gIIJ

iv15

00:.

4C

K\o

lI

LD

(’1hN

[S

Posner,

Michael

Chybow

skiand

David

Gallo.

Last,

butnot

least,thank

youto

theeditorial

staffat

TC

Gfor

their

careand

comm

itment

tothe

publicationof

thisplay:

Terry

Nem

eth,K

athyS

oyaan

dT

oddM

iller.

•N

OTES

ON

THE

PLAY

“Dogeater”

isa

pejorativeterm

forth

eF

ilipino,w

hich,

accordingto

my

matern

algrandm

other,L

olaT

ecla,an

d

oth

ergood

sources,w

ascoined

byA

merican

soldiersdurin

g

theP

hilippine-Am

ericanW

ar.It

seemed

afittingly

harsh

,

confro

ntatio

nal

titlefor

thenovel

which

Ilater

wrote

in

1990.As

anovel,D

ogeatersseem

sto

havestru

cka

chord

and

hashad

quitea

life(tran

slatedin

toseveral

languagesand

happilystifiin

print). Buthow

inheaven’s

name

didthis

multi

layered,little

epic—w

ithits

complex

narrativ

ew

hichm

ixes

fact,fiction

and

avibrant,

tropicallan

dscap

epopulated

by

hundred

sof

characters

babblingin

English,

Span

ishand

Tagalog—

everm

akeit

tothe

stage?

In1997

Iw

aspersu

aded

bydram

aturg

eG

regG

un

ter

and

directo

rM

ichaelG

reif(w

how

asth

enA

rtisticD

irector

ofL

aJolla

Playhouse)

toad

apt

my

novelinto

aplay.

Iw

as

reluctan

t,but

intrig

ued

enoughto

sayyes,

than

ks

to

Michael’s

persistencean

dobvious

com

mitm

ent

tothe

pro

ject.W

ebegan

developingthe

script

with

acore

groupof

actorsat

theS

undan

ceT

heatreL

abin

Sundance,

Utah.

Other

workshops

and

readingsfollow

ed.T

hew

orldpre

miere

ofD

ogeaterstook

placeat

La

JollaP

layhousein

1998

The

New

York

prem

ieretook

placeat

The

JosephP

app

Public

Theater/N

ewY

orkS

hak

espeare

Festival

in2001.

vi

vii

NO

TE

SO

NT

HE

PL

AY

:.e:

NO

TE

SO

NT

HE

PL

AY

Like

thenovel

fromw

hichit

isadapted,

theplay

tellsa

many-layered

storyofurban

Philippines

asseen

throughthe

eyesof

itsdisparate

andoften

desperatecharacters—

froma

privilegedm

estizaschoolgirl

named

Rio,w

hodream

sofone

daybecom

inga

writer,

toJoey,

ajunkie-hustler

fromT

ondo,born

hornthe

unionbetw

eena

prostituteand

anA

frican-A

merican

soldier;from

Andres,

anE

rrnitadrag

queenw

horeinvents

himself

as“Pearl

ofthe

Orient,”

toD

aisyA

vila,an

unhappybeauty

queen,w

hois

thedaughter

ofthe

doomed

Senator

Dom

ingoA

vila;from

am

anipulative,w

eepyand

powerful

First

Lady

named

Imelda,

tothe

prayingw

oman

named

Leonor

andher

tormented

torturerof

ahusband,

General

Nicasio

Ledesm

a.T

he1998

La

JollaP

layhouseproduction

differedfrom

the2001

Public

Theater

productionin

severalw

ays.A

tL

aJolla,the

1959sequences

ofthenovelw

ereincorporated

intothe

script.R

iow

asa

much

more

central

character,as

were

her

parents,before

their

separation.R

ioserved

asthe

play’sobserver

andsom

etime

narrator;in

the2001

productionthese

rolesw

ereifiled

bythe

wacky

andom

niscientsoap

operastars,

Nestor

andB

arbara.M

y2001

versioncan

beconstrued

asleaner

andm

eaner,dispensing

with

the1959

scenesand

focusingon

theM

anilaof

1982.H

erethe

char

actersof

JoeyS

andsand

Daisy

Avila

become

more

germane

tothe

story.H

opefully,this

scriptwillgive

thereader

some

senseof

thevast,

darkterrain

andhistorical

scopeof

Dogeaters.

Hum

or,spiritual

faith,a

willingness

toadapt

andim

proviseare

keysto

survivalin

theoften

harshand

unforgivinglan

dscape

ofboth

theplay

andthe

novel.R

adiom

elodramas,

cornyjingles,

bittersweet

kundiman

songs,class

conflicts,rock

androll

music

andH

ollywood

movies

allfigurepro

mi

nentlyin

thestory

Gossip,

a.k.a.chism

is,provides

ambience

andnarrative

links.A

merica,

theC

atholicC

hurchand

thetw

inspecters

ofF

erdinandand

Imelda

Marcos

loomlarge.

Fam

ilyand

tribalties

rundeep.

Working

with

MichaelG

reifandthe

actorsin

bothp

roductions

was

trulyone

ofthe

happiest,m

ostfulifiling

andcreative

periodsof

my

life.The

actualprocess

byw

hichthis

playbecam

ea

playinvolved

mem

ory,invention,

improvisa

tionand

transformation—

diggingdeep,

inother

words.

Itw

asa

profoundand

visceraljourney

form

e,as

well

asthe

Filipino

actorsinvolved.

The

material

strucka

rawnerve

forthose

ofus

with

Philippine

roots.O

ldw

oundsw

ereopened

up,and

mem

oriesw

ereevoked

thatw

ereboth

joyfuland

painful.L

ongingan

dloss

areat

thecore

ofour

being.O

necould

certainlyfeel

thepow

erof

suchm

ixedem

otionson

thosenights

inthe

theatrew

henthe

audiencesw

erelargely

Filipino.

The

soundof

theirangry

tearsand

bitter,know

inglaughter

was

music

tom

years.

JessicaH

agedornJu

ne

2003N

ewY

orkC

ity

viii

ix

CHA

RACTERS

SE

NA

TO

RD

OM

ING

OA

vILA

—leader

ofthe

oppositio

nm

ovement

againstth

eM

arcosgovernm

ent;D

aisy’sfather

NE

ST

OR

NO

RA

LE

ZA

ND

BA

RB

AR

AV

ILL

AN

UE

VA

—

agelesssoap

opera

stars;the

play’sn

arrators

JOE

YS

AN

Ds—

Afro-F

ilipinohustler

anddeejay;

arou

nd

six

teen

DA

lSy

AV

ILA

—S

enatorA

vila’stw

enty-year-olddaughter;

abeauty

qu

een

RIO

GO

NZA

GA

—young

mestiza

wom

anof

Filipino,

Am

erican

and

Span

ishancestry;

born

inM

anila,now

livingin

California

LE

ON

OR

LE

DE

SM

A—

Genera

lL

edesma’s

deeplyre

ligio

us

wife

FA

TH

ER

JEA

NM

AL

LA

T—

nin

ete

en

th-c

en

tury

Jesuit

prie

st,

explorerand

auth

or

FR

ED

DIE

GO

NZ

AG

A—

Rlo

’Sfa

ther;

asu

av

em

idd

le-a

ged

man

PU

CH

AG

ON

ZA

GA

—R

io’s

flirtatio

us

cousin

;sam

eag

eas

Rio;

livesin

Manila

uN

CL

E“—

Joey’sm

entor;a

middle-aged

drugdealer

andpim

p

SA

NT

OS

TIR

AD

OR

—re

vo

lutlo

nary

fugitive;tw

entiesto

thirties

L0

LT

AL

UN

A—

soft-p

orn

“b

om

ba”

mo

vie

sta

r;tw

entie

s

TR

INID

AD

“T

RIN

I”G

AM

BO

A—

tiCket

selle

rat

theO

deonm

ovietheatre;

earlythirties

RO

ME

OR

osA

LE

s—

stru

gg

lmg,

sta

rstr

uck

waite

ran

dw

ann

abe

actor;tw

enties

MA

NW

ITH

GuIT

AR

—S

anto

s’s

com

pan

ion

TH

EW

AIT

ER

AT

TH

EJE

EP

NE

YC

OF

FE

EsH

oP—

middle

agedto

old

AN

DR

ES

“P

ER

LIT

A”

AL

AC

RA

N—

dra

gqueen

and

ow

ner

ofS

tudio54,

Malate,

Manila;

middle-aged

CH

IQU

ITIN

GM

0R

EN

0—

halrd

resser

toIm

eldaM

arcos,P

erlita’sfriend;

middle-aged

PE

DR

O—

jan

itor

at

Perlita’s

disco

RA

INE

RF

AS

SB

1N

DE

a—G

erman

ifimdirector;

thirty-sevenyears

old

JME

LD

AM

AR

C0

S—

Firs

tL

adyof

theP

hilippines

TW

O“S

KIN

WH

ITE

”JIN

GL

ES

ING

ER

S—

backups

for

Nesto

r

and

Barbara’s

show

GE

NE

RA

LN

ICA

SIO

LE

DE

SM

A—

Chie

fo

fthe

Philippine

military

LIE

UT

EN

AN

TP

EP

EC

AR

RE

0N

—G

efle

ral

Ledesm

a’s

pro

tég

é

SE

VE

RO

“C

HU

CH

I”A

LA

cR

AN

—su

av

e,

pow

erfu

lan

dru

thless

tycoon;considered

therichest

man

inthe

Philippines

MA

NG

BE

RT

0—

sham

an

/sn

ak

ecatc

her

TI

TO

AL

VA

RE

Z—

po

pu

lar

“m

ega”

actio

nS

tar;

twen

ties

to

thirties

BO

OM

BO

OM

AL

AC

RA

N—

Only

son

of

Severo

Macra

n;

twen

tiesto

thirties

YO

UN

GM

AN

AN

DY

OU

NG

W0

MA

N—

sex

sh

ow

perfo

rmers

srv

iJA

CO

BS

—N

ewY

orklim

escorrespondent

basedin

Manila

TH

EH

OiL

lD

OO

RM

AN

LO

LA

NA

RC

ISA

oI

INo

—R

io’s

mate

rnal

gra

ndm

oth

er;

deceased

BO

BS

TO

Nr—

distinguishedA

merican

journalist;m

iddle-ag

ed

TH

ES

HO

OI

FR

NO

TESO

NSETTIN

GK

AP

AB

I0

,K

AL

YD

IAA

N1)

KA

ED

GA

R—

leftistN

PA(N

ewP

eople’s

Arm

y)guerrillas

RA

1>

10

AN

NO

UN

CE

RT

hew

orldthat

thisplay

inhabitsis

sometim

esgrim

andK

AL

IN

GA

IR

IB

RS

MA

Nstark,

sometim

esbeautiful

andlush,

butalways

volatile.The

cultureis

aw

ondrousbundle

ofcontradictions.

Tim

eis

ariv

erofdream

s,where

thepast,

presentandfuture

swirland

meet.

Mundane

rea1it

thesupernatural,

thespiritual

andthe

carnal

collideand

coexist.W

iththe

exceptionof

two

scenesin

Act

Tw

o,m

ostof

theaction

takesplace

in1982,

inthe

teeming,

urbanlan

dscape

ofM

anila.A

ctTWo,

Scene

11is

setina

safehouse

bid

denaw

ayin

therem

oteand

ruggedterrain

ofthe

Kalin

ga

Apayao

province,approxim

atelytw

elveto

fifteenhours

northof

Manila.

Act

Tw

o,S

cene14

takesplace

ina

New

People’sA

nnyguerrilla

campsite

inthe

mountainous

junglesof

theC

ordilleras,in

thissam

eprovince.

Isuggest

thatthe

setbe

simple,

multileveled,

andable

toserve

many

purposes—to

transfo

rm,

ina

matter

ofsec

onds,from

ahum

ble,m

akeshiftdw

ellingin

theslum

sof

Tondo

toan

elegantdraw

ingroom

inM

alacanangP

alace.In

boththe

La

Jollaand

Public

Theater

productions,screen

doorsopened

torear

projectionscreens,

which

tookon

slidesor

light.There

arem

anyother

ways

toim

aginethis

world,

ofcourse.

But

theim

portantthing

torem

ember

isthat

multiple

andsplit

scenesoccur

throughoutthe

play.

7.S

EN

AT

OR

AV

ILA

/T

HE

MA

NIL

AF

ILM

CE

NT

ER

CO

LL

AP

SE

Senator

Avila

and

two

Military

Men

8.S

ER

EN

AD

E

Nestor

and

Barbara

/D

aisy,S

antosan

dM

anw

ithG

uitar

9.R

IOA

ND

PU

CH

A

JeepneyC

offeeS

hop,Inter-C

ontinentalH

otel,M

anilaR

io,P

uchaand

Waiter

UST

OF

SCEN

ES10.

ST

UD

IO54

Malate,

Manila

Pert ita,

Chiquiting,

Joey,R

ainerF

assbinderan

dP

edroA

ct One

11.“G

IRL

TA

LK

”

KB

S-TV

,B

roadcastC

ity,M

anila1.

RA

DIO

Barbara

and

Imelda

Marcos

/Nesto

ran

dTw

o“Skin

White”

Senator

Avila

/T

heC

ompany

JingleS

ingers

2.F

IN

AN

DG

AM

ES

12.G

OL

F

“Dat’s

Entertain

men

t!”T

heM

onteV

istaG

olfan

dC

ountryC

lub,M

akati,M

anilaN

estotB

arbaraan

dF

atherM

alta!/

The

‘om

pan

yN

estoran

dB

arbara/

SeveroA

lacran,S

enatorA

vila,

3.H

OM

F.CO

MIN

GG

eneralLedesm

a,L

ieutenantC

’arreon,R

omeo

and

Manila

Intern

ational

Airp

ort,

1982M

angB

erto

Rio,

Freddie

and

Pucha

13.o

PE

NIN

GN

IGH

T

4.“usc”

AN

DJO

EY

Barbara

Tondo,

Manila

14.S

TU

DIO

54

/“B

AD

GIR

LS

”

“Uncle”

andJoey

Midnight,

Studio

54

5.B

EA

UT

YP

AG

F.AN

TJoey,

Perlita,

C’hiquiting,

Fassb

ind

eL

olita,lito,

Two

Bar

Magsaysay

Pavilion,

Manila

Boys

and

General

Ledesina

Nestor

and

Barb

ara/Daisy

,S

enatorA

vilaand

Santos

15.S

Ex

SH

OW

MO

NT

AG

E

6.R

0M

F.0A

ND

TR

IN

IL

eonor/

Nestor

and

Barbara

/Joeyan

dF

assbinder/

Rio,

Odeon

Theatre,

Manila

Boom

boornan

dTw

oSex

Workers

/R

omeo

and

Trini /

Nestor

and

Barbara

/R

omeo

and

Trini /

Lolita

Lolita

and

General

Ledesm

a

16.D

AIS

YA

ND

PA

PA

Daisy’s

Bedroom

Nestor

and

Barbara

/D

aisyan

dS

enatorA

vila

17.T

HE

AS

SA

SS

iNA

TiO

N

JeepneyC

offeeS

hop,Inter-C

ontinentalH

otel,M

anila

Joey,F

assbinderW

aiteran

dSteve

Jacobs/

Nestor

and

Barbara

/S

enatorA

vila,D

oorman

and

Lieutenant

Carreon

/D

aisy

Act

Two

1.L

OL

A’S

GA

RD

EN

Ne.stor

and

Barbara

/R

io,L

olaN

arcisaan

dF

reddie

2.A

MO

VIE

MO

ME

NT

JoH

NN

YK

0M

MA

ND

0

Starrin

gT

itoA

lvarezas

Johnny

Kom

mando

andL

olitaL

unaas

IndayK

atubiglito

and

Lolita

3.“U

NC

LE

”A

ND

JOL

Y

Tondo,

Manila

“Uncle”

and

Joey

4.I3

LF

RA

YA

L

Daisy

and

GeneralL

edesma

/“U

ncle”an

dL

ieutenantC

arreon/

Joey/

Chiquiting,

Pucha,

Lolita,

Barbara,

Rom

eoan

dB

obS

tone

5.S

TU

DIO

54

Perlita,

Joeyan

dP

edro

6.D

IRT

YM

OV

IES

Severo

Macran’s

Private

Screening

Room

SeveroA

lacranan

dL

olita

7.T

RIN

IA

ND

RO

ME

OB

RE

AK

-UP

/R

OM

EO

’SS

HO

OT

ING

Cubao,

Quezon

City

Rom

eo,T

rini,B

arbaraan

dS

hooter

8.T

HE

VIP

LO

UN

GE

“VIP

Lounge,

Cam

pM

editation,”Q

uezonC

ityN

estoran

dB

arbara/

Daisy,

GeneralL

edesma,

Lieutenant

Carreon

and

Soldiers

9.D

AIS

YA

ND

PA

PA

’SG

HO

ST

Daisy

and

Senator

Avila

Ghost

10.T

HE

PA

LA

CE

iNT

ER

VIE

W

Malacanang

Palace

Imelda

Marcos

and

Bob

Stone

11.S

AF

EH

OU

SE

Kalinga-A

payaoP

rovince,12—

15hours

no

rthof

Manila

Joey,K

aL

ydia,K

aP

ablo,K

aE

dgaran

dR

adioA

nnouncer

12.T

R1

NI’S

LE

TT

ER

TO

HE

RM

OT

HE

R

Trini

13.“L

AS

TD

AN

CE

”

Studio

54P

erlita,C

hiquitingan

dR

io

14.D

AIS

YA

ND

JOE

Y

Cordillera

Mountain

sD

aisy,Joey,

Ka

Edgar

and

Kalinga

Tribesm

an

15.P

RA

YE

R

Leonor

and

General

Ledesm

a

16.F

INA

LP

AG

EA

NT

Rio

and

The

Com

pany

+A

CT

ON

E

SCEN

E1

Radio

Radios

of

allshapes

andsites—

antique,m

odern—litter

thestage.

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upon

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pany—som

eholding

transistorradios,

othersm

erelylistening.

We

hearthe

soundofstation

surfing:new

sbulletins,

snatchesof

Tagalog

popsongs,

janglycom

mercials,

Am

ericandisco,

etc.T

heseradio

fragments

arespoken

bythe

company.

President

Ferd

inan

dM

arcosan

dF

irstL

adyIm

elda

Marcos

havebeen

invitedto

visitthe

White

House

byP

residen

tRonald

Reagan

and

First

Lady

Nan

cy.

..T

hesecond

dayof

thejeepney

strikehas

escalatedinto

Finalists

forthe

Miss

Philippines

contest

includeD

aisyA

vila,d

aug

hter

of.

..

Protests

againstthe

U.S.

bases

contin

ue

to.

..T

wo

hun

dred

deador

missing

when

yes

terday’searth

quak

e..

.The

Manila

Intern

ational

Film

Festival

..

.C

oncernsab

out

ris

ing

unem

plo

ym

ent

inflationand

lawlessness.

..A

ribbon-cuttingcerem

ony

toin

aug

urate

theF

irstL

ady’ssp

ectacular

Manila

Film

Cen

ter..

. Tw

enty-oneN

PArebels

were

reported

killedin

ask

irmish

with

military

troopsin

theprovince

“Datc

Entertainm

ent!”C

’elebritvtalk-show

,hosted

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ever-handsom

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oralez(R

alphB.

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Jesuitpriest

andbest-selling

autho,F

atherJean

Mallat

(ChristopherD

onahue).

Is

of..

.The

pesocontinues

tofall w

hilethe

dollar..

.Presi

dentM

arcoshas.

..A

t6:21

thism

orning,in

thelobby

ofthe

Inter-Continental

Hotel,

Senator

Dom

ingoA

vila—

(Senator

Avila

stepsout

of the“crow

d”of actors.

Gunshots.

We

seeS

enator Avila

collapse.L

ightsdow

n.)

:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

JOR

Y(Softly,

tooffstage

trick):Sige,

baby.S

eeyou

lateralli

gator,okay

baby?(B

lows

offstagetrick

akiss)

NE

ST

OR

“The

Torm

entedB

eautyQ

ueen.”

(Lights

upon

Daisy

Avila,

acrow

non

herhead,

waving

tothe

audience.)

BA

RB

AR

A:

“The

Anguished

Exile..

SCEN

E2

Funand

Gam

es

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:“D

at’sE

ntertainment!”

Fantare

andm

usicas

lightscom

eup

onN

estorN

oralezand

Barbara

Villanueva—

flamboyant,

eternalstars

ofradio,

stageand

screen.

NE

SI

OR

:A

tm

agandanggabi,

ladiesand

gentlemen!

This

is

your

host,the

ever-handsome

Nestor

Noralez—

BA

RB

AR

A:

andyour

co-host—

NE

ST

OR

:the

peren

nial

sweeth

eartof

theP

hilippines,the

everlovely

andeverlasting—

BA

RB

AR

A:

Barb

araV

illanueva.W

elcome

toa

tropicalfiesta,

your

“showof

shows.”

NE

ST

OR

: The

longest-runningsoap

operain

theP

hilippines.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Stories

ofcourage,

resistance,resignation

andredem

ption.N

Esro

R:

Unforgettable

characters!

BA

RB

AR

A:

“The

Survivor.”

(Disco

music.

An

anonymous

room.

Lights

upon

JoeySands—

apartially

dressedA

fro-Filipinohustler

around

sixteenyears

old.H

egoes

throughhis

trick’sbelongings,

findsa

wallet,

stealsnzonev.)

(Lights

upon

Rio

Gonzaga

atthe

airport.)

“The

Penitent.”

(Lights

upon

Leonor L

edesnea,w

ifeofG

eneral Ledesm

a,

praying.)

NE

ST

OR

:S

om

anystories!

Avaudevifie

ofdoom

edlove,

shameless

desire,dream

san

dlonging.

Som

eone

always

laughs,som

eonealw

ayscries,

someone

always

dies.

(Echo

of gunshots.)

BA

RB

AR

A:

“Dat’s

Entertain

men

t!”talaga.

Ay,dios

ko!(F

an

ningherself)

It’sso

hot!S

ostultifying

and

hot,di

ba?

NE

sT

0R

:Just

likeyou,

Barb

ara.

BA

RB

AR

A(S

watting

Nestor

with

herfan):

Hoy,

Nestor!

Bastus

katalaga!

NE

ST

OR

Ican’t

helpm

yself.L

et’snot

forget,w

em

ust

never

forget—B

AR

BA

RA

:w

e’rein

theto

rridzone.

(Am

bientjungle

sounds:birds

andcrickets

chirping,

monkeys

screeching.)

DO

GE

A7L

RS:

1617

DO

(,E1

JE

RS

:Jl.5

SIC

AH

A(E

DO

R\

NE

ST

OR

:A

v,B

arbara.O

urguest

tonightis

oneof

thefirst

white

men

tow

riteab

out

usan

dm

akea

big,bigsplash.

BA

RB

AR

A(T

hrilled):P

residentM

cKinley?

NE

sT

OR

:W

ho’sP

residentM

cKinley?

We

neverhad

a

“President

McK

inley.”W

ashe

Filipino?

BA

R13

AR

A:G

agoka,

talaga!M

cKinley

was

theU

.S. presid

ent

backin

1898,N

EsT

0R

:A

ndyour

pointis?

BA

RB

AR

A:

He

colonizedus!

NE

ST

0R

:I

knewthat!

Joking-jokinglan

g.

..Y

ouknow

that

oldsaying,

Babs:

“The

Philippines

spentfo

ur

hundred

yearsin

aS

panishconvent—

”

BA

RB

AR

A(G

leefiullv):“and

fiftyyears

inH

ollywood!”

(Nestor

and

Barbara

crackup

attheir

schtick.)

NE

ST

OR

(Toaudience):

But

seriously,folks.

Let’s

havea

big

handfor

(Show

ingoffa

lavishcoffee

tablebook)

—the

auth

or

ofthe

bestsellerT

heP

hilippines—nineteenth-

centuryF

renchJesu

itp

riest..

.JeanM

allat!

(Mallat enters. B

arbarasqueals

with

excitement.A

pplause.)

MA

EL

A1

:Merci.

You

may

callm

eF

ather

Jean.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Okay,

Fath

erJean.

Now

tellu

s..

.(Deadpan)

have

yousold

them

ovierights

yet?M

AL

LA

T(P

erplexed):W

hat?

(Nestor

and

Barbara

startlaughing.)

What...

(Barbara

pokesM

allatin

theribs.)

BA

R13

AR

AJoking-joking

lang!M

AL

LA

1:1

don’tknow

what

isa

“movie.”

Iam

hereto

plug

my

book.

NE

ST

OR

:O

fcourse

youare!

But

seriously,F

ather.A

rey

ou

oneof

thoseco

nquistad

or

typesobsessed

with

finding

paradise?M

AL

LA

r:Y

oum

ustbe

confusingm

ew

ithM

agellan.I’m

French,

notS

panishor

Portuguese.

They

were

here

first,rem

ember?

NE

sT

0R

:1521.

MA

LL

AT

:T

hatis

correct.W

hereasI

came

in1846.

Iloathe

theS

panish,don’t

you?A

lmost

asb

arbaric

and

smelly

asw

eF

rench.B

utstu

pid

erreally.

Thought

they’d

foundIndia.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Why

iseveryone

always

searchin

gfor

India?

India’soverrated.

(Beat)

Did

youhave

fun,F

ather

Jean?

You

kn

ow

..

. measu

ring

skullsan

dbutto

cks

and

teethfo

rag

ing

fo

ralie

nsp

ecim

en

s...

MA

LL

AT

:O

fcourse

Idid!

Wouldn’t

you?It

was

them

ostfun

Iever

had.B

AR

BA

RA

:M

akeus

kuwento

narnan,F

ather

Jean

...W

hat

was

itlike

seeingus

forthe

firsttim

e?

MA

LL

A’r:

Like

fallingin

love,B

arbara.

Love,

yes.T

hat’s

exactlyit.

The

Philippines

was

totallyunexpected.

God’s

surprise,if

youw

ill.T

heS

pan

iards

neverfully

appreciated

thism

elancholyparad

ise,b

ut

Idid.

Such

mystifying,

hallucinogenicbeauty.

Flow

ersthe

colorof

bloodan

dthe

sizeof fists..

. Who

needs/oie

grasw

henyou’ve

gotm

angoesan

dban

anas?

NE

ST

OR

AN

DB

AR

BA

RA

:C

ontrolyourself.

MA

LL

AT

:E

venas

Ilay

dying,I

neverforgot

my

Philippines:

“Pearl

ofthe

Orient.”

BA

RB

AR

A:

Why

didn’tyou

just

stayhom

e?M

AL

LA

T:

Hom

e?W

herew

ouldcivilization

be,if

we

allju

ststayed

“home”?

I

1819

DO

6L

.4IL

RS

SCEN

E3

Hom

ecoming

TITLEpR

OJE

CT

IUN

Manila

Intern

ational

Airport,

1982

Airport

anthientsounds.

Morning.

Waiting

area.L

ightsup

onFreddie

Go

nag

a,a

snare

middle-aged

man

wearing

abarong

tagalogshirt,

and

Pich

aG

onzaga,his

niece,a

youngw

om

anw

earinga

dressand

heels.R

ioG

onzaga,F

reddiesdaughrer

ayoung

wom

aniii jeanc

anda

T-shirt,

enters.She

carriesa

shop

pingbag

filledw

ithgifts.

FR

ED

DIE

:W

elcome

home,

Rio.

LC

HA

(Em

bracingR

io):Ay!

Cousin!

We

thoughtyou’d

neverget

here.R

io:P

ucha!

(Rio

turnsto

Freddie.A

naw

kward

mom

entbetw

eenflither

and

daughteER

iohands

himthe

gif

bag.)

Papa—

Ibro

ught

thisfor

you.G

hirardellichocolates.

Duty-F

reeR

émy

Martin

.I

knowyou

lovecognac

andchocolates.

FR

ED

DI

E(S

urprisedan

dpleased):

Thank

you,hija.

Iguess

youdidn’t

knowI’ve

beendiagnosed

with

diabetes.R

Io:

Oh,

god,no.

I’msony.

FR

ED

DII

:Nothing

tobe

sorryabout.

It’snot

yourfault.

PU

CH

AD

on’tw

orry,R

io.I’ll

eatthem

.I

adorechocolates.

Naku!

They’re

soexpensive

here.

(Freddie

hugsan

dkisses

Rio.

Puclia

takesa

pictureo

fthem

with

herinstam

aticcam

era.)

“Kodakan.”

FR

ED

DIE

:L

ongtim

eno

see.(B

eat)I’m

sorryab

out

yourL

olaN

arcisa,hija.

20

4:

JES

SIC

AH

AG

ED

C)R

N

Rio

:D

idI

miss

grandma’s

funeral?O

h,god—

FR

ED

DIE

DN

o,no.

I’vearran

ged

itfor

theday

afterto

mo

rrow

.W

ew

antedto

make

sureth

atyou

andyour

moth

ergot

herein

plentyof

time.

PV

CH

A:

Your

lola’sw

akew

assu

pposed

togo

onfor

threedays.

But

inthis

heat,her

bodyw

asstartin

gto—

FR

ED

DiE

:P

ucha,P

ucha.P

lease.P

ucH

A:

You’ve

beengone

solong,

Rio.

Dios

mio—

io:

Fourteen

years,tw

om

onths.P

ucH

A:

Ay!

Too

long.Ju

stlook

atyou,

Cousin!

Rio

:Ju

stlook

at you.A

lldressed

up.P

UC

HA

:A

ba,siem

pre.S

pecialoccasion,

diha,

Uncle

Freddie?

Rio’s

come

home,

(Shehands

Freddie

thecam

era)A

Kodak

mom

ent

please.

(Rio

and

Pucha

pose.)

FR

ED

DIE

:0

,sige.

Read

y...

(He

takesa

picture.)

Puci-IA

(ToR

io):W

ow!

Bongang-bonga!

0,ano

ba—you

stillunderstan

dT

agalog?R

IO:

Yeah.

You

just

accusedm

eof

beingtrendy.

pu

CH

A:

Too

trendy,talaga!

Don’t

youth

ink

she’strendy,

Uncle

Freddie?

FR

ED

DIE

(ToR

io):H

oww

asthe

flightfrom

San

Francisco?

P.1

0:

Okay.

Iw

atchedtw

oshitty

movies—

(Pucha

giggles,sm

acksR

ioon

thearm

.)

What?

FR

ED

DiE

:Sige

na.Y

ourm

other’sw

aitingat

herhotel.

You

mustbe

exhausted, Rio.Let’s

getoutofthis

crazyairport.

(Freddie

ushersR

ioan

dP

uchaoffstage.)

21

DU

GE

AIE

RS:

bJE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

R.\

RIO

:D

on’tI

haveto

goth

rough

customs?

My

bags—F

RE

DO

IF:

1took

careof

it,hija.

SCEN

E4

“Uncle”

andJoey

TiT

LE

PRO

JEC

TIO

N:

Tondo,

Manila

Insidea

one-roomshack

inthe

slums

ofTondo.

We

seeJoey

Sands

listeningto

Lo

ve

Letters

ona

boombox

while

lightingup

ashabu

pipeand

gettinghigh.

Nestor

andB

arbaracreate

thesound

effectsand

playall

thesoap

operacharacters.

‘JE

sT

0R

:T

hisis

Radio

Manila,

home

ofL

oveL

etters.S

tar

ringyours

truly,N

estorN

oralez—n

AR

BA

RA

andyours

truly,B

arb

ara

Villanueva.

NS

TO

R:

Intonight’s

episode,n

um

ber

sevenhundred

and

sev

en

ty-tw

o—

BA

RB

AR:

therich

playboy,R

aymundo,

betraysthe

servantgirl,

Dalisay.

Bang

bang.N

EsT

OR

(As

Raym

undo):Ay,

diosko.

I’vebeen

shot.B

AR

BA

RA

(As

Dalisay):

So

much

blood,m

ylove—

Ay!

Doña

Hilda!

Please,

don’t!(S

oundof a

slap;changes

voiceto

Hilda)

Puja!

You

thin

kI’m

notcapable

ofkilling

youto

o?

Get

outof

my

house,you

filthy,conniving,

sinfulw

ho

re!

(Dalisay

again)P

lease,D

oñaH

ilda,for

thesake

ofG

odand

your

grandchild,have

mercy!

(Anot herslap,’

Hilda

again)P

uta!A

chay!T

raidor!N

EsT

0R

:W

hatare

youdoing

tothis

poor

creature?

(Sound

of

adoor

creakingopen,

thenfotsteps—

allm

adeby

Nestor

onthe

radio.Joey

listensm

oreintently

tohis

boornbox.N

estorin

theguise

of

avam

pire

22

asw

an

g,

laughs.C

reepythreatening.

Joeylaughs

with

him.

“Uncle,”

Joeys

pimp,

enters,surprised

tofind

Joey.)

UN

CL

ET

urnthat

shitoff.

Why

theflick

are

n’t

you

at

theR

ainyD

ayM

otel?D

onE

milio

and

hisw

ifeare

waitin

g

.J0EY

:F

uckhim

and

hisugly

wife.

uN

cL

E:

No,

Joey.H

iman

dhis

ugly

wife

want

toflick

you.Y

oubetter

hurryover

toth

atlove

motel

andshow

themhow

goodyou

canfuck.

