The sisters from the Carmelites Monastery of Mabolo, Cebu City on Tuesday expressed their dismay at the inaccurate scene shown in the trailer of the controversial film “Maid in Malacañang” by Director-Writer Darryl Yap.
The second trailer depicted three Carmelite sisters playing mahjong with former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino after the Edsa People Power Revolution broke out in February 1986.
“The attempt to distort history is reprehensible. Depicting nuns as playing mahjong with Cory Aquino is malicious. It would suggest that while the fate of the country was in peril, we could afford to leisurely play games. The truth was that we were then praying, fasting, and making other forms of sacrifices for peace in this country and for the people’s choice to prevail,” Sister Mary Melanie Costillas, Prioress of the Carmelite Monastery, said in a statement.
In February 1986, the Carmelite sisters were the ones who sheltered the former president who was seeking refuge at that time.
She explained that while praying, they were in constant fear that the military would knock on the convent to know the whereabouts of Aquino.
“We knew the dangers of allowing Ms. Cory Aquino to hide in the monastery. But we also prayerfully discerned the risk was worth it, as our contribution to put an end to a dictatorial regime. Indeed, we were ready to defend her at all cost,” Costillas added.
The Carmelites' sister claimed that they were not consulted or interviewed in the making of the film’s script.
“Let it be known that no one responsible for the movie's production came to us to gather information on what really happened. Any serious scriptwriter or movie director could have shown such elementary diligence before making such a movie,” she claimed.
She suggested that the film’s production could have asked many nuns in Caramelite Monastery of Cebu in 1986 who are “still very much alive and mentally alert” like Sister Mary Aimee Ataviado, a superior during those times.
Alongside, they also wanted to remind the public that they take their vocation seriously, and to depict them having time to play mahjong is a bit too far.
“With the grace of God, we take this vocation to pray for and with the people in all seriousness. But the pictures would imply that while the country’s fate was in the balance, we mindlessly were simply playing games. Thus, if these pictures were taken as an authentic representation of what really happened, they would put into doubt the trust that the people have placed in us,” Costillas said.
In the last paragraph of the statement, the Carmelite sister said they are praying for the unity of the Filipinos, but unity can be built on truth and not on historical distortion.
