Daan Patungong Tawaya: Martyrs, babaylans and amulets
Did babaylans and amulets in Aklan help in the Philippine revolution? I wondered after reading the synopsis of “Daan Patungong Tawaya” (Road to Paradise), a film that documents the heroism of the 19 Martyrs of Aklan, their General, Francisco del Castillo from Bantayan, Cebu and guess what … the Shamans and their amulets that may have helped shape the biggest Katipunan movement outside of Luzon.
Daan Patungong Tawaya’s director Kevin Piamonte shared that in 2018, "the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) created Sinesaysay Documentary Lab and Showcase with the objectives of highlighting the often-unvisited events in our history that have shaped the country to what it is today. The project also sought to inspire a sense of nationalism and may want to consider among others, some feminist movements in the Philippines."
His team decided to submit an entry which was inspired by “The Katipunan in Aklan”, a book written by John Barrios together with Melchor Cichon and Dominador Ilio 10 years ago. This entry, “Daan Patungong Tawaya” became one of the four finalists in Sinesaysay Documentary Lab and Showcase 2018.
In “Daan Patungong Tawaya”, historian John Barrios prepares for the death anniversary of the 19 Martyrs of Aklan, unearths his research and encounters other educators and historians. Among them is Reynaldo Ileto who believes that the understanding of our history should not only be within the pages of written documents but should also include our understanding of oral tradition.
While there are also women heroes, Philippine history can be considered male-centric. Little has been known, or hardly are there serious discussions about the important aspects of babaylanism in our history and concerning the revolution.
The film goes beyond the discussion of war as it further moves on to the positive portrayal of babaylans as animists and what our country might have been if not for the revolution. At this time of technological trappings and digital warfares, we can only aspire what we once were and how the country was when it was at peace by itself. This was our Tawaya and the road trip that this documentary will take and will bring us there.
“Daan Patungong Tawaya” is writer and director Kevin Piamonte’s second full-length documentary. His first full-length documentary, “Lugta ke Tamama” (Land from God), about the Indigenous People in Boracay represented the Philippines in the 2018 Busan International Film Festival. Piamonte is a Hollywood trained writer who has won in the FDCP screenwriting competition.
Piamonte revealed that making the documentary was a challenge. “I almost dropped the whole project after two weeks of shooting because I was afraid that people would laugh at me and see this documentary as a rumor mill,” Piamonte said during the press conference at Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo last August 31, 2019.
One can’t blame him. Who believes in the supernatural these days?
"I asked myself, will it look credible? But my companions gave me the boost, urging me not to doubt," Piamonte said.
He is joined by Macahilas as co-writer and co-director. Macahilas was one of the pioneer graduates of the Film Leaders of the Youth (FLY) and Japan Re-J program and a winner of the Sineng Pambansa Unang Yugto Screenplay Competition, which qualified him as one of the finalists for the Film Festival with his first full-length film, “Ang Mga Aswang”. His first film project “Sa Direksyon ni Makoy: The Final Cut” which discussed congenital AIDS, bagged the Jury Award for Best Short Film in the Quisumbing-Escandor Film Festival.
Every year in March, the province of Aklan commemorates the 19 martyrs’ heroism through a mass, wreath-laying ceremony and re-enactment. Some of the participants in the re-enactment became actors in Daan Patungong Tawaya. Some joked that they did not fully understand it except that they were going to die.
Participating in the documentary made these Akeanon actors fully embrace their province's history and contribution to the Philippine revolution even more.
The project also paved the way for non-actors to discover that they are also cut out for the big screen.
Fermar Novilla had to be persuaded by three colleagues in the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) before he accepted the task of playing the role of General Castillo.
"I have no acting experience, but I knew that Kevin will make it easy for me to learn how to act. And he did. He is a good director," Novilla said.
The project required that a historian be part of the film as a consultant to verify the story’s facts and authenticity. Piamonte did more than that, he included Barrios as a member of the cast.
"I was forced and coerced to act on this film," joked Barrios, a part-time Commissioner of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and Chair of the Professional Education of College of Arts and Sciences of UP Visayas.
Piamonte revealed that while they were showing the film to the panel of judges, one of them pointed to Barrios and said “that man is a good actor,” not knowing that he is the film’s historian.
Barrios admitted that he was scared at first. “I felt that I needed to first come out with a book to claim that I am a historian. I thought of myself as more of a literary person,” he said.