J0

EY

:P

iss

on

Don

Em

ilio.I’m

goin

gto

my

job.U

NC

LE

:Whatjob?

Spinning

record

sfor

abu

nch

of sillyboys

indresses?

(Contem

ptuous)D

eeja

y.

What

thefuck

isth

at?Jo

EY

:D

eeja

ygrooby

nagrooby,

man.

Im

eetall

kindsF

oreignersw

hom

ighttake

me

away

oneday.

Aw

ayfrom

thisT

ondoshithole

and

you.uN

CL

E:

Puwede

ba!Y

ou’llbe

luckyif

youget

asfar

asthe

airport.Y

ou’rehigh

andstupid,

Joey.B

eingin

that

bakiabar

hasm

adeyou

gago.Y

ouknow

Uncle

don’tcare

ifyou

smoke

shabuor

stickcoke

upyour

ass,but

Uncle

hasno

usefor

gago.B

etterbring

inthe

money,

boy.Y

ouow

em

e.I

rescued

youfrom

alife

ofshit,

buried

your

stupid

whore

ofa

mother—

JOE

Y:

My

mo

ther

wasn

tstupid.

UN

CL

E:

You

don’trem

emb

erher.

JO

EY

Ido!

She

was—

UN

CL

E:

Aputa.

(Mocking)

Her

littleh

eartbro

ken

bya

blackG

I.Y

ourfather.

And

where

ishe

now?

J0E

Y:

Fuck

you.

Fuck

him.

UN

CL

E:

Aputa,

just

likey

ou.

(Joeylunges

atU

ncle,w

hopulls

outa

balisongIb

utter

flyknife].

Joeybacks

off)

Oh,

Joey.O

h...

23

DO

UE

.411I?

S:

:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

R\

(Uncle

touchesJoe’s

facegently

with

thetip

ofhis

knife.)D

AiS

Y:

Dahil

saiyo

(‘Because

ofyou

“)

What

yougood

for;anyw

ay?O

nlyU

nclesee

thegood

naiskung

mabuhay

..j”I

wan

tto

live..

.“

inyou,di

ha?T

hebeauty.

Sige,Joey.Y

oubetter

go.D

onD

ahilsa

iyo(“B

ecauseofyou

“)

Em

ilioand

hisw

ifeare

waiting.

hanggangm

amatay

...(“un

tilI

die,

..‘)

(Joevexits.)

(Daisys

singingjades

asB

arbaraspeaks.)

BA

RB

AR

A:

As

Daisy

sings,w

esee

her

father,S

enato

rA

vila,beam

ingw

ithpride—

SCEN

E5

(Senator

Avila

entersan

dblow

sD

aisya

kiss.)B

eautyP

agean

t

NE

ST

OR

:and

thelovesick

revolutionaryfugitive,

Santos

TIT

LE

PR

OJE

CT

ION

:M

issP

hilippinesB

eautyP

ageant,M

agsaysayT

irador;hid

den

inthe

shad

ow

s...P

avilion,R

oxasB

oulevard,M

anila

(Lights

upon

Santos,

reachingo

ut

toD

aisy.)D

rainroll.

Lights

upon

Nestor

andB

arbara.C

rowd

noisebuilds.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Watching

her;w

antin

gher.

NE

S10:

And

now,

ladiesan

dgentlem

en...

them

om

ent

we

haveall

beenw

aitingfor

..

.(S

ingsa

laB

ertP

arks)“T

hereshe

isSC

ENE

6(S

poken)W

ehave

watched

thissw

eetyoung

ladyI

Rom

eoand

Trinigrow

upth

rough

theyears

...

She’sthe

dau

ghter

ofa

certaindistin

guish

edsenator—

LE

PR

oJE

cTIo

N:

Odeon

Theatre,

Manila

(Lights

upon

Senator

Avila.)

Movie

music.

Nestor

and

Barbara

nan-atew

hileIlita

Luna

‘petfonns”the

movie.

BA

RlIA

RA

Sm

artna

smart

andlove-ling-lovely

talagaj

NE

SfO

RA

ND

BA

RB

AR

A:

Daisy

Avila!

NE

ST

OR

:T

hew

hin

gso

un

dofa

fflmpro

jecto

rinthe

darkA

movie

lightsup

thescreen.

Am

onsoonis

brew

ing.

(Wild

applause.S

potlighton

Daisy,

dressedin

abeauti-

Ithes

dark

ens.

..w

armw

indsare

blowing.

ful,butterfly-sleeved

ternogow

n.She

singsthe

popular

IB

AR

BA

RA

:C

oconuttrees

sway

inthe

distance.T

heirto

ps

lOL’L’song,“D

ahilSa

Iyo.“)

heavyw

ithhard

swollen

fruit.W

esee

theim

ageof

a

24

25

.:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

DO

GL

.411

RS:

distrau

ght

beauty,played

byL

olitaL

una,stan

din

gon

theedge

ofthe

sea.L

olitaw

earsa

slinkynightgow

n.N

EsT

0R

:R

ollingw

aves,hypnotic.

Cut

toL

olita’sface

inextrem

eclose-up.

Her

eyelidsshut.

Tears

streamdow

nher

face.M

usicsw

ells.L

ongshot

ofL

olitaas

shew

alksinto

thew

aves.T

hem

ovieends.

Credits

roll.

(Lights

down

otiN

esto,B

arbaraan

dL

olitu.L

ightsup

onthe

dingyO

deontheatre,

empty

exceptforR

omeo

Rosales,

wlioc

beenw

atchingthe

movie,

and

Trinidad

“Trini”

Ga;nboa,

ticketsellec)

TR

INI:

The

Agony

ofL

ove.

RO

ME

O:

Excuse

me?

TR

INI:

The

Agony

ofL

ove.R

OM

EO

:Y

es.

TR

1N

J:T

hisis

theth

irdor

fourth

time

I’ve

seen

you

here

thisw

eek.

Must

be

your

favorite

mo

vie

.It’s

my

favorite

,to

u

Iget

tosee

allof

thembecause

Iw

orkhere.

Icry

everytim

eN

estorN

oralezap

pears

torescue—

Ro

ziE

o(R

everently):L

olitaL

una.(G

ettingup

fromhis

seat)S

eeyou

nexttim

e.T

RIN

I:W

ouldyou

liketo

join

me

forsom

em

erienda?(L

ookingat

herw

atch)I’m

off

now

.

RO

ME

O:

Well,

I...1

can’t.

TR

INI:

Never

mind.

Ididn’t

mean

tobe

sofo

rward

.

RO

ME

O:

No,

no.I’d

lov

eto

,but

mbroke.

TR

IN

i(E

mbarrassed

forhim

):D

iosko.

I’mso

ny

.

Ro

ME

0:

Don’tbe

sorry

.It’s

no

tyour

fault.

(Beat)

What’s

your

nam

e?

TR

IN1

:T

riniG

am

boa.

And.

..yours

?

RoM

EO

:R

om

eo

Ro

sale

s.

TR

IN1

:W

ow

.(B

eat)A

mo

vie

star’s

nam

e.

RO

ME

O(P

leased):I

am

.I

mean

,I

will

be.I’m

..

.an

acto

r.

TR

1N

I:W

ow

.

RO

ME

O:

Im

ean,

righ

tnow

I’ma

waite

r.(P

roudly)A

tthe

Monte

Vista

Golf

andC

ou

ntry

Club.

TR

TN

i:W

ow

..

.High-class.

RO

ME

O:

Itis.

Very

high-class.T

R1

NI:

Ik

no

w.

Sev

ero

Macra

now

ns

it,di

ba?(G

iddy)“T

heR

ichestM

anin

theP

hilippines.”“T

heK

ingof

Coco

nuts.”H

eow

nseverything:

TruC

ola,M

anilaR

um—

RO

ME

O(W

ithpride):

I’mhis.

..p

ers

on

al

waite

r.

TR

INI:

Wo

w.

RO

ME

O:

But

I’mquittin

gsoon.

My

buddyT

ito,

..

doyou

knowT

itoA

lvarez?T

RI

Ni

(Excited):

Tito

Alvarez!

The

action

star?R

OM

Eo:

We’re

fromthe

same

hometow

nin

Batangas.

He’s

helpingm

eget

ascreen

testat

Mabuhay

Studios.

“[ni...

anacto

r...I

mean,

nghtnow

I’ma

waiter

“L

oveat

firstsightfO

rm

oviefans

Trini

Gam

boa(E

ileenR

ivera)and

Rom

eoR

osales(Jonathan

Lopez).

I

2627

D0&

EA

IER

S:

I•:

JES

SIC

AH

AG

ED

OR

tV

TR

INI

(Beside

herself):D

iosko!

When?

R0

ME

o:

So

on

.V

ery

so

on

.(B

eat)T

ito’son

locationright

now.

TR

INI:

This

isso

wonderful!

Naku,

we

shouldhave

merien

da.P

lus,it’s

my

birthday.R

OM

EO

:R

eally?(c’oyly)

How

youngare

you?T

RIN

1(B

eat):S

hallw

eg

o?

There’s

aJollibee’s

nextdoor.

RoM

Eo:

Jollibee’sis

expensive.N

akakahiya.I

shouldbe

treatingyou.

It’snot

rightfor

aw

oman—

TR

INI:A

y!Y

ouso

und

just

likem

yfather.

Puw

edeha,

it’s1982

and

I’ma.

..fem

inist.R

omeo

Rosales—

(Grabs

Rom

eoby

theelbow

and

startsw

alkinghim

out)w

on’tyouhelp

thispoor,

homesick,

country

girlcelebrate

her

birth

day?Sige

na,

my

treat.

SCEN

E7

forty.

..

fifty.

..

ahu

nd

redm

en.

..

maybe

more!

Laborers.

Hum

anbeings

likeyou.

The

time

hascom

efor

usto

takeour

placein

history.T

hetim

ehas

come

forus

tofight

forchange!

Here

youall

are,stan

din

gin

thehot

sun,m

oth

ersand

fathers,sons

anddau

ghters

bro

thers

andsisters,

mga

kababavan!W

em

ust

openo

ur

eyes.L

ookat

thew

reckagearo

un

dus.

We

must—

(The

microphone

goesdead.

Avila

tapsthe

mike,

looksup

atthe

military

men.)

Can

youhear

me,

my

fellowF

ilipinos?T

heycan

no

tsilence

me.

They

cannot

silenceyou.

No

more!

Tam

ana!

Let

usw

akefrom

our

centu

riesof

sleep.W

em

ustact

now!

Senator A

vila/

TheM

anilaFilm

Center

Collapse

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:T

wo

o’clockA

M.

Loud

sirens.Scream

s,shouts,

crowd

noise,etc.

Slidesof

theFilm

Center

collapse.People

runnin

g,

bodiesbeing

carriedo

ut.

..the

toppledstructure.

TITLEP

RoJE

cTIo

N:

Sen

ator

Avila

Leads

aP

rotest,R

oxasB

oulevard,M

anila

(Lights

upon

SenatorA

viladow

nstageat

am

icrophone.Tw

om

ilitarym

enw

earingsunglasses

obsereehim

fromabove.)

AvIL

A:

Thank

youfor

coming

outon

suchsh

ort

notice,m

ypeople

.S

alamat.

Itis

goodto

seeso

many

ofyou

gath

eredhere,

them

orningafter

thisterrib

ledisaster.

Tw

ofloors

ofthe

Film

Center

havecollapsed,

killing

Sound

ofbarking

dogs.L

ightsup

onN

estoran

dB

arbara.

NE

ST

OR

Midnight.

The

gard

enof

the

Avila

home.

BA

RB

AR

A:

We

seeS

antosT

iradorap

pro

achD

aisy’sbalcony

overlookingthe

garden.N

ES

TO

R:

Night

ofnights,

BA

RB

AR

A:

nig

ht

oflove.

NE

ST

OR

AN

DB

AR

BA

RA

:S

hhh,..

(Lights

down

onN

estoran

dB

arbara.U

pon

Santos.)

SA

NT

OS

(Stagew

hisper):D

aisy.

..p

sst!

SCEN

E8

Serenade

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:S

erenade

28

29

DO

(,L1IL

RS

::

JE

SS

IC4

(Daisy

appearsat

thebalcony.)

Daisy!

DA

iSY

(Nervously):

Sino

iyan?S

anto

s.is

that

you?sA

sros:

Icouldn’t

sta

yaw

ay,

Mutya.

DA

ISY

:W

hat?sA

NT

os:

Mutva.

Beloved.

Your

new

nam

e.

Im

iss

you,

Mutya.

DA

ISY

:Y

ou’re

cra

zy,

man.

Sirang

ulo.S

AN

ros:

Cra

zy

for

you.

Co

me

with

me.

DA

IS‘:

What?

Ican

’tdo

thisto

my

family.

You’re

aw

ante

d

man.

sA

NT

0S

:Sige

na,M

utya—D

AIS

Y:

The

milita

ryw

illarre

st

my

fath

er

or

killhim

ifthey

find

you

here

!(W

arily)W

ho

isth

atw

ithy

ou

?

(Man

with

Guilat

San

toss

companion,

enters.)

SA

NT

O5

:M

ykasam

a—it’s

okay.C

ome

with

me.

With

us.D

AIS

Y:

No.

It’stoo

dangerous.S

AN

ros:

Sow

hat?I

loveyou.

Run

aw

ay

with

me.

Now

.D

AIS

Y:

Ho

w?

sAN

T0S

:W

estole

acar.

DA

Is\

(Am

used):D

iosko.

Cra

zy

!

sA

Nros:

Sige—D

AIS

’:G

oaw

ay

.It’s

notsafe.

Don’t

make

me

choose.S

AN

TO

S:

Ilove

you,D

aisy

.M

utya.(To

hiscom

panion)Sige.

(Man

with

Guitar

playsguitar

andsings

with

Santos.)

SA

N[O

SA

ND

MA

NW

ITH

GuIT

AR

:

Dahil

saiyo

naiskutg

niabuhayD

ahilsa

iyohauggang

maniatay

(Santos

moves

closerto

thebalcony,

holdingou

this

arms.

He

jumps

and

climbs

toward

Daisy,

Man

with

Guitar

continuesplaying,

softly)

DA

ISY

:N

o,no.

My

father—I

can’tdo

this—shit—

don’tfuck.

Santos,

no!Y

es.Stay.

(Santos

and

Daisy

kiss.L

ightsdow

n.)

SCEN

E9

Rio

andP

ucha

TITLEPR

OJE

cTIO

N:

JeepneyC

offeeS

hop,In

ter-Contin

ental

Hotel,

Manila

Bossa

novam

uzakplays

inthe

hotellobby.M

id-afternoon.T

hecoffee

shopthem

eis

the‘eepney

“—a

cheapm

odeof

publictransport

which

originatedw

ithU

.S.arm

yjeeps

left overfromW

orldW

arII.P

uchasits

inone

ofthe

colorfuljeepneychairs—

-painted

loud,vibrant

colorsan

ddecorated

wit?,

flamboyant

hoodornam

ents,banners,

mirrors,

etc.R

ioenters

isa

flurryofexcitem

entan

dsits

down

acrossfrom

Pucha.

Rio

:G

uess

who

Iju

stsaw

inth

eladies’

room

?B

rookeS

hields.P

UC

HA

(Spots

Brooke

walking

by):A

y!T

hereshe

goes!Q

uebarbaridad!

She’sas

bigas

acarabao.

Naku!

It’sso

exciting.F

oreigners,celebrities—

herefor

Imelda’s

filmfe

stival.

RiO

(Checking

out

thejeepney

chair

and

decorarnusedl

Pucha.

What

isthis

amazing

placeyou’ve

bro

ught

incto?

30

31

Do(;E

4T

LR

.s•:

JE

SS

ICA

1-IA

GE

DO

RS

Pv

cH

A:

You

like?(P

retendsto

drii’e’)B

eepbeep!

We’re

goingth

rough

traffic.I’m

a“sexy

chick”an

dyou’re

a“rebel,”

Rio.

(ToW

aiter)P

sst.H

oy!P

uwede

ha.C

anw

eget

some

“service”nam

an?

We’ve

beenw

aitingand

waiting.

wA

ITE

R:

Yes,

ma’arn.

Sorry

ma’am

.P

ucIIA

:Isang

ban

ana

split.A

nda

Coke

forher.

(Waiter

startsto

leave.)

RIO

(ToW

aiter):Teka

muiia.

(ToP

itcha)I

don’tw

anta

Coke,

Pucha.

(ToW

aiter)K

alaniansijuice,

puu’ede.K

auntingice.

wA

ITE

R:

Canned

orfresh,

ma’arn?

RIO

(Puzzled):

What

doyou

mean?

Pu

cH

A(P

roudly):W

ehave

cannedkalam

ansijuicenow

.A

ndm

ango,g

uav

a..

