Why 'The Flor Contemplacion Story' Is Problematic

March tends to be associated with "Flor Contemplacion Day" followed by the commemoration of the "Three Drug Mules in China". Granted, yesterday was Flor Contemplacion Day, her death anniversary was commemorated on its 20th year last 2015, and its silver anniversary hit during the height of the pandemic. I was personally afraid that Singapore's sudden increase in COVID-19 would be politicized by the likes of Migraine International since the silver anniversary hit during the height of COVID-19. This made me think of that movie which (thankfully) wasn't shown to us in school. It was called The Flor Contemplacion Story which starred Nora Aunor (who has been appearing in Migraine International events) and the twin sons of Flor as THEMSELVES. The movie came months after the execution of Flor in Singapore. Much outrage came that it was said President Rodrigo R. Duterte made a serious blunder in protest back when he was mayor. It was also when former president Fidel V. Ramos erroneously called Flor a heroine. Ramos did try to save Flor and failed. Fortunately, Ramos didn't cut ties with Singapore as he originally planned. Forensic results proved Flor was indeed GUILTY and Ramos proceeded to reconcile between the two countries. I guess Duterte is remorseful why he even once did what he did - assuming he really did burn Singapore's flag in protest way back when he was the mayor.

Viva Films' biopic films in examination 

I decided to watch The Flor Contemplacion Story which can be bought or rent on Youtube. The movie did win several awards. However, knowing Viva Films, there are also their biased biopic films. 2018 launched the movie called Jacqueline Comes Home. However, the innocence of Paco Larranaga has been testified by documents which the late Martin Ocampo refused to examine. Though we need to take way back since the movie about the late Chiong sisters flopped. It's sad that Dionisio Chiong died without knowing the truth at all. One must wonder why Jacqueline Chiong's body has never been found and only one body was recovered. The documentary Give Up Tomorrow gave a documentation on how the wrong people were arrested. Until now, only a few people know the truth of who really carried out the dastardly deed.

One of the most unethical things that happened was screening of The Vizconde Massacre Story during the trial. It's always protocol to ASSUME INNOCENCE before proven guilty. The trial ended up assuming that Hubert was guilty along with other INNOCENT PEOPLE accused of the crime. It was hyped up and public opinion got strongly formed against Hubert. I wonder did Amelita Tolentino ride on public opinion and the hype of the movie? I guess Kris Aquino's presence in the film as the late Carmela Vizconde made that presence. Back then, Kris used to be very popular since the 1990s to the 2000s. However Kris' fame slowly died during the administration of the late Noynoy Aquino. I think Noynoy should be thanked for Kris' fame dying. The movie already assumed Hubert was guilty even before the trial can be concluded. I guess Amelita only cared about her promotion than finding the real culprits. I guess Amelita felt that they were already guilty therefore breaking the protocol to ASSUME INNOCENCE FIRST. Amelita even denied Hubert's request for a DNA testing - a very process that could've proven guilt or innocence. Again, either Amelita is lazy or like Judge Cha in Lawless Lawyer - a seemingly virtuous woman who is a very corrupt judge in reality. I think Amelita might be that kind of woman. I don't even think the casting of Lee Hye Young was no coincidence. Both Amelita and Judge Cha look VERY MUCH ALIKE. The Vizconde Massacre Story misrepresented Hubert who was innocent as GUILTY.

Eventually, the hype of the hanging of Flor in Singapore caused much outrage. Flor was hanged for her murder of Delia Maga and a child named Nicholas Huang. The return of her body caused outrage. Flor was celebrated as a martyr and a heroine. Much sentimentalism is placed on Flor herself. Eventually, a movie based on it was released months later and given the title The Flor Contemplacion Story. It did make waves, win awards BUT let me remind you of the awards that Liela Dilemma and Maria Ressa keep receiving. International awards don't always mean credibility. Stephen Sackur even wasn't impressed with Ressa's Nobel Peace Prize.

Artistic license vs. the facts 

I remembered writing an article where I wrote where the favorite sources of "the facts" are komiks, pelikulas, and teleseryes. A careful watching of film (which made me dreary) would show the film's attempt to portray Flor as a heroine. The movie begins with Flor speaking in TAGALOG against the Chinese-speakig guards. The guards were talking in the Mandarin dialect to Flor in the movie. I really must laugh at how how the logic is as bizarre as Tekken where the characters speak their native languages to each other as if everyone can understand each other. Yet, the film was supposed to be a biopic. This is a far stretch of artistic license.

I'm not going to deny that the movie did get some facts right. Some of them are where Flor herself was estranged from her husband Efren. I remembered how Magpakailanman featured the "sequel" to the movie and Flor's daughter Russel was featured as a guest in Mel Tiangco's show. The movie showed Flor's family woes, especially how her husband wasted the remittances on a mistress. Infidelity and the like tend to fuel broken families. Flor flew to Singapore to have a better life. These were the facts that the movie got right. However, what follows next is a series of lies woven into the movie. After all, would the twin sons of Flor, Joel, and Jun Jun, star as themselves in a movie that would prove their mother's guilt?

The movie in itself twisted several facts. I think it would be best to do a review on the so-called eyewitnesses first that tried to save Flor. Some rather interesting information on Flor is that there were some last-minute witnesses named Virginia Custudio Parumog and Emilia Frenilla. Granted, they were maids from the Philippines. Emilia most likely heard the conversation in CHINESE since it was a Singaporean-CHINESE family and she didn't understand the language. Singapore later rejected the testimony to be false. Granted, Singapore already was a developed country with a really good justice system. Ramos had no choice but to accept the facts and reconcile with Singapore after he made the serious blunder of trying to save Flor. 

However, the movie had a scene that actually gave way for Emilia's statement as a fact. The child was shown to be epileptic even after a Singaporean doctor revealed it wasn't the case. The re-examination of the corpse of Delia proved one thing - Flor was GUILTY. Yet, the movie is stuck by the lies of the two maids. Granted, the twin sons of Flor, Joel and Jun Jun, were trying to gain public sympathy when the movie came out in 1995. Ironically, one month later after the film's release, the autopsy of Delia's body came into the light. Yet, the movie still made waves in contrast to a SCIENTIFIC AUTOPSY to verify that Flor was indeed guilty of the crime she was accused of.

Besides, Singapore at that point of Flor's death had already become far better than the Philippines. The late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew already turned Singapore from third world to first. Singapore as a country has already shown itself doing better. The Singaporean justice system is very rigid as evidenced by a safer, more secure society. Meanwhile, the Philippines had to deal with several innocents wrongly arrested during that time such as Hubert and Larranaga. How can we even bother to use Flor's "martyrdom" all the while the Philippines has a very weak justice system? The movie tries to mock Singaporean justice while ignoring just how bad the Philippine justice system is.