Following the animal cruelty controversy surrounding the film “Oro,” the Executive Committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival announced that they are revoking the Fernando Poe Jr. Award for Excellence that the film received during the recent MMFF awards night.
The decision was reached by the committee after conducting consultations with the family of the former movie actor, according to a Philippine Star report.
FPJ Values Violated
Senator Grace Poe, daughter of the former actor, had earlier called for an investigation into allegations that a dog was slaughtered during the making of the film. According to another Philippine Star report, she said that even if she was not part of the jury that deliberated on the award, it was her “responsibility to uphold the values of FPJ,” adding that “he would never condone an act of animal cruelty.”
Senator Poe also said that if the animal cruelty report is found to be true, she will move to have the award “invalidated.”
MMFF Decision: Withdraw FPJ Award
According to the committee’s official statement about the withdrawal of the award, this action does not make “any judgment on the artistic merit of the film or cinematic depiction.” However, “the present controversy on the alleged killing of a dog in the course of the filming of the movie effectively casts a doubt on the movie’s ability to exemplify the human and cultural values espoused by the late Fernando Poe Jr.,” says the statement.
The movie still holds the award for Best Ensemble Cast Award as well as the Best Actress Award for Irma Adlawan, who played the lead role in the film. There are no reports if these awards will be revoked as well.
According to an earlier Pilipinas Popcorn article, the film’s director Alvin Yapan spoke up about the controversy. The MMFF Execom met with representatives of the film on January 2 to discuss the allegations of animal cruelty.