How can one perform his duties when working conditions is going against him? This is what one Filipino film director think is endangering the lives of his colleagues who are dedicated to their craft – the art of film making.
In a recent social media post, Director Quark Henares remembers a fellow colleague, professor, and friend who also passed away due to cardiac arrest. The post read as follows…
https://www.facebook.com/gravearchitecture/posts/10156626424365608
The first two part of his statement celebrates the life of a colleague, the late-Francis Xavier Pasion. Direk Francis worked on Sabel (2011), My Binondo Girl (2011), Princess and I (2012), Kahit Konting Pagtingin (2013), My Little Juan (2013), Dyesebel (2014), Nathaniel (2015), and with On The Wings of Love (2015) being his last.
He was my professor, he was my friend, he was the founder of my college org, he was my colleague. What I remember most about Francis Xavier Pasion was how he would fervently post posters around the campus for The Loyola Film Circle’s first ever short film festival and I was this little chubby freshman following him around ripping the scotch tape in half. “Thanks Quark. Keep this up and one day baka magiging President ka ng Loyola Film Circle.”
I never did, but I always found that view of leadership to be funny. Rest in peace, Mr. Pasion.
What is somehow inappropriate (as far as timing is concern) but still is relevant at a bigger perspective of things is the second half of the social media post.
This might not be a good time to say this but i’ll say it anyway. I think the reason a lot of TV directors like Wenn Deramas and Gilbert Perez, and now Francis Pasion are getting cardiac arrests is because of the horrible working hours and conditions in Television. And it’s not just directors: stuntmen, ADs, crew people and cameramen all go through similar situations. This should really change. And I don’t know how it will, considering that this entails losses for the networks. But it really is time.
While it is an outstretch to blame the recent incident solely on what the industry considered as ‘standard’ when it comes to irregular working hours and poor working conditions, Henares is not completely in the wrong here either. While it can always be traced back to an individual’s way of living, stress from work can also affect one’s health. The big challenge here is if this is about ‘time’, then how should he and other concerned individuals working in the industry change an industry that might slowly be killing them?
