Visayans Unite! (Or Why They Should Boycott ‘Sakal Sakali Saklolo’)

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today expressed concern that an episode in the film “Sakal Sakali Saklolo” is conveying a wrong message to Filipinos by seemingly denigrating the use of the Visayan language, which is most widely spoken in the Visayas and large parts of Mindanao.

Pimentel specifically cited a portion of the film in which a grandmother was telling a nanny (yaya) in Tagalog: “Bakit pinapalaki ninyong Bisaya ang apo ko?” (Why are you rearing my grandchild as a Bisaya?)

The mother butted in by telling the yaya: “Speak to the kid in Tagalog. Parang Pinoy. (So that he grows up like a Pinoy).”

He said such conversation smacks of an ethnic slur to non-Tagalog speaking Filipinos as he called on the producer of the film Star Cinema, to promptly take steps to rectify the error.

“It offends the sensibilities of the Visayans and other non-Tagalog speaking citizens by making them feel as if they are less Filipino than the Tagalogs. It creates useless hatred in the nation,” he said.

Pimentel also voiced disappointment that the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board has overlooked the palpable flaw in the film which it should not have tolerated in keeping with its functions.

“Sakal Sakali Saklolo,” with Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo in the lead roles, is an official entry to the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival.