Director Alvin Yapan of the Metro Manila Film Festival entry “Oro” and the rest of the film’s crew could be facing animal cruelty charges for the slaughter of a dog that was part of the film. The charges will reportedly be filed against them by animal rights welfare group Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).
Director Alvin Yapan Speaks Up
The director took to social media to speak up about the controversy that he and his crew are involved in. In a Facebook post, he clarifies that he and his crew were not involved in the slaughter of the dog.
First, he said that the dog slaughter scene was included in the film because it was really a part of a witness’ testimony about the Gata 4 Massacre, which was what the film was about. According to his post, the witness actually went back to Patrol Kalikasan to ask for the dog that they slaughtered.
He then makes his second point connected to the slaughter, saying that it is not true that he, as director, asked one of the actors to do the deed. According to him, in the provinces like the one shot in, there are people designated to do this.
No Dog Meat Consumed In The Filming
His third point addresses the issue that the slaughtered dog was consumed during the filming of the scene. He counters this by saying that the drinking scene where they were shown eating “pulutan” (supposedly from the dog) was shot separately from the slaughter scene. He also said that they used pork in this scene.
Animal Rights Vis-a-Vis Human Rights
Lastly, he justified his action of not prohibiting the slaughter by saying that he had no right to tell these people what to do and what not to do. He said, “Ni wala akong nagawa para sa pakikipaglaban sa karapatan ng kanilang mga mahal sa buhay, tapos lelecturan ko sila sa karapatan ng asong kinakain nila? (I was not able to do anything to defend the rights of their loved ones, who am I to lecture them about the rights of the dog they were eating?)
In an Inquirer report, Yapan said that the scene along with other scenes in the movie captured “the culture of violence in a far-flung province.”
MMFF Execom Decision: Cut The Scene
After PAWS wrote to the MMFF Executive Committee, the Execom met on January 20 to discuss the issue. The Execom decided that the slaughter scene will be cut from the film in the copies that will be for showing in the remaining days of the festival.
PAWS had originally petitioned that the film be pulled out from the theaters and that any awards it received will be revoked.
‘Oro’ Rep Admits To Lying About The Dog Scene
After the Execom meeting however, Film Development Council of the Philippines Chairperson Liza Diño revealed that the representative of “Oro” admitted to lying to the committee during an earlier screening of the film, saying that they used a goat and prosthetics, and not a real dog for the scene.
According to her Facebook post which detailed the results of the January 2 meeting, Diño said: “The representative of Oro, who was present during the ExeCom screening of Oro, admitted to lying to us and those present when she said they used a goat and prosthetics during the dog scene. They said it was out of panic.”