.everything“fast

food”!R

IO(To

Waiter):

Fresh,

please.R

ealkalam

ansi.W

AIT

ER

(Shyly,to

Rio):

You

areF

ilipino?Y

oudon’t

look—P

ucH

A:

Aba,

ofcourse

sheis!

Tarantado

kaba?

(Waiter exits)

These

peoplenow

adays,talaga.

Soforw

ard.R

IO:

Pucha,

please.H

edidn’t

mean

anyharm

.P

uc

HA

:E

xcusem

elang,

but

Ithink

hew

asflirting

with

you.U

gh!S

ucha

baduy.R

io:

“Baduv”?

Isth

atnew

?W

hatdoes

itm

ean?P

uci-iA

:A

ba,w

hat

else?L

owclass.

AR

io.L

ookat

yo

u—

sogloom

ynainan!

Ever

sincethe

funeral,you

haven’tleft

your

papa’shouse.

Rio

:F

uck,P

ucha.O

fcourse

I’mgloom

y!M

ylola’s

dead.I

didn’thave

achance

tosay

good-bye.pucu:

Your

gran

dm

aloved

youso

much.

io:

Rem

ember

howI’d

followher

around

likea

puppy?P

UcH

A:

Yeah,

always

runnin

goff

toher

roomto

listento

that

cornysoap

opera—gao:

Love

Letters.

PI

CH

A:

It’sstill

on!C

orny.

RIO

(Laughs):

And

theday

we

snuckinto

that

Rock

Hudso

nm

ovie?P

Uc

i-iAO

urfirst

grown-up

movie,

diha?

Poor

Rock—

Doris

Day

neverun

dersto

od

him.

io:

We

went

toth

atth

eatrea

lot.T

heO

deon—it

was

cozyP

VC

HA

:W

ehave

nicer

theatres

now.

First-class.

First-ru

n,

io:

It’sw

eirdbeing

back.M

ega-malls.

Super-highw

ays.T

hisplace.

Ifeel

likeI’m

inL

.A.

And

my

house!A

llthose

mirro

rsev

eryw

here.

PU

CH

AY

eah.Your

father’snew

wife

sleepingin

yourm

other’sbed.

RIO

:E

ey

o;

Pucha!

Please.

Where

thehell

didhe

meet

that

wom

ananyw

ay?She’s

youngerth

anm

e.P

UC

HA

The

Miss

World

pageant.S

hew

assecond

runner-up.io

:R

ight.P

apaand

hisbeau

tyqueens.

There

havebeen

like,hundred

sof

them.

PucH

A:

Naku!

Did

youh

earab

out

ou

rnew

Miss

Philip

pines?S

kandalosa,talaga!

You

knowD

aisy?She’s

Sen

ator

Avila’s

daughter.T

heysay

she’shaving

sexw

iththis

NPA

bigshot,

daw!

io:

What?

PV

Ci

A:

Sex!N

ewP

eople’sA

rmy!

They’re

those.

..ano

haiyon?

“Rebels

inthe

mountains.”

RIO

:Y

eah,I

know.

So.

..this

Daisy

girlis,

like,fucking

oneof

them?

Pu

cH

A:

Shhh!

Rio

:S

hhh?P

uC

i-iA

:Ay,R

io.You’re

sobastus.

We’re

inthe

Inter-Con,

And

you

keepsaying

“fuck.”

(Waiter

returnsw

ithdrinks.)

Hoy.

Where’s

my

ban

ana

split?

(Waiter

rushesoff)

(ToR

io)Y

ouknow

,w

hat

youneed

issom

efun.

3233

DO

GE

4IE

RS

:.

e:

JES

SIC

AH

AG

ED

OR

\

RIO

:O

kay.L

etsgo

toIm

elda’sfilm

festival.P

uC

HA

(Excited):A

y!Sige!

Boom

boomM

acrancan

getop

ening

nighttickets.

And—

(Drops

voice)B

oomboom

hasthe

best—(M

imes

smoking

ajoint)

inM

anila.T

hebest!

We’ll

goto

adisco

afterwards—

Studio

54!Ju

stlike

theone

inN

ewY

ork.

(liziterreturns.)

SCEN

E10

Studio

54

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:S

tudio54,

Malate,

Manila

Afternoon.

Insidea

popular

bar

and

disco.L

ightsup

onclub

owner/diva

And

resA

lacran,also

known

asP

erlita.

PE

RL

ITA

(Fanning

himself):

Hoy,

bruja!A

tlast!

wA

ITE

R:

Sorry,

ma’am

.W

ehave

noice

cream.

PU

cH

A:

What?

No

icecream

?B

uthow

canth

atbe?

This

isthe

Inter-Con

Hotel!

wA

ITE

R:

Idon’t

know,

ma’am

.R

IO:

Jesus,P

ucha.Is

thisnecessary?

PU

CH

A:

Iknow

them

anager,M

r.D

uchstein.H

e’sG

erman.

io:

It’sju

stflicking

icecream

.W

AIT

ER

:I

don’tknow

,m

a’am.

(U/oiler

exits.)

PU

CII

AW

ow,

You

thin

khe’s

lying?R

IO:

Idon’t

know.

pucii:

Ay,never

mind.

I’llord

ersom

ethingelse.

Ilove

beinghere,

don’tyou?S

oclean

andcool,di

ba?T

heair-

con

alw

ay

sw

ork

s...

You

neverknow

who’s

goingto

walk

in.R

io:

Yeah,

Iknow

.“F

oreigners.”“C

elebrities.”P

UC

HA

Ican

preten

dI’m

avisitor,

just

likethem

.Ju

stlike

you.R

io:H

oy,puw

edeba!

lam

nota

visitor.

(Lights

upon

hairdresserC

hiquitingM

oreno.)

cH

IQu

ITIN

G:

Naku!

Have

youheard

thelatest,

Perlita?

Lolita

Luna’s

inthe

hosp

italw

ithsyphilis.

General

Ledesm

aord

eredher

top

ut

achorizo

down

there,to

drawthe

worm

sout.

PE

RL

ITA

(Shrieking

with

delight):M

ybig

shotco

usin

Chuchi

probablygave

her

syphilis.cH

IQu

ITIN

G:

Hala!

You

better

watch

your

mouth,

bruja.T

hatkind

oftalk

couldget

youkilled.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Isth

ata

warn

ing

or

ath

reat?cH

JQ

UIT

ING

:I’m

your

friend.P

ER

L1

TA

:I

hear

our

newM

issP

hilippinesis

preg

nan

tb

that

Santos

guy.C

rying-crying,sle

epin

g-s

leepin

g.

They

sayshe’s

gotbangungot

and

won’t

wake

up.cH

IQu

ITIN

G:

That’s

oldnew

s.Is

Santos

cuteba?

Nobody’s

everactually

seenhim

.P

ER

LIT

A:

Darling,

Com

munists

arealw

ayscute.

(Yelling

tosom

eoneoffstage)

Hurry

up,P

edro!It’s

alm

ost

five

o’clock.W

hatdo

you

thinkI’m

pay

ing

yo

ufo

r?T

heto

ilets

aren’tfit

for

pig

sor

men.

cH

10

UiT

ING

Hoy,

bruja.Y

ou’db

etterw

atchyour

bloodpressure.

PE

RL

ITA

(IgnoringC

hiquiting):P

uñeta!D

oyou

thin

kI’m

run

nin

ga

cheapw

horeh

ouse

or

oneof

thosetacky

love

35

I

34

:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RS

motels

inP

asay?Q

uebarbaridad

talagam

gaw

alang

hiva!

(Joeyenters.)

Hoy,

Joey.W

hatbrings

youhere

soearly?

JO

Ey

:H

ungry.(H

elpshim

selfto

Perlita

sC

heezC

urlsan

da

shotofrum

)K

umusta,

Chiquiting?

cfi

oL

ITN

GO

kaytang.

(Affectionately

pinchesJoey

sw

aist)Y

ou’reso

payat,nanian.

(ToP

erlita)D

on’tyouthink

he’sgetting

tootoo

skinny?P

ER

LIT

A:

Too

skinnytalaga.

CH

IQU

ITIN

G(G

lancesat

hisw

atch):N

aku.I’m

late.I’ve

gotto

run

and

doIm

elda’shair.

PE

RL

IT(R

ollshis

eyes):‘Sus.

(Beat)

Hoy,

bruja.D

on’tfo

rget.

You

pro

mised

tobring

Imeld

ahere

laterso

shecan

seem

yact.

And

don’tforget

topay

foryour

beer.I’m

notm

adeof

money!

(Chiquiti;zg

givesPer!ita

anam

usedlook,

blows

akiss

andexits.

Beat.

Per!itarem

ovesJoeys

sunglasses.)

Let

me

seethose

beautifuleyes.

Are

youon

that

shitagain?

Goddam

nU

ncle.That

oldbastard

gotyoustarted

ondope

just

sohe

couldcontrol

you.JO

LY

(Putting

glassesback

on):Y

up.P

ER

LIT

A:

Did

youhear

me?

Uncle’s

usingyou,

just

likehe

usedall

thoseoth

erstupid

boys.T

hatold

man’s

evil.Jo

Ey:

You’re

theevil

one,P

erlita.(P

erlitasw

atsJoey

with

afan)

Hey,

watch

it.

PE

RL

iT

A:

You

better

watch

it,too.

I’mgood

with

this—(P

ullsout

abalisong)

JO

hY

Put

that

away.

You’ve

seenW

estSide

Stoiy

toom

anytim

es.G

etw

ithit,

Perlita

baby.T

hesedays,

what

youneed

isa

gun.

PE

RL

ITA

:A

ba,for

yourin

form

ation,

Im

anagevery

well

with

out

thosenasty

things.T

hey’reto

o...

macho

form

ytaste.

Iprefer

knives.K

nivesare

much

more

per

sonal.Jo

Ev:

You’re

loca,m

an.S

irangulo,

PE

RL

ITA

:Y

ou’retoo

youngto

un

derstan

d.

How

oldare

youan

yw

ay?

Sixteen?

Seventeen?

0E

v:

Idon’t

know.

(Beat.)

PE

RL

ITA

:W

antan

oth

erdrink?

(Perlita

pours

anoth

erJoev

gulpsit

down.)

Wow

.T

akeit

easy,baby.

You’ve

gotto

spinthose

records,M

isterH

eartbreak

Loverboy.

Stay

sober.B

ignight

tonight,di

ba?m

ET

:W

hateveryou

say.C

anyou

advancem

ea

fewpesos,

boss?P

ER

Li

TA

:Aba,

youstill

owe

me

fromthe

lasttim

e!W

hydon’t

youask

that

oldso

nofab

itchU

ncle?JoE

Y:

Forget

it.

PE

RL

ITA

:Y

ou’rescared

ofhim

,aren’t

you?j0

Ev

:I’m

notscared

ofanybody,

Perlita.

PE

RL

ITA

:S

ure,baby.

(Beat)

Dios!

What

ahorrib

leday.

It’stoo

hotand

Ican’t

breath

e..I

oE

y:

So

what.

It’salw

ayshot.

Never

anydifferent.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Notlike

this.And

tonight’sthe

openingof

thatF

ilmC

enter.Q

uehorror!

Can

youbelieve,

Imelda

ord

eredcem

ent

poured

overall

thosebodies?

Naku!

There’s

gonnabe

abunch

ofpissed-off

ghostsh

aun

ting

her

stupidfestival.

JO

EY

:Y

ou’reju

stjealous

‘causeyou

weren’t

invited.P

ER

LIT

A:

Fuck

you,tarantado

katalaga.Y

ouw

antm

eto

firey

ou

?

I

3637

DO

GE

.4T

LR

S:

:JE

SS

iCA

HA

GE

DO

RN

JO

EY

:Yeah,yeah. Y

ouneed

me,

Perlitababy.I’m

“hip.”I m

akeyour

discohip.

PE

RL

ITA

:H

oy,don’t

forget—w

henI

firstm

etyou,

youdidn’t

even

ow

na

pair

of

sh

oes.

JOL

YT

hat’sbulishit,

Perlita.

PE

RL

iT

A:D

arling,rub

ber

slippersdon’tcount.

(Fans

himself

furiously)I’m

melting.

This

heatis

goingto

killm

e.D

iosm

io,I

wish

itw

ouldrain!

Typhoons

bringm

yblood

pressu

redow

n.A

v!if

thingsdon’t

improve,

I’llhave

tosee

adoctor.

Jo

Ey

:Y

oudon’t

needa

doctor.Y

ouneed

tostop

beingso

cheapan

dget

theair-con

fixed.A

ndstop

eatingso

much

shit—you’re

gettingfat.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Ilike

that.A

littlehustler

fromT

ondotelling

me

togo

ona

healthydiet

..

.H

a!(Fills

anoth

erbow

lw

ithC

’heezC

urls;sh

ou

tsoffstage)

Pedro,

youcan’t

doany

thin

gright!

(ToJoey)

My

bloodis

boilingfrom

shout

ingso

much

atth

atidiot.

To

thinkth

atI

senthim

toth

atm

issionary

school—out

ofthe

goodnessof

my

heart,

mind

you.

(Pedro,dressed

inrags,

enterslim

ping.H

estarts

polish

ingthe

dancefloor

with

acoconut

husk.)

Pedro!

What

didI

telly

ou

?B

eforeyou

startpolishing

thefloor,

mop

first.D

iosko!

When

you’refinished

with

that,I

want

youto

goback

andclean

thosetoilets

onem

oretim

e.D

oyou

thinkI’m

blind?P

ED

Ro:

Señorito

Andres,

sir.W

hatabout

the—(P

ointsv,’ith

hislip)

ER

LI

TA

:A

no?G

agoka

ha?W

hatw

hatw

hat?jo

cy:

He

needstoilet

paper

PER

LIT

A(T

hrows

Pedro

one

roll):T

here.Is

everybodyhappy?

(Pedro

exits.)

Jo

Ey

(Mim

ickingP

erlita):A

ndit

better

lastall

night!P

ER

LIT

A:

Shut

up,you.

JO

Ev:

Ifyou

had

yourw

ay,P

erlita,you’d

chargecustom

ersfor

everysheet.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Ican’t

helpit

ifF

ilipinossteal.

i0

Ev

:Y

ou’rereally

anasshole,

boss.P

ER

LIT

A:

Takes

oneto

knowone,

Joey.

(Per!itaand

Joeyblow

eachother a

kiss. Rainer F

assbinderenters

thebar

alittle

highan

dunsure

of

himself

He

glancesat

Joey.)

Good

afternoon,sir.

PA

SS

81

ND

ER

(ToP

erlita):H

owab

out

some

San

Miguel?

PE

RL

iT

A:

We’re

notopen

forbusiness,

yet—but

foryou,

I’llm

akean

exception.F

AS

SB

iND

ER

:L

ovelyP

ER

L1

TA

:A

reyou

fromA

ustralia?I’ve

beento

Sydney,

youknow

.A

ndM

elbourne.I

adoreS

ydney.It’s

so.

..hot.

FA

SS

B1

ND

ER

(ToJoey):

Would

youlike

abeer?

jo

y:

Lovely.

PE

RL

IT

A:

May

Iin

troduce

Joey?Joey

Sands,

ou

rfam

ousdeejay.

You

must

come

backlater

when

thedancing

begins.B

ignight

tonight.O

peningof

theM

anilaIn

ter

natio

nal

Film

Festival.

There’llbe

allsorts

ofcelebrities

here.

..di

ba,Joey?

Foreigners,

movie

starsJO

Ey

:Im

elda.

..M

aybeeven

Ferdy.

FA

SS

DIN

DE

R:

Imelda?

You

don’tm

ean—P

ER

Li

TA

:H

em

ean

sM

adame

herself,fo

ryour

inform

atio

n.

FA

SsB

IND

ER

:T

hatw

ouldbe

amusing.

JO

Ey

:Y

oudon’t

believem

e?

Gago

ka,talaga.

PE

RL

ITA

:Joey.

FA

ssE

IND

EE

:W

hatdid

yousay?

JO

Ev:

Isaid,gago

ka.It

means,

youfine

moth

erfuck

eyou.

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R(A

mused):A

h.

38

39

DO

(,I1

LR

,:

iiS

SJC

AIL

4G

J-L

)OR

I\

1’E

RE

lFA

Joey!(To

Pedro,w

hocarries

am

op,bucket

and

Lvsol)

Psst.

PE

DR

O:

Yes,

boss.P

ER

LIJ

A:

Don’t

useup

theL

ysol.

(Joevobseri

esF

assbi, icIerga.iIig

atP

edrosvinpa

theti

Cal)

FA

sS

BIN

I)LR

:P

oorm

an.JO

E:

Don’t

worry

about

Pedro.

He’s

just

ano

ther

finegago,

likem

e.

