MANILA, Philippines - The indie film Lapis, Ballpen at Diploma in which Buboy Villar plays teenager struggling to get a formal education despite poverty, will be screened in selected schools of Metro Manila. This was announced by the debuting and lead actor Randy Montoya (photo) who portrays as the adult Villar.
The film is about a poor boy with high hopes and big dreams. It is based on Montoya’s true-to-life story as half-Subanen living in the margins of the embattled Mindanao who earned a college degree on his own initiative. He used to do small errands from grade school days until he became a self-supporting student in college.
Through the multi-level marketing, Montoya turned himself into a successful entrepreneur and a sought-after inspirational speaker on socio-agricultural advocacies and livelihood programs locally and in some key cities of Asia.
The film aims to give due importance to the idea of getting formal education and to earn at least a college diploma instead of quitting after finishing high school to join the statistics of the jobless and the fragile sector of the country’s contractual workers.
Rated General Patronage by the MTRCB, the film was recently premiered at SM North Cinema with the cast in attendance including Villar, Pia Moran, Edgar Lo, director Danilo Jurado and producer Erlinda Obedoza of Golden Dreams, Goodwealth Trading Hong Kong.