I'm retired and enjoying it

I’ve been retired.

But I’m one retiree who still can’t avail of a senior citizen’s discount at Mercury Drugstore and all I have is their suki card that gives me rebates from my purchases.

No, I’m not getting retired from this paper because there is no retirement age in the writing profession. And yes, I’m still going to be on TV, especially since I’ve signed up for another year only a couple of months ago with GMA 7.

But I’ve been retired as a member of the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB), the body that grades films either A or B for tax rebates purposes. (It’s 100 percent return of taxes for graded A movies, 65 percent for B and nothing if they don’t pass the board’s standards.)

The way I understand it, I’ve been retired since I am way past my term and had, in fact, already served two Presidents (Estrada and Arroyo) — three had the late beloved FPJ been declared winner in the 2004 Presidential race. Yes, that was a Presidential appointment, except that I never showed up for any of the oath-taking rites in Malacañang since I imagined the drive there would have been murder.

The truth is, when I hit my 10th year in the board, I already started wondering in my head why I was still there. I got my walking papers on my 11th.

That was a long stint for me — considering the fact that it was one position I didn’t want to accept in the beginning. But Bibeth Orteza told me: “If you don’t accept the appointment, that slot may be given to somebody who doesn’t care a bit about Philippine cinema.” Bibeth had always known that I love the local movie industry and would go out of my way to fight for it if and when necessary.

Initially, I gave Bibeth two reasons why I didn’t want to accept the job: 1) Screenings were at the Louis Cinema in Makati and 2) These were conducted in the morning. She almost wrung my neck because those were unacceptable to her.

Bibeth promptly submitted my name to the Palace and not long after, I found myself taking the long journey from our La Vista residence (at the fringes of Quezon City) to Louis Cinema at the very end of Makati. At that point, it was I who wanted to wring Bibeth’s neck for putting me through such ordeal.

The worst part was that the Katipunan flyover was being constructed exactly that period and travel time was two hours and 45 minutes. That was one way. It took longer to get back since that was already rush hour.

In some instances I’d get to the screening 15 minutes after the film had started and I wasn’t allowed to vote anymore and neither was I given my honorarium. But at least, they would feed me — one glorious piece of Max Fried Chicken and rice.

When I decided to kick out my tenant (after all her checks bounced) from the little place I was renting out in Greenhills, I made that my halfway house and cut my travel time in half.

But it was still tough traversing unpredictable EDSA. On some days, I thought I would have a heart attack because I’d get stuck there for an hour. When traffic in Ayala Avenue would also turn bad, I’d get off the car and run all the way to the screening site — which had since been moved to My Cinema in Greenbelt, which is a lot closer to civilization. On a few occasions, I’d take the MRT, as per Joyce Bernal’s advice (she is also a CEB member).

The problem with going to Makati is that if you are there, you are well-advised to just stay there and not leave until traffic begins moving late at night — or you’ll be wasting a lot of time on the road.

Mercifully, the members of CEB are adorable and we have learned to love each other even if we were constantly arguing about the films we were grading. I credit the group camaraderie to the leadership of CEB chair Christine Dayrit (this paper’s travel columnist). Thanks to her mediation, violent bickering is avoided when some members passionately push for or fight against a film getting a tax incentive. And it also helps that she keeps us well fed.

Of course, I am aware that the CEB had been criticized for being overly generous in giving grades to our local films. Now, this is not a statement from the organization and is just a personal take. If you ask me, I’d rather give away tax incentives to film producers rather than send them to city and municipal treasuries where only heaven knows what the mayors will do with these funds. With money returning to producers, they can produce more movies and help keep this dying industry afloat. I can imagine that with the tax rebate (100 percent) the producers of Kimmy Dora got after getting an A grade, they can come up with a sequel and a prequel.

Are we lowering the standards for film in this manner? Maybe. But these are difficult times. The industry needs all the help it can get. When everything returns to normal, then the CEB can be stricter.

But that’s not going to be my problem anymore. I’m retired. Am I bitter for giving the best 11 years of my life to CEB — only to get replaced in the end? No. I had fun despite the difficulty of showing up for the screenings (I’d go there often without sleep) and sitting through insufferable films.

I’m now enjoying my retirement, except that I didn’t get any retirement pay and still have to scrounge around for a living. But I can look back and tell myself that once upon a time I was a Presidential appointee. I know that a lot of people are now jockeying up for positions under Noynoy Aquino’s administration. This much I can tell you: It’s no big deal.