PEQUE'S afternoon "charla" (chat) with Tita Charet Locsin, Solo Locsin and me over a cup of coffee was getting serious as we asked him on the "cronologia" (chronology) of "Oro, Plata, Mata". He was nostalgic about it and he readily gave in.
When Peque was working on "Oro", he was already in the middle of his career. He started writing the story in 1976, 1977 with the working title "The Jungle Story". He got in mind a situation where there was a horribly civilized set up of people with very strict social patterns and he confined them in a setting where they are hermetically sealed.
Peque would want to see how they would survive in politics and in sex. I asked him, "How come that sex is occupying a prevalent role in your movies?" He laughed and gave a quick answer, "Sex is not my primary concern. It is just a result of my sudden impulse. Ti bal-an mo just like you and me, lalaki kita iya. We cannot stop our erection."
It was Joey Reyes who suggested that the title of the story should be "Oro, Plata, Mata" to make it neat and could cleverly work on so many levels... just the rung of the ladder: gold, silver and death. Peque offered his story to possible producers... Armida Siguion Reyna, Mother Lily Monteverde and some others. No one gave a bite.
Marilou Diaz Abaya told Peque to present his project to the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines (ECP) as a contest entry. "I won in the contest. ECP's approval came to me like a wet dream that I was so wet and made a determination to make a movie according to what I like without the intervention of other persons."
I told Peque that as a Negrosanon I really love his sub-plots in "Oro". I asked him if "Oro" is somehow related to his family history. He laughed with a crisp smile, "I created an imaginary family situation culled out from real life family experiences of the Negrosanons... that of the "hacendados", the maids, the ordinary workers, the old people, and the opportunists affected by war."
In "Oro", the high-heeled critics tagged the mountain rebels who also fought the Japanese as "tulisanes" (the bandits). Peque made a rationalization that many hacienda workers were happy during the Japanese invasion because evil hacienda owners scampered away and lived a miserable life. The Japs occupied their houses and made fun of their precious collection.
"Oro" really digested the minds of the viewers. "They hated me for striking what they do not want to be touched but they loved me for showing what should not be shown... selfish attitude, greed, humiliating circumstances, daylight nightmare, inverted hope, and declining ego."
"Oro, Plata, Mata" is already an icon, a corbel and now on a pedestal. Peque made a promise to make another movie in the same mansion he used for "Oro". I believe the dream became a reality when he filmed "Sonata", again using the Gaston mansion in Hacienda Santa Rosalia in Manapla... of course with the go signal from the good Msgr. Guillermo GG Gaston.
I was "makulit" and I want Maestro Peque to tell me if there is going to be "Oro, Plata, Mata 2" just like his "Scorpio Nights". He was hopeful of having a sequel. He considered "Oro" as an elegy of the loss of Spanish influence on Philippine life. He would want to consider one character in "Oro" to have a role in the future "Oro 2".
He was referring to the accountant of Don Claudio who was a guerilla leader. He wanted him to be there in the reconstruction process after World War II. He would play an important role and be a witness to the rise and fall of our economy... hoarding, money laundering, black market, mutation of squatters... and the playing of mahjong would still be there with men as participants.
Peque got in mind the epic story of the slow beginning of the Republic of the Philippines run like hell by the Filipinos. The death of Peque Gallaga would also end his dream for "Oro, Plata, Mata 2". In his horror movie, he scares...in his for adult movie, he stimulates... in "Oro, Plata, Mata"... he is magnanimous; in life, he is wonderful; in death, he is unforgettable.
That is how I know my teacher, friend and inspiration. The Balay Puti (Adela Mansion) is a beholder to that heart-to-heart conversation with Peque, Tita Charet, Solo and yours truly. We love and miss you Peque. Break a leg!