He added that he has a collection of manuscripts about the Katipunan and they were so old that termites have started to feast on them. "At one time I told myself that I will no longer write about it. But, this opportunity came," he said.
Piamonte shared that because of Daan Patungong Tawaya, the NHCP has declared the Aklan Freedom Shrine as a national shrine in April 2019. Located at Desposorio Maagma Street, it is where the remains of the 19 martyrs are buried.
"This is the power of film and media," he said.
Piamonte said that the film is a teaching material. To appeal to the younger generation, they combined live action, animation, and comics. Some of the content was shot live and then transformed into animated versions.
After the special screening on September 7 (by invitation) at the SM City Iloilo Cinema, Daan Patungong Tawaya will have a road tour in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
"We plan to have a workshop for students to talk about the history in their area," Piamonte said.
This would expose students to their history at a time when they are already old enough to understand. Piamonte shared that he found out that our history is only taught in elementary and no longer in the higher years, the level wherein students are mature enough to understand history.
The full-length documentary is from ERK Productions, the same team that made it to the 2018 Busan International Film Festival with “Lugta ke Tamama” (Land from God).
ERK is an acronym of the first letters of the names of Emmanuel Lerona (director of photography), Ruperto Quitag (director of photography and film editor) and Kevin Piamonte (writer and director).
Lerona is a lecturer at the University of the Philippines Visayas. He is also a street photographer and has mounted exhibitions that featured his works. He was featured in Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho for putting into focus the little known rice terraces in San Remigio, Antique.
Quitag is a staff at the University of the Philippine Visayas who makes another living with his video company called Dayaw Multimedia. As the leader of this company, they have been shooting all sorts of video projects that have been offered to them. They have also won in the Iloilo Cinekasimanwa for their short film entitled “Isla”.
The film is supported by the Commission on Higher Education and the University of the Philippines Visayas./
How It All Started
Daan Patungong Tawaya’s director Kevin Piamonte shared that in 2018, "the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) created Sinesaysay Documentary Lab and Showcase with the objectives of highlighting the often-unvisited events in our history that have shaped the country to what it is today. The project also sought to inspire a sense of nationalism and may want to consider among others, some feminist movements in the Philippines."
His team decided to submit an entry which was inspired by “The Katipunan in Aklan”, a book written by John Barrios together with Melchor Cichon and Dominador Ilio 10 years ago. This entry, “Daan Patungong Tawaya” became one of the four finalists in Sinesaysay Documentary Lab and Showcase 2018.
Synopsis
In “Daan Patungong Tawaya”, historian John Barrios prepares for the death anniversary of the 19 Martyrs of Aklan, unearths his research and encounters other educators and historians. Among them is Reynaldo Ileto who believes that the understanding of our history should not only be within the pages of written documents but should also include our understanding of oral tradition.
While there are also women heroes, Philippine history can be considered male-centric. Little has been known, or hardly are there serious discussions about the important aspects of babaylanism in our history and concerning the revolution.
The film goes beyond the discussion of war as it further moves on to the positive portrayal of babaylans as animists and what our country might have been if not for the revolution. At this time of technological trappings and digital warfares, we can only aspire what we once were and how the country was when it was at peace by itself. This was our Tawaya and the road trip that this documentary will take and will bring us there.
 |
| Daan Patungong Tawaya combines live-action, animation and comics. |
Director Almost Dropped the Project
“Daan Patungong Tawaya” is writer and director Kevin Piamonte’s second full-length documentary. His first full-length documentary, “Lugta ke Tamama” (Land from God), about the Indigenous People in Boracay represented the Philippines in the 2018 Busan International Film Festival. Piamonte is a Hollywood trained writer who has won in the FDCP screenwriting competition.
Piamonte revealed that making the documentary was a challenge. “I almost dropped the whole project after two weeks of shooting because I was afraid that people would laugh at me and see this documentary as a rumor mill,” Piamonte said during the press conference at Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo last August 31, 2019.
One can’t blame him. Who believes in the supernatural these days?
"I asked myself, will it look credible? But my companions gave me the boost, urging me not to doubt," Piamonte said.
