- Darryl Yap shared details about his BL series Sakristan
- Yap was recently accused of child molestation and pedophilia
Rising director Darryl Yap, famed for his box-office hit film Jowable, talked about his latest project, Sakristan, during a recent digital media conference hosted by Chad Kinis. The director also addressed his critics for making the boy love series.
Sakristan is the controversial story of two male altar servers who are in a relationship. It is topbilled by Henry Villanueva as Christian and Clifford Pusing as Zach. Seen on the VinCentiments YouTube Channel, its first episode titled Touch-move premiered on May 30, 2020.
Yap considers Sakristan as one of his important projects. He also said that this will be “far better” than his previous film, Jowable.
“I am very confident and courageous to say that the script of Sakristan is far, far better than Jowable. Sa totoo lang po,I am really happy with the turnout of the script and how I tackled every sensitive topic for episodes.
“Alam ko po sa sarili ko na I have done something better than Jowable so I’m just really proud of it. Maybe you will see it later,” Yap said.
He explained,”Kung naghahanap po kami ng pagkakataon para matanggap, sisimulan ko na po yun sa pagsabi na ang serye pong ito ay di lamang para sa LGBTQ+ community dahil ayoko po kong binubukod ang komunidad. Dapat para po sa lahat.”
Though the series is seen as a gay romance, the director explained that the story as a whole, focuses on two human beings having a relationship regardless of their genders.
Yap stressed, “Mas malaki naman po ang magiging epekto nito sa mga hindi naman miyembro ng LGBT community dahil dito nila mas maiintindihan, lalo na po ng mga konserbatibo, kung ano ang kalbaryo, sakripisyo, paghihirap, sarap at ginhawa ng mga hindi lang Sakristan na nagkaroon ng pagkakataon na umibig sa kapwa lalake, kundi ng mga tunay na lalake na nagkakaroon ng pagkakataon na inuusbungan ng pakiramdam para sa kapwa nila.”
Yap said he took up the challenge of tackling this sensitive topic through a series which no one has ever done before locally.
“Bagama’t binabaha at inuulan ng samu’t saring batikos at kung ano-ano pa,at the end of the day, I still believe that my craft and my art is not meant to answer but to make more questions in the society.
He also added that Sakristan‘s story was inspired by his friend’s own story.
Addressing his critics, Yap said he chooses to value their opinions instead of getting affected immediately.
“I’ve been experiencing backlash the whole time so it’s just a matter of standing firm on your ground.
“For somebody to hurt me or for somebody to shake or affect me with the words that they are saying, I have to value them first. If I don’t value the opinion of those people who are saying nasty things about a craft that has never been seen, then it would not affect me. I would not consider that backlash,” he said.
Yap has trended on Twitter several times with many netizens attacking him as a director.
“Hindi na po ako masyadong apektado dun. Kase po naniniwala ako na ang mga nagagalit ay mas nagdadala ng atensyon sa isang bagay at kahit pa po sabihin nila na hindi agenda, para sa akin yung ganung negatibong dating na ine-enjoy ko yung bashing and everything, wala pong matinong tao nag-eenjoy ng bashing.”
On a positive note, Yap thinks that his haters need to see his craft to fully understand him.
He shared, “Ang tinitingnan ko na lang po dun is ganito karaming tao ang kailangan mong mapapanood ng likha mo para maintindihan ka at mas ginaganahan po ako ‘dun ‘pag mas maraming di nakakaunawa.”
In order to focus on his work, the director said he did not let negative criticisms cause him to feel down.
The budding director has also been accused of child molestation and pedophilia.
The filmmaker admitted that since he became widely known, he had been receiving ill comments and criticisms for his short works; some were even calling him ‘pedo’ for his past admissions that he had been in a long relationship with a minor.
Yap posted a lengthy message on Facebook last May 25 to explain his feelings on the issue. He also said he plans to file a lawsuit against those accusing him of being a pedophile online and has been gathering screenshots as evidence.