..Y

ouknow

sometim

es,w

henP

erlita’sin

oneof

herm

oods,she

callshim

:“P

edrothe

Pagan

Dogeater

with

theP

rickof

aM

onkeyand

theB

rainof

aF

lea.”ra

ssBl\l)E

R:

That’s

quitecreative.

PE

Ri

ITA:

Creativ

e?H

oy,puw

edeba.

You

know

wh

erethe

term“dogeater”

cainefro

m?

The

Am

ericans,of

course.

Oh,

theyw

ereq

uite

crud

eand

creativew

ithus,

weren’t

they,Joey?

iorv:

Sure,

baby.F

AS

SB

ND

ER

(ToJoey):

Fascinating.

PE

R!.!

TA

:D

arlin

g,

his

tory

alw

ay

sis

JoF

Y:

Hey

Joe,

Igot

som

etim

eb

efo

rew

ork

.Y

ou

wanna

have

fun?F

AssB

IND

ER

:M

ynam

e’s

not

Joe.

JO

E:O

ka;

Not-Jo

e.

Yo

uw

ant

girls,

bo

ys

or

\hat?

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:Maybeit’s

youlw

ant,

JOE

v:Y

ou

can

’taffo

rdm

e.

(Fassbinder pulls

outa

wad

ofcash.

Perlita

busieshim

selfatthe

bar:)

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R:

We

can

go

ify

ou

wan

t.

Jo

Fy

:B

uy

me

adrin

kfirst.

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R:

Of

co

urs

e.

(ToP

erhia)H

ow

about

an

oth

er

round

of

San

Mig

uel?

JO

Ei:

Ipre

fer—

PE

RL

ITA

:C

ognac.(To

Fassbinder)

Joey

lovesR

érnyM

artin.

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R:

Whatever

hew

ants.pF

RL

IrA:

Lovely.

SCEN

E11

“Girl

Talk”

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

KB

S-TV

,B

roadcastC

ity,M

anila

Agovernm

ent-runTV

studio.A

talkshow

isin

progress.A

sign:“G

irlT

alk.”L

ightsup

onB

arbaraW

lla;iueva.A

pplause.

BA

RB

AR

A:

I’mB

arbara

Villan

uev

aan

dw

elcom

eb

ackto

“Girl

Talk”—

my

number-one

talkshow

inthe

natio

n

“Okay,

Not-Joe.

You

want girls,

boys,or

what?”

Rainer

Fassbinder(left,

christopherD

onahue)is

hustledby

JoevSands

(Hill H

arper).

4041

DO

C£

41

1.R

Se:

JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

For

Girls

Only.

Let’s

havean

oth

erbig

han

dfo

rm

yV

IPguest,

theF

irstL

adyof

theP

hilippinesand

theG

overnorof

Metro

Manila,

Imelda

Marcos!

(Enter

IrneldaM

arcos.She

waves

tothe

audiencean

dsits

down.)

You

lookfaan-taz-tik,

madam

e.(To

audience)T

alagang“Im

eldific,“

diba?

(Applause.)

tM

LuA

:Y

ou’retoo

kind,B

arbara.B

AR

BA

RA

:H

indinanian,

madam

e.(B

eat)Sige,

shallw

etalk

about

your

Film

Center,

madam

e?IM

EL

DA

Delighted):

Ay

naku!M

yF

ilmC

enteris

sob

eauti

fulan

dm

odern,talaga!

It’sfinally

finished.B

AR

BA

RA

:N

aku!It’s

solavish

and—IM

EL

DA

:G

rand.B

AR

BA

RA

:Y

es,but

Sen

ator

Avila

claims

it’shau

nted

bythe

ghostsof

allthe

workers

who

remain

buried

un

der

neath.A

tleast

ahundred

men

died,daw

.IM

EL

DA

:A

hundred

?P

uwede

ba,only

eightm

endied,

Barbara!

(Beat)

God

works

inm

ysteriousw

ays,talaga.

(So/dy

weeping)

You

knowm

e.I

would

neverleave

thosepoor

deadm

enju

stlying

there

...W

ouldI?

BA

RB

AR

A:

Of

coursenot,

ma’am

.IM

EL

DA

My

Film

Center

was

builtas

aceleb

ration

ofthe

beautyand

spiritof

our

people.T

hosem

endid

notdie

invain.

You’ve

heard

ofC

annes,B

arbara?B

AR

BA

RA

:H

a?IM

EL

DA

(Annoyed):

Cannes.

(Beat)

The

Cannes

Film

Festi

val?(B

eat)In

France.

BA

RB

AR

A(F

lustered):A

y!O

o,nga,

ano?Y

es,of

course,m

adame.

IME

LD:

My

Film

Festival

isgoing

tobe

evenbigger

and

better!B

AR

BA

RA

:B

ut,m

adame.

There

areru

mors

circulating—

1M

EL

DA

There

arealw

aysru

mo

rscirculating.

BA

RB

AR

A:

The

NPA

areplan

nin

gan

attack,claw

.IM

EL

DA

(Co

yly

):N...P

...A?...

BA

RB

AR

A:

Yes,

madam

e.T

heN

ewP

eople’sA

rmy.

IME

LD:

Isth

atso?

Ithought

itm

eant“N

iceP

eopleA

round.”

BA

RB

AR

A:

And

that

Daisy—

iM

EL

D:

Are

we

talkingab

ou

tS

enato

rA

vila’sdau

ghter?

BA

RB

AR

A(P

erplexed):W

hy,yes,

madam

e.O

urnew

Miss

Philippines?

IM

EL

oA

:A

sweet

girl.T

alagang“native

beauty.”Y

ouknow

,

Barb

ara,it’s

abou

ttim

ew

eF

ilipinosho

nor

ou

row

n

typeof

beautyIn

thepast,

we

were

always

choosing‘yun

mga

mestiza

types. Fair skin, pointy

noses. Tall..

.likem

e.

BA

RB

AR

A: Y

es,m

adame.

(Beat)

Anyw

ay,ab

out

thisrum

or—

iM

EL

DA

When

Iw

ascrow

ned“M

issM

anila,”Ith

ank

edG

od

that

Iw

asblessed.

Blessed

tobe

beautiful!(T

akesout

hankyan

dstarts

tow

eep)B

utyou

know,

theseare

dan

geroustim

es.G

odis

testingus.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Madam

e,they

say—IM

EL

DA

:T

heysay!

They

say!H

owcan

youbelieve

anyth

ing

youhear?

IfI

may

quotefrom

ou

rgood

senator’slatest

book,T

heS

ufferingF

ilipino:“C

hismis

isa

factof

lifein

Filipino

culture.”D

oyou

agree,B

arbara?

BA

RB

AR

A:

Ihaven’t

read—IM

EL

DA

:O

h,you

must!

It’sthe

senator’sbest

work.

As

you

know,

thepresid

ent

and

Iare

hisbiggest

fans.

BA

RB

AR

A:

But

didn’tyou

ban

hisbooks?

IME

LD

A(Sw

eetly):M

e?O

fcourse

not.

BA

RB

AR

A(U

neasy):O

fcourse,

Ididn’t

mean

you,personally,

madam

e.IM

EL

DA

:I

hopenot.

BA

RB

AR

A:

And

now

...a

word

fromou

rsponsor,

Fairw

ay

Beauty

Products.

4243

DU

GL

1iI

115:

:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

(Enter

Nestor

andtw

obackup

“SkinW

hite”Jingle

Singers

tosing

“TheF

airway

Jingle.‘

NE

S1O

RA

ND

SIN

GIR

S:

Skin

white,

skinbrig

ht.

Ahhh!

7itnavna

tunavskin

white,

skinbrig

ht..

Fairw

ay,fair

lady

.F

airwa;

fairla

dy...

Fairw

ay,fair

lady...

That’s

you!A

hhh!M

aganda!

SCEN

E12

Golf

TIT

LE

PR

OJE

CT

IoN

:T

heM

onteV

istaG

olfand

Country

Club,

Makati,

Manila

Lights

upon

Nestor

and

Barbara

asthey

introducea

groupof

affluentm

enin

golfattire.

Rom

eo,in

hisw

aitersunifrn

z,stands

by.

BA

RB

AR

A:

The

sunblazes

down

onthe

lush,em

eraldgreen

golfcourse

ofthe

Monte

Vista.

NE

ST

0R

:N

ota

tree,not

ablade

ofgrass

outof

place!It’s

aperfect

afternoon.B

AR

BA

RA

:W

ithS

enato

rA

vilaare

Arm

yC

hiefof

Staff

Gen

eralN

icasioL

edesma—

NE

ST

OR

:L

edesma’s

protégé,L

ieutenantP

epeC

arreon—B

AR

BA

RA

:and

tycoonS

everoM

acran,dubbed

“The

King

ofC

oconuts.”N

E5

T0

R:

He’s

therichest

man

inthe

Philippines-.--

BA

RB

AR

A:

richer

thanthe

president.

44

(Avila

takesa

swing.

The

sound

of a

golf ballbeing

hit,)

AL

AcR

AN

:N

iceshot,

Dom

ing.

LE

DE

SM

A: V

erynice,

Cousin.

AvIL

A:

Ha.

Pro

bab

lylanded

inone

of

those

man

-mad

e

swam

ps

of

yours.

AL

AC

RA

N(P

leased):H

ow

do

yo

ulike

my

trickygolf

course?

Pretty

challen

gin

g,

diba?

“As

go

od

as,if

no

tbetter

than

,P

ebble

Beach

,”acco

rdin

gto

Golf

Digest

and

Esquire.

Do

you

hav

elast

mon

th’s

issue

of

Esquire?

AV

IL

A:

Sorry.

Idon’t

subscrib

e,

LE

DE

sM

A:

Too

busy

mak

ing

stirring

speech

es,I

supp

ose.

Agitating

them

asses,

AV

ILA

(Sm

iling):Y

oum

igh

tsay

that,

Nicasio

.

AL

AC

RA

N(S

moothly):

Well

then,I’ll have

copiesof b

oth

arti.

des

xeroxedfor

you.A

ndif

yourball

trulylanded

ina

swam

p,w

e’lljust

haveto

sendone

ofou

r“ditch

boys”

or

maybe

my

waitet;

Rom

eohere

(Gesture)

todive

in

thereand

retrieveit.

(Beat)

We

aretruly

honored

that

youcould

finallyjo

inus

fora

game,

Senator.

We

know

you’rea

busym

an.

LE

DE

sM

A:

Cam

paigningfor

“cleanelections,”

diba?

(To

Carreon

and

Alacran)

My

cousin

herew

antsto

become

president.

(The

men,

exceptfor

C’arreon,

chucklesoftly.)

AV

iL

A:

After

seven

teenyears,

don’tyou

thinkit’s

time

for

a

chan

ge,

gen

tlemen

?S

obrana.

Tam

ana.

Enough

is

enough.C

AR

RE

ON

:T

raidor!I’d

watch

my

mou

thif

Iw

ereyou.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Sen

atorA

vila

isexercising

hisfreedom

ofspeech,

Lieu

tenan

tC

arreon.

AvIL

A:

Som

ethingyou

obviouslyknow

noth

ing

about,

youngm

an.

CA

RR

EO

N(S

eething):P

utangm

a!

45

DO

(,L1

11

‘sJIS

SIL

’H

AG

ID

OR

N

AL

AC

RA

N(A

nnoyed):L

ieuten

ant

Carreon.

Please.

(ThA

vila)A

ndhow

isthat

lovelydau

ghter

ofyours?

You

must

beso

proud.L

EI)

Es

NiA

Our

delicatebeauty

queen.(B

eat)W

hatsthis

Ihear

about

avery

interestingnex

boyfriend?(To

Ai’ila)

Have

youm

ethim

?Y

ouknow

,as

heruncle—

AV

iiA

:D

aisy’sfine,

than

kyou.

(Beat)

Things

areru

nnin

gsm

oothlyatyour

infamous

Cam

pM

editation,Isuppose?

EE

l)E

SM

A:

Sm

oothly.A

vIi

A:

And

everything’sru

nnin

gju

stas

smoothly

atyour

“VIP”

interro

gatio

nlo

unge?

LEDE

sM

A:

Idon’t

knoww

hatyou’re

talkingabout.

Av

ILA

:W

eF

ilipinosare

sow

itty;

diba?

With

our

fondnessfor

cleveracronym

s.V

IP,I

believe,stan

ds

forV

eryIm

portan

tP

rison

ers.

CA

RR

EO

N(F

urio

usly

):‘T

angiiia!

How

doeshe—

(L.edesm

asilen

ceshim

with

alook.)

AL

AC

RA

N:

About

this“interesting

boyfriend.”C

an’tbe

goodfor

you,D

oming.

AV

ILA

:W

hatdo

youm

ean,S

evero?A

LA

CR

N:

There

yougo,

callingm

eS

evero.H

owlong

havew

eknow

neach

other?S

inceright

afterthe

war..,

overth

irtyyears

..

.andyou’re

stillthe

onlyclose

associatew

hoinsists

oncalling

me

Severo.

(Beat)

My

friendscall

me

Chuciti.

IIA

I’maare

ofthat.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Do

youfeel

acertain

hostilitytow

ardsm

e?A

’.IL

A:

Not

atall.

We’re

allhere

playinggolf,

aren’tw

e?P

artakin

gof

yourw

itand

hospitality.I’m

enjoyingm

yself.A

sfar

asour

fondnessin

thisco

untry

fornick

nam

es,

I’vecom

eto

believeit

servesto

infantilizeus

inthe

eyesof

thew

orld.H

owcan

Itake

youseriously,

ifI

ru

naround

ad

dressin

gy

ou

as

Cluichi

orB

aby...

or

General

Nicky?

(The

men

allsh

area

heartylaugh,

exceptfo

rC

arreon

.)

CA

RR

EO

N:

‘Tang

ma,

talaga.1

don’tget

it.

AI,

AC

RA

N:A

ndyou

probablynever

will,

youngm

an.S

enato

r

Avila’s

right,of

course.T

hisco

untry

will

neverpro

gress,if

we

keepacting

likeplayful

children.

av

1L

A:

Don’t

misin

terpret

me.

One

ofthe

beau

tiful

con

tra

dictionsof

our

cultu

reis

thisability

we

haveto

laugh

thingsoff.

LE

DE

SM

A(G

roan

ing

):O

h,D

oming,

please.G

etoff

youI

natio

nalist

soapbox.

AL

AC

RA

N:

You

pain

tsuch

anegative

image

ofour

young

nation,D

omingo.

But

I’msincerely

sorry

yourhooks

arenow

ban

ned

byo

ur

government.

Seem

slike

the

presid

ent

haslost

hissense

ofhum

or.

“Do

youftel

acertain

hostilitytow

ardsm

e?”From

lefi’to

right:S

enatorD

omingo

Ai’ila

(JoelTorre)

ischallenged

onihe

gol/course

by

tycoonSei’ero

Alacran

(Raid

Ara;ias),

ii’hile’L

ieutenantP

epe

C’arreon

(Arthur

Acitia)

lookson.

Holding

thegolfum

brellais

Alacran

c

“personalw

aitel;”R

omeo

Rosales

(JonathanL

opez).

4647

DO

GE

AJE

RS

e:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

AV

ILA

:Y

ouhaven’t.

AL

AC

RA

N:

I’ma

sophis

ticate

dm

an,

Do

min

go

.

CA

RR

EO

N(To

Avila):

I’ve

read

yo

ur

stu

ff,and

Idon’t

likeit.

AV

I.A:

I’mglad

youread,

atleast.

CA

RR

EO

N:

The

studen

tsare

circulatin

gyour

work

illegally.A

VaL

A:

Ican’t

helpit

ifthe

peoplew

antto

readw

hatI

haveto

say.cA

RR

E0

N:

You’re

aC

om

mu

nis

tsym

path

izer,

just

liketh

atdau

ghter

ofyours.

LE

DE

sM

A:

Pepe!

That’s

my

nieceyou’re

talkingabout.

Shut

upan

dplay.

CA

RR

EO

N:

Ith

ink

I’llpass.

LE

DE

5M

A:

Nonsense.

It’syour

turn

.Play.

CA

RR

EO

N:

What’s

thepoint?

I’mdoing

sobadly.

LE

DE

sM

A:

Don’t

bean

idiot.Y

ou’vegot

tole

arn

som

etim

e.

Just

hitthe

dam

nball!

(Rom

eosets

upC

arreonc

ball.C

an-eonstarts

tosw

ing,then

stops.)

CA

RR

EO

N(Startled,

pointsoft):

Putang

ma!

(The

men

peerin

thedirection

Can-eon

ispointing.)

AL

AC

RA

N(M

ocking):W

asit

aghost

or

abeautiful

wom

an,C

arre

on

?

CA

RR

E0N

(Terrified):

Asnake!

