Glory News

(posted on Manila Bulletin Online - March 24, 2007)

Gawad Kalinga are two words that spell hope and a new life for the more than 100,000 people in 850 communities nation-wide whose dwellings and new outlook in life were built from the ground up by citizen-volunteers coming from all sectors of Philippine society bound together by a common cause to build houses for the country’s poorest families.

Personally moved by this call, Butch Jimenez, corporate honcho of one of the country’s biggest companies, PLDT, but more well known in film circles as one of the acclaimed producers of the epic movie, Jose Rizal, as well as the socially-relevant films, Muro Ami and Deathrow; didn’t have secondthoughts when asked by Magsaysay Awardee and Gawad Kalinga Founder Tony Meloto to do a 30-minute film for the Gawad Kalinga Project.

The film assignment, "Ang Kapatid Kong si Elvis" , takes its main storyline from the lives of people involved in the Gawad Kalinga Project. The film segment is to be part of the trilogy, "Paraiso; Tatlong Kwento ng Pag-Asa." Butch said that he felt Mr. Meloto’s vision to rebuild the lives of the poor by initially building their homes was particularly appealing and stirred deep feelings in this 43-year-old corporate whiz and part-time film producer such that he volunteered himself wholeheartedly. "I wanted to help in my own small way," he said.

Filipino audiences both here and abroad are all too familiar with Butch’s film accomplishments in the box-office hit and critically-acclaimed JOSE RIZAL. His penchant for illustrating social issues in cinema was made further evident in his succeeding movies that were honored as well in film festivals and anthologies of the best in Philippine Cinema of the last 20 years. That these films: Jose Rizal, Muro ami and Deathrow moved audiences to take a closer look and more clearer understanding of the people and society where we live in gives testimony to what Butch would invoke as the power of film to raise consciousness. He stresses that film is a "very powerful and provocative medium." "It has the capability to contribute or even change a society," he adds.

Unlike his previous projects, "Ang Kapatid Kong si Elvis" is not a big-budgeted movie and neither had it required numerous days of shooting but the impact of the film, the producer feels, is just as much as the previous movies he produced. For Butch, the "bigness" of a film is not defined in terms of how grand the production design was or the amount of money spent but in terms of the message the movie conveys and its impact to the viewers who watch it.

So just like the other movies he produced, Butch was hands-on on this project. Together with director Joel Ruiz and line producer Coreen Jimenez, he collaborated in developing the screenplay, choosing the talents and putting the film together. Of course they had to work within the budget and Mr. Meloto’s desire to produce the film "bayanihan style" where the spirit of volunteerism was evident among everyone who participated in the project.

When Butch initially discussed his idea for the film with Mr. Meloto, he was candid enough to inform the latter that he did not want to produce a propaganda material. So the storyline of "Ang Kapatid Kong si Elvis" revolves around a family who put more time and effort on Gawad Kalinga, and ends up, eventually neglecting their own family. "The film also illustrated the weakness of the organization, which is present in every social grouping," Butch states.

In the story, a 9-year-old delinquent boy (Elvis) ends up being adopted by a couple who is very much involved in Gawad Kalinga. Tension starts when their 14-year old son (Pepe) resents his adopted "sibling" (Elvis) but the couple is too busy to even notice as they go about working as volunteers for Gawad Kalinga. Out of rebellion, Pepe, runs away from home and Elvis follows his older brother. The trip becomes a journey of self-discovery and acceptance as the protagonists realize the importance of building a family first before anything else. When Mr. Meloto allowed and approved his plot, Butch felt that it spoke of the leader’s honesty and integrity.

For someone who has already built a name for himself as one of the stalwarts in the movie industry, Butch believes in the biblical principle that "to whom much is given; much is required." Thus, when he was asked to be a part of this trilogy, he knew that that was the reason why God allowed him to do Rizal, Muro Ami and Death Row. More than building a name and a reputation for himself, this time, Butch is helping, in his own "little" way, in re-building a nation out of centuries-old poverty and the quagmire of hopelessness.