Visiting artists to Pinoys: Stay strong

MANILA, Philippines - Cannes-winning Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen and American singing legend John Ford Coley arrived to a country reeling from the devastation wrought by the super typhoon Yolanda in central Philippines. The visiting artists are “heartbroken” seeing every day the images of the destruction and hearing from a couple of Filipino friends who were also affected by the monster storm.  

“I feel horrible about it, my heart breaks for the people (affected),” Coley told The STAR yesterday.

People discouraged the singer (who together with England Dan in the late ’70s popularized, among others, Love Is The Answer, Gone Too Far, We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again and It’s Sad To Belong) from coming back to the country. “In fact, my agent wrote me, ‘Tell me you didn’t go to the Philippines,’ and I wrote back and said, ‘Yes, I did.’ Several people were thinking I was walking into a dangerous situation, but even if I’m in a dangerous situation in the Philippines, I am amongst friends. So, I don’t concern myself,” said Coley, who is in town for a concert mounted by Steve O’Neal Productions at the Solaire Resort & Casino tonight, to be followed by a charity show in Cebu.   

“We are trying to help in whatever way we can, with any kind of relief efforts, monetarily. For me, help is help. It’s making a difference whether when you’re donating money, getting your hands dirty helping, or praying for people — all of those things are help, just varying degrees of help,” added Coley, who is sponsoring the education of chosen Filipino beneficiaries through Compassion International.

As for Chen, who tweeted his concern before Yolanda tore through the country, in a separate interview with The STAR, “When Yolanda happened, I was in Sweden, and I remember the only international channel I had at the hotel was CNN. Every hour, they were talking about it. For me (before it happened), I just hoped people were saved, but you know (based on satellite images before it hit the Philippines) no matter what, there was going to be damage, it was just a matter of how big or catastrophic the damage. Now in the aftermath of it, you see more and more pictures every day, the death toll is climbing, every day you hear problems with the shortage of food, the looting and all kinds of things.”

The 29-year-old UK-based director is in Manila to promote Ilo Ilo, Singapore’s official entry to the Oscars Best Foreign Language Film Category and winner of over 10 awards since it received the Cannes International Film Festival Camera d’Or (Best First Feature Film) in May. The film is inspired by his actual childhood experiences of being looked after by a Filipina nanny, whom they called Auntie Terry, from Iloilo. Ilo Ilo is scheduled to open in Philippine theaters on Dec. 4.

Chen said, “In fact, I was asking myself, if it is such a good time to fly to the Philippines at this time and promote my film when all of this is happening? It just feels so bizarre. In fact, my wife texted me, ‘Are you sure it is right for you to go?’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t now, I’m still asked to come.’”

Coley, who has been in the country countless times that he calls the Philippines “almost like a second home,” has also repeatedly performed in hard-hit Tacloban. “I have been to Tacloban several times. As a matter of fact, I have a CD that is called Timeless, and the photo on the cover was shot in Tacloban. The thing that is sad is that I know some of those people affected had gone to my concert there, and it breaks my heart. We had a good friend out there, we would stay at his hotel, and we couldn’t find him. We had no communication. Then we found out that he has survived and that he is now running a relief center out of his hotel, helping people.”   

Chen also expressed his concern for other areas not spared by the fury of the super typhoon, like Iloilo which he recently got to visit to reunite with his Auntie Terry (real name Teresita Sajonia). “That’s what I heard (that she’s okay.) They were able to contact her. I was somehow worried because she lives in this wooden hut. I was thinking it could have been blown off but no, apparently it’s intact. It’s good fortune as well, I think.”

Nevertheless, a friend from Iloilo “was telling me that you need to tell the world because everyone on CNN and BBC, every media is only concerned with the areas struck the hardest, but everyone forgot that all these other areas, people have no electricity, no food and if they’re not given enough help, like the Iloilo region, they will be in worse condition. I think it’s important to sustain the lives of those who survived in other regions.

“It’s a very, very natural thing for the media to show the most disastrous, devastating pictures, that’s how they make the news. But I think it’s very important that they are others that need to be looked after, and I hoped that people do actually open their eyes and see that, because they’re so isolated — isolated because people don’t hear them, the TV doesn’t show images from there.”

But Chen is rooting for Filipinos to see this through. “I guess what is great about the human spirit is that life continues. Yes, there’s pain and loss but we strive to go on. That’s a big thing I believe in about life.”

Having encountered Filipinos in many occasions and all over the world, many thanks to his film, Chen said that Filipinos will survive this tragedy because “I think Filipinos are generally passionate about life, and generally very cheery, warm-hearted people, you know, they celebrate life, they are happy, that they will get through no matter what happens.”

For his part, Coley said that among the qualities that will carry the Pinoys through this disaster is resilience, adding “the Filipino people are exceptionally resourceful. I am   always amazed to see what they do and how they live, and the kindness. The Filipino people are filled with kindness. And they laugh, I love people that laugh. It shows character. And the great thing about this nation is they have a strong reliance on God, and God helps.”