Acobra.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Sige,R

omeo,

goget

Mang

Berto

.(R

omeo

exits)M

ym

astersnake

catcher

will

takecare

ofit,

gen

tlem

en.(To

Can-eon)

Do

reptilesunnerve

you,C

arreon?C

AR

RE

ON

:N

o.I

was

caught

bysu

rprise

that’sall.

AV

LA

(ToA

lacran):So

many

poisonoussnakes

onyourlu

xury

golfcourse.

C’hism

ishas

itth

atyou

purposelydon’t

exterm

inate

them,

toscare

theJaps

away.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Really,

Dom

ingo.A

reyou

accusingm

eof

being—w

hatdo

theA

mericans

callit—

aracist?

Ifyou

open

your

eyes

and

lookaro

und,

you’llsee

howm

anyJap

an

eseguests

andm

embers

areenjoying

theclub’s.

..com

o

sedice?

Am

enities.cA

RR

E0

N:

Too

many

dam

nJaps,

ifyou

askm

e.

AL

AcR

AN

:W

ell,no

onedid.

And

you’rem

uch

tooyoung

o

knowan

yth

ing

abou

tthe

war—

CA

RR

E0

N:

Yes,

but

my

father—

AL

AC

RA

N:

Iknow

yo

ur

father,F

uckhim

.M

yw

holefam

ily

was

wiped

out bythe

Japs, butI

survived.D

on’t borem

e,

Carreon.

All the

men

here,even

thelow

liestcaddy,

have

terribledream

sabout

thew

ar.T

hat’snothing

special

(Beat)

You’re

atypical

Filipino.

You’ll never

besu

ccess

fulin

business,because

youtake

everythingpers

onally

LEDE

SM

A:

Are

yousaying

allF

ilipinosare

doom

edto

fail

(The

men,

exceptforC

an-eon,laugh

again.)

AL

AC

RA

N:

No.

(Gestures

toward

Can-eon)

Just

him.

cA

RR

E0

N:

I’msick

ofthese

insults!

LE

DE

SM

A:

Pepe!

CA

RR

EO

N(To

Ledesm

a):W

hydid

you

insis

tth

atI

join

you

todayfor

thisflic

kin

g.

..ch

arade?

LE

DE

sM

A:

Do

Ihave

toshoot

youto

shut

youup?

AL

AC

RA

N:

Gentlem

en,please.

Perhaps

it’stim

eto

headback

tothe

clubhouse

and

havea

drink.B

ignig

ht

tonight, di

ba?M

adame’s

Film

Festiv

al..

.we’re

allexpected.

AvIL

A:

Idon’t

thin

kshe’d

beexpecting

me,

Severo.

CA

RR

EO

N(To

Ledesm

a):I

wasn’t

invited.

(Mang

Berto,

brandishinga

smallsack,

enters.)

AL

AcR

AN

:A

hh,success.

(Aheadless

snakeis

pulledout

toshow

eve?yone.C

an-eonvisibly

recoilsat

thesight.

Thesnake

isput

backinto

the

sack.)

4849

DO

CL

AII

as.:

JES

SIC

AH

AG

ED

OR

N

Av

ILA

:V

eryim

pressive.A

LA

cR

AN

:H

e’sa

rnangkukulam,

youknow

.A

sham

anan

dhealer.

Sige,M

angB

erto.

(Mang

Berto

exits.)

See

this?

(He

pullsout

atiny

leatherpouchhanging

fromaround

hisneck.)

Mang

Berto’s

anting-anting.D

riedbaby

octopus,garlic

flowers,

godknow

sw

hat

else.A

\I

LA

:I

guess

we

allneed

something.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Exactly.

Itcan’th

urt

togetyour

own

anting-anting,gentlem

en.(To

Ledesrna)

To

driveaw

ayevil

spirits.L

hi)

BS

M:

Exactly.

AL

AC

RA

N(To

Avila):

I’llask

Mang

Berto

tom

akea

specialanting-anting

foryou,

Dom

ingo.A

vI

LA

:N

othanks.

I’vealready

gotone.

LB

DE

SM

A:

Do

you?A

VIL

A:Y

ouknow

Ido,

Cousin.

Blood

isthicker

than

politics,di

ba?(B

eat)I

haveyou.

SCEN

E13

Opening

Night

Spotlighton

Barbara

Villanueva,

alldolled-up

anddressed

ina

gown.

Shespeaks

intoa

hand-heldm

icrophone.

BA

RB

AR

AB

arbara

Villanueva

here,liveon

openingnight

ofthe

Manila

intern

ation

alF

ilmF

estival.It’s

ahot

nighttonight,

diba?

The

Presid

ent

and

First

Lady

haveju

stbeen

seated,along

with

Severo

Alacran

and

General

Nicasio

Ledesm

a.N

aku!A

ngdarning

Hollyw

oodstars!

George

Ham

ilton,P

iaZ

adora,B

rookeS

hieldsan

d

Linda

Blair.

..Seksing-seksy

and

verydow

n-to-earth,

sila!O

urvery

own

bomba

queen,L

olitaL

una,an

d

mega

actionstar

Tito

Alvarez

were

mobbed

byad

orin

g

fans.T

heF

ilmC

enterlooks

faan-taz-tik

talaga!M

anila

isone

bigp

arty.

..L

ights!C

amera!

Action!

(Crow

dbuzz

andsounds

of Studio

54fade-up.)

SCEN

E14

Studio

54/

“Bad

Girls”

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

Midnight,

Studio

54

Joeyis

athisdeejay

station.The

TalkingH

eads’‘Psycho

Killer”

is

blasting.The

clubis

packed.People

aredrinking,

dancing

checkingeach

otherout.

JOB

Y(To

audience):H

ippiehippee,

grooby,grooby,

shindig,

shing-a-ling,a

go-go!Y

eah!W

egot

agreat

showfor

you

tonight,a

veryspecial

surprise!A

llrig

ht

allyou

cool

daddy-osan

dm

galovelies

gettin’dow

non

thegood

foo

t..

.Shake

that

money-m

aker,that’s

right—“H

appy

Birthday

toB

oyette,”from

Baby

and

Chitboy;

“1L

ove

You

Forever,”

toS

onnyfrom

Ram

on

G.

Wow

!P

lus

Iheard

itfrom

that

oldreliable

bam

boo

grapevineof

chismis

that

we’ve

gotsom

ecelebrities

herethis

evening.(H

owls

with

delight)D

iosko!

Dios

rnio!I’m

blackan

dI’m

pro

ud

righton

righ

ton!

But

don’tforget

toget

home

beforecurfew

,or

you’llbe

stuckin

theto

r

tureroom

atM

alacanangP

alace!(M

imes

shooting)H

a-

ha,joking-joking

lang!(M

usicfades)

And

now,

fresh

5051

DO

GL

IILR

SJIS

SIC

AH

A6F

DO

R\

fromthe

powder

roomof

herim

agin

ation

...

keepon

prancin’,keep

ondancin’,

butgive

hera

bigro

und

ofap

plau

se..o

ur

veryow

nD

oñaD

ivaD

i-ba!“M

issP

earlof

theO

rient!”

(Spotlight

onP

erlita,in

glitteringdrag,

lip-synching

toD

onnaS

um

mer

“Bad

Girls.”

Aftill

dancenum

betT

iieresa

buzzas

chiquiringM

orenoenters,

leadingF

as,binderto

thebar

Per!itatb

ishes

hisnunther)

c1

11

0II

NO

(ToP

erlita):D

arling!G

uessw

hoI’ve

bro

ught

for‘you

thisevening!

Hov,

brrlfa.H

avew

eput

onsom

ew

eight?Y

ouw

erefantastic,

asusual.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Fuck

you,C

hiquiting.(B

ear)Is

Imelda

coming?

CH

10

i\

o:H

owthe

fuckshould

Iknow

?M

ayI

introducethe

greatG

erman

director,R

ainer

Fassbinder?

Rainei;

meet

Andres

Alacran.

PE

RL

IrA

:G

utenA

be,zd,N

ot-Joe.cii

oi

ITIN

G(P

uzzled):Y

ou’vealready

met?

PER

1.11:

You

couldsay

that—F

AS

SB

lUE

R:

Ahh.

Sprecheti

sicD

eutsch?P

ER

LI

fA

:I

prefer

English.

CII

10

rII

ING

Oooh,

Perlita!

Ihad

noidea

youw

ereso

con

tinental.P

t-R

1.1T

A(Sw

eetly):T

here’sa

lotab

out

me

youdon’t

know,

pilta.c

IIIe

iI

1I

NC,

(ToF

assbinder):Y

ouknow

,I’ve

beento

thereal

Studio

54,the

lasttim

eI

went

toN

ewY

orkw

ithM

adame’s

entourage.Y

oushould

seethe

pinklights

inthe

toilets—soooo

flattering!P

ER

LIT

-(U

nimpressed):

‘Sus.C

ii101

IiI\(,:

Rainer’s

latestfilm

prem

ieredat

theF

estivaltonight.

Very

boldand

graphic,talaga.

Brad

Dav

is.m

anof

my

dream

s..

.Imelda

almost

passedout.

F-\s

SR

IN

I)E

R(To

Perlita):

Im

etone

ofyour

relatives.C

han

ning

gentleman.

c1110

UII

IN

G:

Severo

Alacran.

(ToFas.sbinder)

We

callhim

“Chuchi.”

PE

RL

iT

A:

Ihate

todisap

poin

tyou,

Herr

Fassbinder,

but

I’m

fromthe

poor

sideof

thefam

ily.Y

oucan

callm

eP

earl.

(Taking

Perlita

hand,F

assbtnderbow

sslightly,

then

kissesP

erlitahand.)

FA

S5

BIN

DE

R:

I’mnot

disappointed.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Mv,

mv,

Herr

Fassbinder.

CIII

0L

ITIN

GIsn’t

heso

gallant?N

aku!Im

eldaforced

him

todance

with

herallnight. Y

ouknow

aboutim

elda’sedi

ficecom

plex,R

ainer?T

hat’sw

hyshe

keepsbuilding—

pE

RL

I1A

And

buildingan

dbuilding—

CH

IOU

ITIN

G:

Monum

ents

toherself!

PE

RL

ITA

:Im

elda’sobsessed

with

perso

nal

hygiene.

c1

11

0C

ITIN

G:

Perfum

ehere,

there.

..an

dthere.

(Points

to

hiscrotch)

PE

RL

TA

:She

hasher

own

perfu

me

custo

m-m

ade

inF

rance,

bythe

gallon.IO

UIT

iNG

:W

ecall

it“V

aginade

Regina.”

(Sultry

youngstarlet

Lolita

Luna,

stonedon

quaaludes,

makes

hernoisy

entrance.She

hastrouble

balancingon

herextrem

elyhigh

heels,an

dclings

tom

achoaction

“inega”star

Tito

Alvarez,

apum

ped-upyoung

man.)

L0L

ITA

:A

mI

theonly

girlhere?

CH

IOU

ITIN

O(A

nnoed

):Pzm

’edeba,

Lolita.

We’re

allgirls

here,di

ba?L

OL

ITA

(ToF

assbinde,po

urin

g):

Why

didyou

leavethe

partyso

early,R

ainercito?I

was

lookingfor

you.

CH

IOL

ITIN

G(To

Perlita):

Of

course,you

knowL

olitaL

una

andT

itoA

lvarez?t

RL

IT

A:

Of

course.(Iv,

Lolita.

Iheard

youw

erein

theh

os

pitalw

itha

chorizoup

yourkiizgkuug.

.5253

DO

GL

hE

RS

,:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

(Lolita

snarlsplay/iillv

atP

erlita.)

TIT

0:

She

shouldbe.

LO

LIrA

(ToT

ito):W

hydon’t

youm

akey

ou

rself

usefulan

ddance

with

Chiquiting?

T1

TO

:I

don’tdance

with

men.

L0

Lii

AW

ell,it’s

nevertoo

lateto

start.

TIT

0:

You

stupid,ju

nkie

whore!

LO

Ll

rA:

What

didyou

callm

e?P

ER

LIT

A:H

oyJo

ey,our

new

friendw

antsto

buyyou

adrink.

Maybe

he’llput

youin

hisnext

movie.

LO

LIT

A(To

Fassbinder):

Iloved

your

movie.

Very

avant-

gard

ean

d...

deep.D

iha,

Tito?

TIT

o:

Ihate

thosefucking

foreignerm

ovies.T

oom

uch

talking,

noten

ou

gh

..

.action!

(TIlo

shows

offa

karatekick.

Lolita

and

Fassbinde,

laughing,im

itatelito.)

LO

LIT

A:

Did

youlike

it,C

hiquiting?

cH

IOU

Iii

NG

Of

course.(To

Fassbinder)

Isaw

one

ofyour

oth

erm

oviesin

Hong

Kong—

theone

about

that

blond

girlan

dthe

Negro.

So

tragic,nam

an!I

didn’tunder

stand

athing,

butI

was

terriblym

oved.L

OL

ITA

:A

v!I

thin

kI’m

gonnabe

sick.T

IT0:

No.

You’re

not.L

OL

ITA

(ToJoey,

flirtatiously):H

oy,guw

apo.W

here’sthe

bath

room

?JO

Ev:

It’sfor

boysonly.

Lo

LI

TA

:I

don’tcare.

Ineed

somew

hereprivate

tovom

it.Jov:

Want

me

toshow

yo

u?

PER

LI

TA

:A

y!D

iosko.

My

bloodp

ressu

re...

JO

Ey:

Relax,

Perlita.

I’lltake

her

outside.C

H1

0L

ITI

NG

Yo

udon’tknow

who

you’re

dealingw

ith,Joey.

Lolita’s

thegeneral’s

mistress.

Jo

Ey(Intrigued):

Wow

.Seksy.

LO

LIT

A(To

Joey):Y

ou’resooo

cute.

TIT

0:

Never

mind.

I’lltake

her.

L0L

ITA

:I’d

rather

gow

ith(Indicates

Joey)him

.W

hat’syour

name,

cutie?J0

EY

:Joey

Sands.

(ToT

ito)I

saidI’d

takeher.

CH

IOU

ITIN

GY

ou’db

ettergo,

Lolita.

The

general’sw

aiting.

L0L

ITA

:H

ecan

wait

allhe

wants.

I’mnot

ready.F

uckhim

!

(GeneralL

edesma

appears, scowling

atthe

clu

bentrance

He

gesturesto

Lolita,

who

runsto

him.

They

exit.)

cH

IQuIT

ING

:N

aku!T

oom

uch

dram

a.(E

xits)

JOE

Y(To

Tho):

Hoy,

tough

guy.Iguess

you’renot

gettingany

action

tonight,huh?

TIT

0:

Who

thehick

doyou

thinkyou

are?Y

oustupid

black—

(Joeylunges

atlito,

butis

blockedby

Perlita.)

PE

RL

ITA

:N

otin

my

house,boys!

(Am

oment.

Joeyan

dT

hostare

ateach

oth

er)

TIT

OF

uckth

isbakla

shit.I

needair.

(Exits)

PE

RtIT

A:

Watch

yourself,Joey.

Tito

carriesa

gun.

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:S

eems

likeeveryone

herecarries

agun.

JOE

Y:

So

flickingw

hat.D

on’tyou

haveyour

knife,P

erlita

baby?P

ER

LIT

A:

That’s

right,M

isterH

eartbreak

Loverboy.

(Beat)

Enough

ofthis

mach

oshit.

Drinks

onthe

house.

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:N

o,please.

Allow

me.

PE

RL

ITA

:L

ovely.W

hat’llit

be,H

errF

assbinder?

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:W

hate

ver

hew

ants

.

PE

RL

ITA

:R

ém

yM

artin,Joey?

JoE

Y:

Lovely.

PE

RL

ITA

(Pouring

drinks):H

otnight

tonight,di

ba?

.ioy:

Hot.

5455

DO

L4

I1

is

(Joeydrinks,

stillangry.)

FA

sS

Bi

ND

FR

Don’tw

orryabout

thatidiot

Tito.

(Beat)

Ihope

youfall

inlove

with

me.

ioI

v:W

hyshould

I,R

ainercito?F

AssB

IND

CR

:B

ecause

lam

them

ostco

rrupt

hum

anbeing

youw

illever

meet.

JOF

v:T

hat’sw

hatyou

think.Y

ou

foreignersare

allthe

same.

Think

I’mstupid

becauseI’m

po

or.

..and

pretty.T

hinkyou

knoweverything.

Think

youcan

sayanything

offthe

topof

yourhead.

FA

SS

BI\D

ER

:Jo

ey—

JOE

(Angry):

Wanna

gosee

alive

show,

Mr.M

ovieD

irector?

SCEN

E15

Sex

Show

Montage

TheS

acredand

theProfinie.

