Commission on Filipinos Overseas endorses ‘Ilo-Ilo’

CEBU, Philippines - Singapore is among the top 20 destination countries of Filipinos overseas. Despite being a small country with no abundant natural resources, Singapore managed to emerge as a global business hub, attracting foreign workers, including thousands of Filipinos who search for a better life abroad.

It is thus fitting that a film tackling Filipino labor migration in Singapore will be shown in Philippine cinemas this coming December 4, in time for the Celebration of Month of Overseas Filipinos and International Migrants Day. There will be gala premiere screenings in Iloilo City on Dec. 2, and at the Shangril-la Plaza and Newport Theater, Resorts World Manila on Dec. 3.

“Ilo-Ilo,” a film by Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen and Singapore’s entry into next year’s Oscars, tells the heartwarming story of a young Filipina household service worker from a small province of Iloilo, and her relationship with her middle-class Singaporean family employer, during the hard times of Asian Financial Crisis in the 90s. A modern masterpiece, brimming with humor and poignancy, the film was partly inspired by Chen’s family story, in an attempt to find and reunite with Auntie Terry, the Filipina nanny they once had in Singapore.

The film explored several migration issues and realities such as clash in cultures, feminization of migration, homesickness and isolation endured by migrants, migrants resorting to multiple jobs, and the uncertainty of working abroad brought upon by economic crisis.

While household service workers are the most vulnerable sector of overseas Filipino workers being prone to abuses, the film shows that not all of them suffer the same fate. The film, in fact highlighted the timeless traits and values of Filipinos – adaptability, industry, and warm hospitality, treating other people as if their own family – making them in demand in developed countries with high shortage of human labor resource.

“Ilo-Ilo” stars Angeli Bayani, Koh Jia Ler, Yeo Yann Yann, and Tian Wen Chan.

The film was previously screened in Berlin, Rotterdam, Pusan, London, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Sydney, Montreal, Melbourne, Chicago, and Hawaii. At the Cannes Film Festival, it received a 15-minute standing ovation.

Critic David Ollerton of The London Film Review referred to the film as “quietly brilliant,” calling it a “gentle, subtle film that is a worthy debut.” Variety.com’s Maggie Lee, on the other hand, found it remarkable as it was “brimming with love, humor and heartbreak.”

It is on this note that the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), an agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines headed by Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas and mandated to promote the interests and well-being of Filipinos overseas, highly recommends to the public, especially migrants and their families, as well as students to watch “Ilo-Ilo.”

The CFO advocates for the public awareness on the different issues concerning migration in general, and the film hopefully will encourage discourse among stakeholders in migration on the challenges faced by migrants working overseas, and address issues concerning migration and development, social cost of migration, and reintegration of migrants back to the Philippines.

For more information, contact Tammy Dinopol of Origin 8 Media (local film distributor of the film) at 726-9645 or Frenz Tingga of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas at 552-4766.