Say no to bullying

Have you ever bullied anybody? Have you been a victim of bullying?

It comes in many forms — physical, emotional, mental, etc. — and committed either personally, by phone (landline or cell) or through social media. The latter, cyber-bullying, is perhaps the worst kind and the most harmful and dangerous because the one bullying usually hides behind a fake identity (which indicates that the culprit is a coward).

Coming soon is a movie called Marka, written and directed by Neal Tan and produced by Jojo Matias whose youthful looks is deceiving because in fact, he’s a That’s Entertainment graduate in the same batch with Ara Mina, Francine Prieto, Maricar de Mesa and Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno.

The movie’s blurb reads: Kabutihan o kasamaang ginawa mo sa iba, siguradong magma-MARKA!

Produced on a (shoe-string) budget of P1.5 million, Marka stars Martin del Rosario as 17-year-old high school student Billy who has endured years of verbal and physical abuse in the hands of two classmates (played by Jay Franco and Ken Anderson, Gerald’s brother) until one final incident that sends Billy over the edge and drives him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of his tormentors. (Serves them right, ‘no!)

The movie’s theme is vey relevant because bullying has become a problem around the world, very prevalent especially on campus. Some students in the US have been reported to have committed suicide due to bullying. The role is just as timely as far as Martin is concerned because he’s the newest victim of cyber bullying. (This writer was a victim, too, but that’s another story altogether; suffice it to say that I licked the “bullies” by giving them the cold-shoulder treatment.)

This past week, a picture of a guy kissing another guy has gone viral and cyber-bullies pointed to Martin as one of the guys simply because the guy seems to look like Martin. Other stars (male and female) have also been victimized by cyber-bullies, including Piolo Pascual who remains standing tall because, as we will know, nobody can put a good man down.

“How did I deal with that cyber-bullying?” asked Martin who should rightly be called Prince of Indie because of the markado roles he has been playing in that genre, among them the unreleased Homeless (with Dimples Romana, also directed by Tan) and one about children abducted and made to beg in the city (also unreleased), and Dagitab (for CineMalaya in August, with Eula Valdez), plus Lagim for Cinema One as a rebel who retreats to the mountains only to find out that they were surrounded by cannibals, a role that won him an acting award. “I just ignored them. Was I affected? Not at all, although my mom (who’s the sister of Ces Quesada) was, bakit daw ganoon ang ibang tao? What’s bad is if you let yourself be affected by the bullying.”

In school when he was younger, Martin confessed to have committed “mild bullying” on his friends who did the same to him as a harmless game. “Pang-aasar lang, nothing more serious, though,” qualified Martin who is taking up Masscom in UP.

“I’ve done a few movies and although I enjoyed doing them, I find doing indies more challenging,” said Martin. “Indie roles are more interesting, puede mo kasing paglaruan. But okey lang whatever is assigned to me, indie or ‘mainstream,’ because both involve acting.”

Noted for being a daring actor, Martin has no inhibitions about doing any role, even a gay role which he did in an episode of MMK (Maalaala Mo Kaya) that  dramatized the story of Kevin Balot who won Miss International Queen in Thailand.

“But I stay away from gay roles muna,” added Martin, “para hindi ako ma-typecast.”

 Marka is the second indie project of Jojo (the first was Delusyon which was anti-drug). Already 35 (but doesn’t look it), Jojo and his friends have put up a (grade school that started six years ago with 50 pupils and has now an enrolment of more than 350 ) in Cabanatuan City. He also runs a foundation that supports scholars, some of them graduated last March.

Like Martin, Jojo was also a victim of bullying in school. “But at that time,” said Jojo who is a B.S. Accounting undergraduate from Colegio San Juan de Letran and who quit showbiz after That’s, “it was considered child play; wala pang tag noon na bullying,” added Jojo who is a youth advocate, member of an NGO that guides the young along the right direction. “When I’m invited to speak in youth convention, I always stress the dangers of drugs and, yes, the bad effects of bullying.” Like Delusyon, Marka will be shown in schools nationwide. “The good news is that there’s now a law against bullying, R.A. 10627, signed in September last year.”

After lunch with a few movie writers, Jojo distributed “Say No To Bullying” button pins and posed for a group picture.

Come on, join the campaign. Say no to bullying!

And take time out to watch Marka.