Imelda Papin, president of the Katipunan ng mga Artistang Pilipino sa Pelikula at Telebisyon (KAPPT), has revealed that the Actors Guild was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Aktor PH, a new organization of Filipino actors headed by Dingdong Dantes as chairman of the board.
Papin made this statement during a recent press conference following her appointment as a member of the board of directors of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
According to Papin, the reaction from the KAPPT board was natural given the longstanding presence of KAPPT as the official association for film and television artists. She noted that no representatives from Aktor PH had reached out to KAPPT before forming the new group during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Dapat ano, kung tutuusin, dapat nag-usap muna kami bilang respeto sa Actors Guild because Actors Guild has been there, ‘no? ‘Yun naman talaga ang samahan ng mga artista sa pelikula at telebisyon. Sana meron sanang ano man lang, pasabi, pero okay lang sa akin ‘yon. Nu’ng una, ‘yun ang sentiment ng board, oo, kahit sino naman na ano, parang ‘ah, ganun ba?’ ‘meron ba?’ ‘bakit?’ ‘Yung mga ganun, ‘di ba? Normal reaction po ‘yon. Pero ako naman, sabi ko, okay lang, we’ll just have to respect them also,” Papin explained.
She continued, “Siyempre, una, nagtaka lang, nagulat lang. Bakit merong Actors Guild why is there another guild? ‘Aktor’ pa ang pangalan. ‘Yung una lang naman ‘yon. Pero sabi ko nga sa kanila (KAPPT Board), ‘dont worry about it, eh, ano naman nila ‘yon, eh. Kung anong gusto ng bawat isa, irespeto ‘yon.’”
Papin clarified that there is no conflict, even though many members of Aktor PH were originally part of KAPPT. She emphasized that artists have the freedom to choose which guild they want to join, or they can opt to be members of both.
“Sa akin kasi, kahit alin dito sa dalawa, pareho din ‘yan. ‘Asa showbiz industry tayo, ‘asa movie industry, dapat welcome, actually, wala namang controversial issue dito. We have not talked about this yet. Mas maganda nga ‘yung more guilds, mas healthy. Pero wala pong nag-reach out,” she said.
Papin believes that Aktor PH has a positive objective to help industry members, which is why they established the new group.
If Dingdong’s group reaches out, KAPPT is willing to engage in a dialogue.
“Maliit na dapat problemahin natin ito. Ako kasi, I’m very much concerned about helping ‘yung mga workers in the industry. Kasi ito ang mga kailangan ng tulong. ‘Yung sa Aktor PH members, they’re established na, eh. Ang pinakaimportante, tulungan natin ‘yung mga, especially right now, walang pelikulang ginagawa, walang trabaho, so mas malaki ang pansin ko doon,” Papin emphasized.
“’Pag sila ang lumapit sa Actors Guild para makipag-dialogue, ay, anytime naman. Actually, ako na siguro ang ano… ang gagawa ng paraan para mag-usap-usap kami,” she added.
As a newly appointed board member of the PCSO, Papin plans to launch a program called ‘Isang Linggong Serbisyo,’ where the office will be open even on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Ano po, ang ibig ko po sabihin dito, since ang ating trabaho ay magmula Lunes hanggang Biyernes, dadagdagan natin ng Sabado hanggang Linggo ‘yung po ang ating gagawin. So parang walang tulugan, talagang trabaho ang gagawin natin,” she said.
This program aims to help more people by not making them wait for workdays to receive PCSO support.
