Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Danilo Lim has written a letter to Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chair Liza Diño, informing her about the withdrawal of her membership in the executive committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).
“We regret not your removal from MMFF but rather that it has come this far,” Lim said in his letter to Diño dated July 21.
Detailing reasons that led to the removal, the MMDA chair first mentioned that since 2016, Diño has been making moves to transfer the management of MMFF from MMDA to FDCP.
“You even wrote a letter to Malacañan asking for extension of festival period for MMFF and to transfer chairmanship of MMFF from the undersigned to you,” Lim said.
He also claimed that Diño accused the MMFF of being involved in controversies, which he did not identify, instead of defending the institution as a member of its executive committee. He added that there were also recent events and information coming to their office that Diño still wanted to pursue her “dream to take over” the MMFF’s chairmanship.
Lim stressed that such actions “are inimical to MMFF and reek of conflict of interest.”
The MMDA chair said that they expected Diño to resign “out of delicadeza” after she first attempted to transfer MMFF’s management to FDCP, but this did not happen that’s why they decided to withdraw her membership from the MMFF’s executive committee.
This comes after MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago posted on Facebook on July 20 a copy of undated and unsigned documents, showing the FDCP’s supposed proposal to transfer MMFF to them. In her caption, Pialago wrote, “Taon taon na lang natin pinag uusapan ito Chair Diño, ang MMFF nga po belongs to MMDA. Siguro piece of advice Madam, ayusin niyo po muna ang Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino bago po ninyo pag interesan ang MMFF (We have been talking about this every year Chair Diño, the MMFF belongs to MMDA. Maybe a piece of advice Madaam, fix the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino first before you take interest in MMFF).”
Not COVID related. Not traffic related. Pero importante ito para samin sa MMDA. Lalo na kung mababasa namin ito na may…
Posted by MMDA Spokesperson Celine Pialago on Monday, July 20, 2020
‘Confused’
In its official statement, the FDCP expressed “confusion” over Diño’s removal, as none of the issues related to the matter was raised in the last meetings of the MMFF executive committee attended by the FDCP.
The national film agency explained that the document shared by Pialago was the FDCP’s position paper in 2017 which was given to the MMFF for comments. They said that it was discussed by the MMFF executive committee in a meeting in October 2017, but no action was taken since then.
Here is the official statement of Film Development Council of the Philippines on the letter received from MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim on the Metro Manila Film Festival pic.twitter.com/D1pFftcv12
— FDCPofficial (@FDCPH) July 24, 2020
“In fact, FDCP accepted subsequent invitations to be part of the Executive Committee after 2017 in support of the Philippine Film Industry,” they said.
Since Lim’s letter was the “first official communication” they received about the matter, the FDCP said they reached out to MMDA to ask for further clarification about their decision. They added that they will be releasing another statement after their meeting with the MMDA.
Diño, meanwhile, has not issued her own comment regarding her removal, as of writing.
The MMFF is held every December, where no other films aside from its so-called “Magic 8” are shown in local cinemas for two weeks starting Christmas Day. Its organizers have released the list of the first four official entries for this year’s edition, although it remains unknown how the festival will be carried out amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that forced entertainment industries to shut down.
[READ: First batch of entries for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival named]