4 Philippine Showbiz Today
March 8 - 21, 2018
Bagani teleserye under fire from CHED for term misuse
Commissioner Ronald Adamat
of the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) is requesting ABS-
CBN for “immediate clarification and
explanation” on its use of the term
“Bagani” in a TV show of the same
name.
Dr.
Adamat,
a
former
representative of the Indigenous
People Sector during the 10th
Congress, addressed a formal letter
to Carlo Katigbak, president of ABS-
CBN.
“The undersigned… would
like to seek immediate clarification
and explanation from ABS-CBN as
to how and why the term ‘Bagani’,
which is an Indigenous Peoples
terminology and endemic only to IPs
[Indigenous Peoples], ended up used
in a teleserye that I suspect is devoid
of real meaning and substance.”
Adamat said he spoke both
as an IP himself and as a CHED
commissioner regarding the issue.
He cited that he was “deeply bothered
about the portrayal of ‘Bagani’ in
a teleserye as being a ‘bayani with
magical powers.’”
“The writers and producers of
this teleserye may have overlooked
and neglected the cultural sensitivities
of our Indigenous Peoples hence
they owe us an explanation or
clarification,” he stated.
“It is not enough for writers and
producers of movies and teleseryes
to come up with concepts, titles,
and characters that would sell and
create blockbusters yet carry with
them half-truths and lies that destroy
and negate the real essence of an
IP terminology, as in the case of
‘Bagani’, and instead bring injustice
to the 14 million Filipino IPs.”
Even before its premiere, the TV
show was hit with controversy when
its trailer revealed mixed-race actors
like Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil
“brown-faced” to appear darker.
ABS-CBN Star Creatives head
writer Mark Angos claimed that the
script called for “desert people”
with sand and dirt stuck to their
skin, hence their deliberately brown
appearance.
He also claimed that the show
was not about precolonial Philippines,
thus ancestral Filipinos were not
being portrayed. “‘Bagani’ is set in
a fictional world called Sansinukob,”
which is an alternate world, he said in
a Twitter post.
As of this writing, ABS-CBN
has yet to issue a public response to
Adamat’s letter.●
- N. V. Guno/JB, Inq.
ABS-CBN statement on Bagani
Star Creatives, the busines unit
behind the show Bagani, has released
a statement on the show which pre-
miered on March 5.
Before it aired, the show was
criticized for casting mestizo actors
and mestiza actresses when the the
story was set during the pre-colonial
times. Liza Soberano defended her-
self after many netizens questioned
her citizenship. The actress is part
Filipino, part American.
In the statement, ABS-CBN
said they did extensive research for
the show and clarified the use of the
word bagani.
“The concept of ABS-CBN’s
new fantaserye ‘Bagani’ is to feature
warriors, protectors, and heroes who
espouse Filipino values and beliefs.
“The production team did in-
tensive research to determine a dis-
tinctly Filipino term that embodies a
champion who fights for the com-
mon good of his tribe or family—
somebody who is brave, honorable,
self-sacrificing, and good-hearted. In
the end, the team recognized that the
term and concept of a ‘Bagani’ best
solidifies the traits that the program
wants to highlight,” they said.
It also pointed out that by us-
ing the word bagani, they did not
mean to treat lightly the beliefs and
culture of the indigenous people’s
community. They said that through
this show, they hoped to spread good
values of a Filipino warrior.●