumed
that the target audiences are uninterested in their message (History) so they set reasonable, midrange goals
and objectives to catch their attention and interest (Modern day rendition of History). The Hierarchy of Effects
Theory of Persuasion (namely: Exposure, Attention, Involvement/engagement, Comprehension, Knowledge
and ability (learning how), Persuasion (attitude change), Storing the new position in memory, Information
retrieval, Motivation (decision), Behavior change, Reinforcement of behavior/attitude, Post-behavior
consolidation) was also greatly utilized not only in the play itself but also in its promotion. Now that they have
persuaded the people to watch the play, the next thing they need to do is to persuade the people to
reciprocate the messages embodied in the play into their daily lives. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
which describe how our brains process messages was also manifested in this play because the audiences
have to analyze the messages presented to them before storing them in their memories (slow-learning
system as opposed to fast-learning system which merely stores new knowledge without analyzing them. In
order to successfully evaluate the message the audience must be motivated and capable to assess its merit.
The next theory, The Emotional Intelligence (EI) Theory, was the most evident out of the theories of Public
Relations for the play used emotional appeals to reach and touch the hearts and minds of every Filipino. In
relevance with the country and its citizens, it has given the audiences a way of understanding and assessing
human behaviors, management styles, attitudes, interpersonal skills and potentials. In turn, they would be
able to know their emotions, manage their own emotions, motivate themselves, recognize and understand
others’ emotions and manage their relationships with others. Lastly, another theory which was impressively
utilized was the Post-modernist PR Theory, not only in the promotion but also in the play itself. The
modernization of the promotion of the play was evident in the digital press releases online, especially in social
media. More than that, the story itself was a modernized rendition of the two remarkable classical novels of
the earlier centuries.
Quantitatively and qualitatively speaking, the play was successful in relaying its message across the
borders of time and diversity.