This

montage

of

multiple

scenestakes

placeon

differentlevelsand

areasofthe

stage.Atvarious

pointsthroughout

thisscene,

theplaying

areasw

illserve

asL

eon

ors

bedroom,

theabandoned

nightclub,a

roomin

alove

motel,

andL

olitaL

unas

penthouse.The

sexshow

isthe

epi

ceIlte,as

thecity

of

Manila

comes

aliveat

night,and

we

seefrag

men

tsof

disparatelives

playedo

ut

ina

jump-cut,

cine

niatic/ashion.

I’Vebegin

with

Leo

no

ron

herknees,

praying.

LE

ON

OR

:H

ail,holy

queen.M

otherof

merc

our

life,o

ur

sweetness

and

our

ho

pe...

(Votive

candlescast

aglow

onI.eo

nor

asshe

praysand

whips

herself:I.eo

nor

continuesto

prayin

abarely

audi

blem

urn

uir

throughouttins

scene.L

ightsup

onN

estoran

dB

arbara.)

56

:is

sic

.H

AG

ED

OR

Jv

NE

ST

OP

.L

atenight

inthe

cityof

sacredm

ysteriesand

sor

didsecre

ts,

thecity

that

neversleeps.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Leo

no

rL

edesm

a,

thegeneral’s

firstco

usin

and

wife

,pra

ys

inher

sparta

ncell

of

ab

edro

om

.

(Thesound

of knocking.)

LE

0N

0R

:L

eavem

ealone,

Nicasio.

(Resum

espraying)

0blessed

Mother

ofG

od,M

otherof

Jesus.

NE

ST

OR

:T

hein

terior

ofan

aban

do

ned

nightclubon

Roxas

Boulevard.

Abare

mattress

liescen

terstage.

(Joeyand

Fassbinder

enterthe

nightclub.)

FA

SS

B1

ND

ER

(Looking

around):W

hatis

this?.J

0E

Y:

Spooky;

diba?

(Joeyand

Fassbinder

sitat

atable.)

LE

0N

0R

:T

othee

dow

ecry,

poor

ban

ished

child

renof

Eve.

Mother

ofm

ercy,m

oth

erof

hope...

(Rio

and

Boom

boomA

lacran,S

everoA

lacranonly

son,enter

thenightclub.

Theyare

dressedin

eveningclothes.

Boom

boomsm

okesa

loint andhas

onearm

aroundR

io.She

shakeshis

armoff

They

sit.T

hroughoutthe

scene,the

two

gethigh.)

Rio:

Isn’tth

is..

.that

place?B

ooM

BooM

:W

hatplace?

io:

The

Bayside.

My

paren

tsused

togo

dancinghere.

With

Pucha’s

paren

ts.A

ndyours.

Where

isshe,

anyway?

Bo

MB

OO

M:

Don’t

worry

about

Pucha.

She’ll

meet

uslater.

io:

But,

Boom

boom.

You

said—B

OO

MB

OO

M:

Shhh.

57

DO

(,!Ill

R5

JL

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

LE

ON

OR

:To

theedo

we

sendup

our

sighs,m

ourn

ing

andw

eepingin

thisvalley

oftears.

Ns

io:

Rom

eoR

osalesan

dT

riniG

amboa

rendezvousat

theR

ainyD

ayM

otel.

(We

seeR

omeo

and

Trini,

partiallvdressed,

inthe

motel

room.)

RnA

R/:

The

generalgoes

with

Lolita

toher

pen

thouse

apartm

ent.

(Genetal

Ledesm

aan

dL

olitaente,

He

grabsL

olitaby

herlzair

shekneels

and

goesdow

non

him.)

NF

Si

OR

Solitary

heatof

night.i

EO

NO

R(C

rossingherself):

Hail

Mary

fullof

graceL

ED

ES

MA

:I

loveyour

hair.(H

eburies

hisface

inL

olitashair)

LO

IrA

:W

hat?A

ray!R

OM

EO

:D

on’tbe

sad.T

Ri

NI:

Iam

not.T

heseare

tearsof

happiness.R

0M

r0

:F

org

ive

me.

Ididn’t

knowyou

were—

TR

INI:

Avirgin?

No,

no.D

on’tbe

sorry!C

an’tyou

seehow

happyI

am

?

LE

[)1S

MA

:W

hoa!F

astei;faster!

Back

toB

ataan!.io

rv

(ToF

assbinder):Y

ouw

antboy-boy,

girl-girl,th

ree

some,

child

renor

combo?

(Fassbinder

whispers

inJoeyS

ear)

NE

SIO

RA

younggirl

ap

pears

onstageat

theab

andoned

nightclub.

(AY

oungW

oman

and

Young

Man

e;11erA

sexshow

occursas

Nestor

and

Barbara

narrate.)

BA

RB

AR

A:

She

carriesa

rollof

toiletpap

erand

abottle

ofru

bbin

galcohol,

which

sheplaces

onthe

floornext

toher.

o:

What

thefuck

arew

edoing

here?B

00M

B00i:

Pucha

saidyou

were

game

forsom

efu

n,

Rio

LE

0N

OR

:.

..the

Lord

isw

ithth

ee.N

F.sT

O:

Am

uscu

laryoung

man

entels,his

nakedtorso

tat

tooedw

ithsp

ider

webs—

BA

RB

AR

A:

And

anim

ageof

thew

eepingV

irginM

aryof

Antipolo.

(The

sexshow

perfarniersundress.

They

neverlookat

theaudience

and

enacta

varietyo

fsexual

positionsin

abrisk,

business-likem

anneic)

NE

ST

OR

AN

I)B

AR

BA

RA

:O

ne.R

IO:

That

girl’sa

child.B

OO

MB

OO

M:

Like

theysay

inA

merica,

“You

dow

hatY

OU

go

ttado.”

Di

ba,R

io?L

EO

NO

R:

..

.blessedart

thou—R

IO:

I’ve

nev

er

likedyou,

Boom

boom.

BO

OM

BO

OM

:B

uthere

you

are

,R

io,

Flaying

fun.L

EO

NO

R:

..

.am

ong

wom

en

—

RIO

:I

feel—B

OO

MB

OO

M:

Excited?

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R:

Ifeel

like—E

RD

ES

MA

:L

ikeD

ouglasM

acArthur—

L0

LIT

A:

Who?

R0

ME

0:

—A

characte

rin

on

eo

fthose

movie

s.

TRIN

i:Y

es,darling.

You’re

Tito

Alvarez,

and

I’mL

olitaL

unain

...

RO

ME

O:

The

Agony

ofL

ove.

(Rom

eoan

dT

rinikiss

and

embrace

with

passion.)

JoE

y:

Love

tolove

me,

baby?

5559

DO

GL

1IE

RS

e:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

FA

Ssu

IN

DE

R:

You’re

them

ostbeau

tiful

thingI’ve

everseen.

jory

:T

akem

eto

Germ

any,then.

(Joeykisses

Fassbinder)

NE

ST

OR

AN

DB

AR

BA

RA

:T

wo.

Rio

:S

ick.L

et’sget

outof

here.B

ooM

BooM

:Y

ou’resuch

akilljoy.

Rio

:W

e’regoing.

B00M

B00

M:

Can’t.

I’mdriving,

remem

ber?

NE

S1

OR

AN

DI3

AR

BA

RA

:Th

ree.

iio:

Fuck

this.I’ll

finda

taxiorjeepney.

BO

OM

BO

OM

:Y

ou

don’tride

jeepneys.

LE

ON

OR

:.

..an

dblessed

isthe

fruitof

thyw

omb—

Rio

:Jesus.

TR

INI:

Ilove

you,R

omeo.

RO

ME

O:

Ohh,

Lo

lita,.,

TR

INI

(Offended):

Puw

edeha!

I’mT

riniG

amboa,

not

Lolita—

RO

ME

O:

Of

courseyou

are.F

orgivem

e,T

rini.

(Rom

eoand

Trini

kissagain.)

LE

DL

SM

A(Pulling

harderon

Lolita

hair):“1

shallreturn!”

Lrn

ITA

:N

icky,nam

an.P

leasestop.

NE

ST

OR

AN

DB

AR

BA

RA

:F

our.

BO

OM

BO

OM

:D

oyou

believein

God,

Rio?

RIO

:N

otat

thism

oment.

NF

ST

OR

:T

heyoung

girltears

offa

sheetof

toiletpap

eran

ddabs

herselfw

ithalcohol.

The

tattooed

youngm

antu

rns

tow

ardthe

foreigner.L

EO

NO

R:.

..H

olyM

ary,m

oth

erof

Go

d...

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R(O

fferingJoey

avial

of

cocaine):W

annaget

highw

ithm

e,Joey?

ioy:

Please.

LE

ON

OR

:.

..P

rayfor

us

sin

ners...

LO

LIT

A:

Please.

LE

0N

0R

:..

.Now

and

atthe

ho

ur

ofou

rdeath

...

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:L

ovely?

io

BY

(Snorts

cocaine):L

ovely.

TR

INI:

Lo

vely

...R

IO:

I’mgetting

out

ofhere.

LE

ON

OR

,N

ES

TO

RA

ND

BA

RB

AR

A:..

.A

men.

YO

UN

GM

AN

(ToF

assbinder):O

kay,boss?

You

wan

tus

todo

that

again?

SCEN

E16

Daisy

andP

apa

Nestor

andB

arbaraobserve

Daisy

asshe

tossesand

turns

inbed.

NB

ST

OR

:T

ornbetw

eenher

loveran

dher

father,D

aisyfalls

intoa

deepsleep.

BA

RB

AR

A:

She

istrap

ped

ina

perfu

med

nig

htm

are.

NE

s’roR

:B

angungot.N

ES

TO

RA

ND

BA

RB

AR

A:

Sle

epin

gB

eau

ty.

(Nestor and

Barbara

lip-syncha

fewlines

of the

Platters

“Tw

ilightlim

e”:)

Heavenly

shadesof

nig

ht

arefalling,

it’stw

ilighttim

eO

utof

them

istyour

voiceis

calling,‘tis

twilight

time...

When

purple-coloredcu

rtains

mark

theend

ofday,

I’llhear

you,m

ydear

attw

ilighttim

e...

Deepening

sha—

6061

e:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

(The

songabruptly

getscut

offL

ightsdow

non

Nestor

and

Barbara.)

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:D

aisy’sB

edroom

(Aclock

ticks.S

enatorA

vilaenters

and

approachesD

aisysbed.

He

carriesa

trayof fto

d.)

AV

[LA

:D

aisy.

..D

aisy.

..A

y,anak.

Wake

up.I

bro

ug

ht

yousom

efood.

DA

ISY

:S

antos.S

antos—is

that

you?

(Shestarts

toaw

aken.)

AvIL

A:

It’sP

apa.D

Ais

y:

Leave

me

alone.I

amso

tired!P

lease

...

(Daisy

fallsback

asleep.)

AvIL

A:

Wake

up!Y

ou’vebeen

likethis

for.

..w

hat?D

ays.H

ere.R

icean

dsinigang

soup.Y

ourfavorite.

Dios

ko,have

youbeen

druggedor

cursed?I’ve

failedyou,

didn’tI?

Couldn’t

answ

eryour

questio

ns.

..

So

many

qu

estions

asyou

were

growing

up.I

didn’thavethe

answers

foryou

or

myself.

We

arethe

same,

Daisy.

Dream

ingof

change,knowing

our

country

deservesbetter.

Wake

up,D

aughter!N

otim

eleft

forthe

sleepof

indecision.N

otim

eleft

ford

oubt

or

despair.T

heclow

nsan

dgoons

areafter

us.I’ve

sentyour

moth

eran

dsister

away

and

now,

youm

ust.

..G

isingna,

Daisy.

Rise

up,save

your

self!L

eaveyour

father

tohis

endlessnight.

Iam

tern-

fled,D

aughter.T

errthedan

dalone.

Daisy

Daisy

Av,anak.

Wake

up. “A

concernedS

enato

rA

t’ila(Joel

Torre)

attempts

tow

akehis

sleepingdau

ghter

Daisy

(Rona

Figueroa).

63

DO

GE

AT

I:Rs

JES

SiC

AH

AG

ED

OR

N

SCEN

E17

TheA

ssassination

TIT

LE

PR

OJE

CT

ION

:Jeepney

Coffee

Shop,

Inter-Continental

Hotel,

Manila

Bossa

novaniuzak

playssoftly

inthe

background.E

arlym

orn

ing.F

assbinderand

Joeyare

havingtheir

farewell

breakfast.Joeys

theonly

oneeating.

He

clearlyenjoys

ahuge,

heartym

eal,w

hilea

gloomy-looking

Fassbinder

chain-smokes.

Throughout

thescene,

we

seeD

aisyin

herbedroom

,sleeping.

io

Ev

:S

topstarin

gat

me.

You’re

buggingm

e,m

an.F

A5sB

IND

ER

:It’s

pictu

resI

takew

ithm

ym

ind,so

Iw

on’tforget

you.JO

EY

:C

ornyka

talaga.(B

eat)L

ookallyou

want,

then.Y

ou’repaying

forevery

second.F

AS

SB

IN

DE

R:

Whore

talk.Y

ouenjoy

hurtin

gm

e,don’tyou?

Ilove

you,Joey.

JOE

Y:T

henw

hydon’t you

takem

ew

ithyou

toG

ermany,

Mr.

Great

Artist

Movie

Director?

Please.

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:Y

ou’re

go

ing

as

far

as

theairp

ort

with

me,

andthat’s

about

allI

canhandle.

My

life’sa

mess

rightnow

.I

can’t—JO

Ey:

Fuck

you.Y

ou’reall

thesam

e.F

AssB

IND

ER

:N

o,w

e’renot.

(Waiter

approachesto

refilltheir

coffeecups.)

JOE

Y:

Iw

ant.

..pineapple.

FA

SS

IJIN

DE

R(To

Waiter):

Som

epineapple

please.W

AIT

ER

(ToF

assbinder):C

annedor

fresh,sir?

JOE

y:

Canned.

(Waiter

startsto

leave)A

ndhow

about

an

extraside

orderof

beeftapa?

Plus

you’vebeen

alittle

stingyw

iththe

rice,

‘pare.(W

aiterstarts

tow

alkaw

ay

again)H

oy,‘pare —

puwede

ha.D

idy

ou

hear

what

Isaid?

FA

5sB

IND

ER

:Jo

ey,

really.Is

thisnecessary?

wA

ITE

R:

Yes.

ioE

y:

Yes

what?

FA

5sB

IND

ER

:Jo

ey

—

WA

ITE

R:

Yes,

sir.(E

xits)

FA

5sB

IND

ER

:Y

ou

scare

dthe

poo

rm

an.

JO

EY

:Just

ano

ther

gago,like

me.

Don’t

worry

about

him.

(SteveJacobs,

arep

one

tentativelyapproaches

their

table.)

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:O

h,fuck.

Not

anotherjournalist.

JA

coB

s:

Excuse

me,

Ihate

tobother

you,M

r.F

assbinder—(H

oldsout

hishand)

SteveJacobs

with

theN

ewY

ork

Tim

es,here

tocover

the.

..u

h..

.Festival.

FA

sSB

1N

DE

R(R

eluctantlyshaking

hishand):

And

didyou

findit

festive,M

r.Jacobs?

JAco

Bs:

Actually,

Ifound

itrath

erquain

tan

dbizarre.

But

tohave

anartist

ofyour

renegadestatu

rehere,

asa

guestof

theP

hilippinegovernm

ent—

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:M

y“renegade

stature”?W

hatthe

fuck...

JAC

OB

S:

Well,

Iw

onder

ifyou’d

givem

ea

fewm

inutes.

FA

ssB

IND

ER

:I

don’tth

ink

so.

JAC

OB

S:

Just

afe

wm

inu

tes.

(Joeygets

upfrom

thetable.)

FA

SS

BIN

DE

R:

Can’t you

seeI’m

busy?(To

Joey)W

hat’shap

pening?JO

Ev:

Cigarettes.

Want

some?

FA

ssE

1N

DE

R:

Have

thew

aiterget

it.D

on’tgo.

JOE

y:

Relax.

I’llbe

right

back.I

haven’tfinished

eating,

remem

ber?

64

65

DO

GL

4]E

RS

:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

R\

(As

Joevstarts

toexit,

Fassbinder

isonce

againdistracted

(Daisy,

startled,gets

upfrom

herbed.)

bythe

journalist.)

nA

isy

:P

ap

a!

Pap

a!

ico

ns:

it’sso

extrao

rdin

aryto

findyou

here,M

iF

ass-JO

Ey

:P

utangm

a!binder,

halfway

around

thew

orld...

thepolitical

cli

mate

isso

volatile.(B

lackout.)F

AS

SB

IN

Dn:

Iam

notinterested

inyour

ped

estriano

bser

vations.

(Joeyfurtively

grabsF

assbin

der

camera

bagan

dslips

outinto

thedeserted

lobby.L

ightsup

onN

estoran

dB

arbara.)