He is joined by Macahilas as co-writer and co-director. Macahilas was one of the pioneer graduates of the Film Leaders of the Youth (FLY) and Japan Re-J program and a winner of the Sineng Pambansa Unang Yugto Screenplay Competition, which qualified him as one of the finalists for the Film Festival with his first full-length film, “Ang Mga Aswang”. His first film project “Sa Direksyon ni Makoy: The Final Cut” which discussed congenital AIDS, bagged the Jury Award for Best Short Film in the Quisumbing-Escandor Film Festival.
 |
| Daan Patungong Tawaya team during the presscon at Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo, 30th of August 2019. From left: Jomer Ata, Fermar Novilla, Joyce Christine Colon, John Barrios, Kevin Pison Piamonte, Susan Mila Alvarez-Tosalem, Emmanuel Lerona, Ruperto Quitag, Bobby Rodriguez and Maria Regina Montevirgen. |
Embracing Their Province’s History
Every year in March, the province of Aklan commemorates the 19 martyrs’ heroism through a mass, wreath-laying ceremony and re-enactment. Some of the participants in the re-enactment became actors in Daan Patungong Tawaya. Some joked that they did not fully understand it except that they were going to die.
Participating in the documentary made these Akeanon actors fully embrace their province's history and contribution to the Philippine revolution even more.
Newbie Actors
The project also paved the way for non-actors to discover that they are also cut out for the big screen.
Fermar Novilla had to be persuaded by three colleagues in the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV) before he accepted the task of playing the role of General Castillo.
"I have no acting experience, but I knew that Kevin will make it easy for me to learn how to act. And he did. He is a good director," Novilla said.
The project required that a historian be part of the film as a consultant to verify the story’s facts and authenticity. Piamonte did more than that, he included Barrios as a member of the cast.
"I was forced and coerced to act on this film," joked Barrios, a part-time Commissioner of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and Chair of the Professional Education of College of Arts and Sciences of UP Visayas.
Piamonte revealed that while they were showing the film to the panel of judges, one of them pointed to Barrios and said “that man is a good actor,” not knowing that he is the film’s historian.
Barrios admitted that he was scared at first. “I felt that I needed to first come out with a book to claim that I am a historian. I thought of myself as more of a literary person,” he said.
He added that he has a collection of manuscripts about the Katipunan and they were so old that termites have started to feast on them. "At one time I told myself that I will no longer write about it. But, this opportunity came," he said.
 |
| Fermar Novilla, actor and John Barrios, historian. Photo from Daan Patungong Tawaya Facebook page. |
The Power of Film to Influence and Educate
Piamonte shared that because of Daan Patungong Tawaya, the NHCP has declared the Aklan Freedom Shrine as a national shrine in April 2019. Located at Desposorio Maagma Street, it is where the remains of the 19 martyrs are buried.
"This is the power of film and media," he said.
Piamonte said that the film is a teaching material. To appeal to the younger generation, they combined live action, animation, and comics. Some of the content was shot live and then transformed into animated versions.
After the special screening on September 7 (by invitation) at the SM City Iloilo Cinema, Daan Patungong Tawaya will have a road tour in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
"We plan to have a workshop for students to talk about the history in their area," Piamonte said.
This would expose students to their history at a time when they are already old enough to understand. Piamonte shared that he found out that our history is only taught in elementary and no longer in the higher years, the level wherein students are mature enough to understand history.
 |
| ERK Productions: Emmanuel Lerona, Ruperto Quitag and Kevin Piamonte. Photo from Daan Patungong Tawaya Facebook page. |
ERK Productions
The full-length documentary is from ERK Productions, the same team that made it to the 2018 Busan International Film Festival with “Lugta ke Tamama” (Land from God).
ERK is an acronym of the first letters of the names of Emmanuel Lerona (director of photography), Ruperto Quitag (director of photography and film editor) and Kevin Piamonte (writer and director).
Lerona is a lecturer at the University of the Philippines Visayas. He is also a street photographer and has mounted exhibitions that featured his works. He was featured in Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho for putting into focus the little known rice terraces in San Remigio, Antique.
 |
| The team |
Quitag is a staff at the University of the Philippine Visayas who makes another living with his video company called Dayaw Multimedia. As the leader of this company, they have been shooting all sorts of video projects that have been offered to them. They have also won in the Iloilo Cinekasimanwa for their short film entitled “Isla”.
The film is supported by the Commission on Higher Education and the University of the Philippines Visayas./
Daan Patungong Tawaya Cast and the Descendants of Roman Aguirre