NE

sT

oR

:T

hroughthe

glassentrance,

we

seeS

enato

rA

vilastep

outof

achauffeur-driven

cai:H

e’sbeen

sum

moned

toan

importan

t,hush

-hush

meeting

atthe

lastm

inute.

(Senator

Avila

enters.A

Dooniian

bows

asA

i’ila‘.t’alks

by.)

BA

RB

AR

A:

The

cardoor

isheld

openby

anobsequious

door

man,

who

stepsaside

asthe

senato

rw

alkspast

him.

The

senato

rtakes

careto

acknowledge

thedoorm

an.

Ncsro:

Though

itis

stillquite

earlyin

them

orning,the

heat

isunbearable.

BA

RB

AR:

The

stenchof

garbageand

flo

wers

overwhelm

ingand

sweet.

NE

sT

0R

:Ju

st

as

Senato

rA

vilaenters

thelobby—

(Senator

Avila

approachesthe

lobbyarea.

Joeyw

it, iessesL

ieutenantC

arreronshoot

Senator

Avila.

Machine-gun

fire.S

enatorA

vilacollapses.

Fassbinder

andSteve

Jacobsreact

tothe

soundofthe

gunshots.)

FA

SS

HIN

DE

R:

Jo

ey

!Jo

ey

!D

ear

God.

66

•A

CT

TWO

SCEN

E1

Lola’s

Garden

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:Lola’s

Garden

Lights

upon

Nestorand

Barbara

asthey

walk

acro

ss

thegarden

ofthe

Gonzaga

house.L

ovely,strange

music—

asin

adream

.

NE

ST

OR

:Welcom

eback

toyour

“showof

shows,”

ladiesand

gentlemen.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Disco,

chismis,

coupd’etats

Adark

fiesta.

(They

exit.S

ame

dayas

theassassination.

Arooster

crows.

Lights

upon

Rio

asshe

smokes

ajoint.

With

heris

theghost

of

Lola

Narcisa.

The

lightsare

warm

and

beautiful.)

Rio

:W

annaget

highw

ithm

e,G

randma?

Im

ean,“L

ola.”L

OL

AN

AR

cIs

A:

Not

rightnow

.I’d

loveto,

butm

yw

ildorchids

needsom

eattention.

(Holds

upa

tinybeetle)

Ay,

salaguinto!Y

ouw

on’tfind

insectslike

thisin

Am

erica,io

:So

strangeand

beautiful,ano?Y

ou

rflo

wers

areneglected,

butstilltheybloom

.T

hecolor

of blood,the

sizeof fists.

You’ve

gota

magic

touch,L

ola.A

greenthum

b.

“Help

me,

Uncle.“Joey

(Hill H

arpetright)pleads

with

hispimp,

“Uncle”

(JoelTorre).

69

DO

GE

AIE

RS

e:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

LO

LA

NA

RC

ISA

:Aw

hat?

rio:

Paradise.

Mystifying,

hallucinogenicbeauty.

Ilove

thisplace.

Look,

Lola.

Asnake

hasshed

itsskin.

LO

LA

NA

RC

IS

AY

ourm

oth

erbelieves

snakesbring

bad

luck,but

theydon’t.

Rio:

Itried

toforget

about

thisplace.

Itried

toforget

about

everythingan

deveryone.

Even

you.

..

Did

youm

issm

e,L

ola?L

OL

AN

AR

CI5

A:

More

than

you’llever

know.

(Lola

Narcisa

disappears.The

lightschange.

Freddie,in

robeand

pajamas,

enters.)

FR

DD

IE

What

areyou

doingout

herein

theg

ard

en

,R

io?A

tthis

hour.N

oone

comes

out

hereanym

ore.A

llthesew

eeds,garb

age.

..those

squ

atte

rs...A

reyou

smok

ingm

arijuan

a?R

IO(A

ttempts

tohide

joint):N

o,P

apa.F

RE

DD

IE

Ican

smell

it.W

hatw

ereyou

thinking?B

ringingdope

fromA

merica.

Que

boba.Y

oucould

havebeen

arrestedat

theairp

ort.

The

military

isn’tkindto

peoplelike

you,R

io.p

lo:

This

islocal

stuff,P

apa.F

romB

oom

boom

sprivate

stash.P

robablysold

tohim

bythe

military.

Excellent

shit.H

omegrow

n,P

apa.(G

iggling)L

ocal.F

RE

DD

IE:

You’re

high.(B

eat)S

enato

rA

vilais

dead,R

io.io

:W

hat?F

RE

DD

IE:

Shot.

Assassinated.

io:

What?

FR

ED

DIE

:I

gota

phone

call.R

IO:

You

did?W

hy’d..

.You

gota

phonecall?

Jesus.F

RE

DD

IE:

Just

flow

.W

em

ust

beprep

ared,

hija.R

Io:F

orw

hat?F

RE

DD

IE:

Anything!

(Rio

laughs.)

This

isnot

funny,R

io.R

Io:

Fuck.

FR

ED

DIE

:Y

ourlanguage

hasgotten

socrude.

Ican’t

getused

toit.

RIo

:T

hisis

unreal.

(Shelaughs

again.)

FR

ED

DIE

:P

uñeta!H

avesom

erespect,

hija.A

man

isdead.

RIO

:So.

Did

theP

residen

tor

theF

irstL

adyord

erthe

assassination?

You

know,

Iused

totellpeople

youw

eredead.

FR

ED

DIE

:T

hisis

nota

game.

io:

No,

really—I

wan

tto

know.

Ivalue

your

opinion.I’ve

always—

FR

ED

DIE

:H

igh!O

utof

your

mind!

io:

So,did

theP

residen

tm

akeit

hap

pen

?F

RE

DD

IE:

Idon’t

know!

io:

The

church,the

military

theC

IA,

Boom

boom’s

father?I

mean,

what

doyou

flickingthink?

FR

ED

DIE

:Y

oublam

em

efor

everythingth

atw

entw

rong,don’tyou?

Everything

abouty

our

mother.

I’msorry

shehates

me.

I’msorry

your

lolais

dead.io

:S

orry

sorry!Y

ouan

dyour

flickingw

om

en.

..you

leftus.

FR

ED

DIE

:M

ayI

remin

dyou,

Rio.

Your

mo

ther

leftme.

You

couldhave

come

backanytim

e.R

Io:

No!

No.

FR

ED

DIE

:G

oto

bed,R

io.Y

ouhaven’t

beensleeping.

RIo

:Y

ouknow

whatI

can’tgetusedto?

Bribes

atthe

airport.

Everybody’s

stupid

classshit.

Children

begging.S

caryguys

with

guns.F

RE

DD

IE:

Oh,

Isee.

There

areno

poo

rpeople

inA

merica!

No

scaryguys

with

guns!Y

oudon’t

livehere

anymore,

Rio.

You

haveno

right

tocriticize,

To

judge.

7071

DO

GE

4T

ER

S:

JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

Rio

:It

didn’tused

tobe

likethis.

FR

ED

DIE

:A

reyou

crying,Izija?

You’re

notas

toughas

Ithought

you’dbe.

io:

lam

fine.F

ine!F

RE

I)DIE

:S

hhh.C

almdow

n.L

et’sget

sonicsleep.

Rio

:A

llthis

death.L

ikea

hadm

ovie.F

RE

DD

IE:

Life,

Rio.

Not

am

ovieor

adream

.R

eallife.

SCEN

E2

AM

ovieM

oment

TIT

LE

PR

OJE

CT

IOt4

JohnnyK

omm

aido

Starring:

Tito

Alvarez

asJohnny

Kom

mando

andL

olitaL

unaas

IndavK

atubig

Aburst

of gunfire.

Lights

upon

thegun—

totin

glito,

crn’eredin

dirtand

blood.L

oliraenters,

dressedas

asexy

peasan

tw

asher-w

oman.

Aload

of

laundryis

balancedon

herhead.

Shegasps

atthe

sightof

him.

TI

TO

:H

ayop!H

oy,Inday!

(Collapses)

i’mhom

e,

(He

weep

sitj

pain

.)

L0L

ITA

:Jo

hnny.

..Johnny

Kornm

ando!D

on’tcry.

Abrave

man

likeJo

hnny

Kom

man

do

nevercries.

(Lolita

cradleslito

inher

arms.)

TIT

O:

I’mdyin

g...

LO

LIT

A:

Johnny.Jo

hnny

Kom

mando.

(They

kiss.L

ush,oi’e

nrro

itçht

nzoi’ie

tiiiisic.)

SCEN

E3

“Uncle”

and

Joey

Tondo,

Manila.

Joeyslips

quietlyinto

Uncles

shack,sw

eatyand

paranoid.H

eapproaches

Uncle

andm

akesthe

mano

ges

tureof

respectby

takingU

ncleshand

andpressing

itto

hisforehead

with

aslight,

deferentialbow

UN

CL

E:

What

thefuck

areyou

doinghere?

JO

EY

:I’m

indeep

shit.D

eep,deep

shit.S

enato

rA

vila’sbeen

assassinated.U

NC

La:

What

doyou

expect?W

ithhis

bigm

outh

,th

atfool

had

itcom

ingto

him.

.10

Ev

:I

sawit

happen.U

NC

LE

:Y

ou’rehigh.

joay:

Isaw

who

didit.

(Uncle

givesJoey

along,

hardlook

beforespeaking.)

UN

CL

E:

How

’syour

foreignerdoing?

JO

EY

:H

eleft

forG

ermany

thism

orning.uN

CL

E:

Isth

athis

bag?

(Joeyspills

thecontents

ofthebag

onthe

table:35-m

mcam

era,w

allet,dope,

etc.)

Very

nice,Joey.

You

didgood.

I’mglad.

You

were

start

ingto

make

me

nervous.Jo

av:

Help

me,

Uncle.

UN

CL

a:Y

oushouldn’t

haveeven

come

here.I’m

implicated,

now.

Inever

thought

you’dbe

this

stupid.jo

ry:

Ididn’t

askto

beth

erew

henit

happened.U

NC

LE

Indignantly):O

fcourse

not.B

utthere

youw

ere,boy—

wrong

placeat

thew

rongtim

e,ju

stbecause

youw

eregreedy

forsom

eforeigner’s

dope.(R

iflesthrough

7273

DO

GE

41E

RS

:e:

JES

SIC

AH

AG

ED

OR

N

thew

allet)N

otm

uch

here.

..I

hopeit

was

worth

thetrouble,

youstu

pid

sonof

aw

hore!(Sm

acksJoev

with

thew

allet)W

here’sthe

restof

them

oney?jo

ry:

That’s

allthere

is.U

NC

Lii:

Anak

ngputa

katalaga!

The

Germ

anflick

yougood

and

treatyou

good,then

youforget

allab

out

Uncle—

Uncle

who

taught

youeverything.

(Beat)

You

likethat

foreigner,don’t

you?Is

hegoing

tosend

foryou

any

way,

nowthat

heknow

syou’re

athief?

(Beat)

What

didhe

looklike?

jory

:W

ho?U

NC

LE

:T

heassassin.

i oE:

I—I

don’tknow

(Suspicious)

Why.

..are

youasking?

UN

CL

EB

ecauseit

couldsave

yourlife,

youungrateful

bastard

.JO

EY

(Guarded):

Young.

He

was

youngish.I

couldn’tsee

hiseyes.

Those

goddamn

regulatio

nsunglasses

...

youcan’t

seeeyes,

youdon’t

knowanything.

UN

CL

E:

That’s

why

thoseb

astards

wear

them.

Would

yourecognize

himagain?

Com

eon,

boy.T

hink!T

hism

ightsave

youin

theend.

OE

Y(A

gitated):I

don’tknow

.I’m

notsure.

Those

military

guysall

lookthe

same

tom

e.S

hit.I

was

scaredshitless.

Everything

hap

pen

edso

fast,faster

than

youcan

imag

ine.I

waited

forhim

toshoot

me

next.O

negun,

maybe

am

illionguns

seemed

togo

offat

once—(S

tartsto

laugh)I

guesshe

wanted

tom

akesure

Avila

was

reallydead,

huh?So

much

blood,oozing

outof

Avila’s

headan

dinto

thecarpet,

som

uchblo

od...

L\C

LE

:T

hink!Jo

v:

Look,

that’sall

Irem

ember.

I’mtelling

youthe

truth.U

NC

LE

(Am

iably):O

fcourse

youare.

(Beat)

Joey—w

hatyou

needis

some

sleep.JO

Ev:

Ican’t

sleep.T

hey’relooking

form

e.T

hey’llcom

ehere.

UN

CL

E:

Bulishit.

(Uncle

rumm

agesthrough

hism

akeshiftkitchen.

He

unfoldsa

packetof

heroinand

getsready

toshoot

Joeyup.)

joE

v:N

o,U

ncle.I

don’tw

ant

that

now,

You’ve

gotto

do

something.

They’ll

behere

soon—U

NC

LE

(Gently

tapsJoey

onthe

arm,

lookingfor

avein):

Shhh,

listento

yourU

ncle.T

here’snoth

ing

tobe

afraidof—

you’rehom

enow

.U

nclew

illdo

hisbest

tohelp

you.U

nclew

ifido

allthe

work.

You’ll

feelbetter.

(ShootsJoey

up)S

arap,ano?

Sleep.

Sleep

until

tom

or

row,

ifyou

want.

I’llgo

out,get

ussom

efood—

JO

Ey

:I’m

not

hungry.I

don’tw

ant

tosleep.

UN

CL

E:

Here—

(Spreads

am

aton

thefloor)

usem

ybanig.

Gotto

bequiet,

boy. Walls

haveears.

Uncle

will be

rightback.

No

onew

illhurt

you,I

promise.

Happy

dreams.

(Reluctantly,

Joeylies

down

onthe

mat.

He

passesout

imm

ediately.U

nclehurries

tothe

dooithen

turnsto

glanceatJoey.

Uncle

exits.F

ora

mom

ent,only

thesleep

ingfigure

ofJoey

isillum

inatedon

thestage.)

SCEN

E4

Betrayal

Split

scene:a

troubledD

aisygoes

tocon

fissionat

Baclaran

Church;

Uncle

andL

ieutenantC

arreonhave

alittle

conversation.

DA

IsY

:B

lessm

e,F

ather,for

Ihave

sinned,I

havebeen

friv

olousand

vain,th

inkin

gonly

ofm

yselfan

dm

ycarn

aldesires.

My

carelessactions

may

haveco

ntrib

uted

tom

yfather’s

death.I

don’tknow

where

totu

rn.

uN

CL

i:W

hatI

haveis

goingto

costyou.

You

were

recog

nized,L

ieuten

ant

Carreon.

7475

DO

GE

4T

ER

S:

e:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

CA

RR

EQ

NH

a.Im

possible.(B

eat)G

ivem

ea

name.

UN

CL

E:

You

thinkI’m

stupid?H

owdo

yo

uthink

I’vesu

rvived

thislong?

DA

ISY

:I’m

inlove

with

thism

an,F

ather:H

ethinks

onlyof

helpingothers,

yethe

believeskilling

issom

etimes

jus

tified.C

AR

RE

QN

Icould

killyou

rightnow

.U

NC

LE

:B

utyou

won’t.

(Beat)

Make

me

anoffer,L

ieutenant—an

dhe’s

yours.

(Lieutenant

carreonw

hispersin

Uncles

ea

Lights

down

onU

ncleand

Lieutenant

Garreon.

Lights

upon

Joeyasleep

inU

nclesshack

inT

ondo.)

oiy:

Where

doI

go?W

hatdo

Ichoose?

Lipstick,

rosary

or

gun?

Iknow

that

relig

ion

andre

vo

lutio

ndon’t

mix

,

but

it’snever

been

that

simple

form

e.M

yfath

eralw

ay

s

saidth

at...

(Joeyw

akesfrom

abad

dream,

disoriented,parchedw

iththirst

andnauseous.

He

crawls

toa

largem

etalw

aterdrum

inthe

cornetdrinks

andw

asheshis

face.H

eruinm

agesthrough

Un

clefew

belongings,and

findsa

balisonghidden

inthe

trunk.)

my

faithand

my

beliefin

God

arebeing

tested.I

don’tknow

what

todo.

(Fromout

ofthe

confessionalstepsG

eneralLedesm

a.)

LE

DE

SM

A:

You

shouldcom

ew

ithm

e,D

aisy.D

AIS

Y:

Oh

my

God—

Uncle

Nicky!

Where’s

Father

José?H

elp!

(Shetries

torun,

grapplingw

ithG

eneralLedesm

a,w

hohandcuffs

heE)

Get

your

flickinghan

ds

offm

e,U

ncle!

LE

DE

SM

A:

I’dw

atchm

ylanguage

ifI

were

you,hija.

DA

ISY

:D

on’t

callm

eth

at.Y

ou’re

not

my

fath

er!

LE

DE

sMA

:F

uckyour

father.H

e’sdead.

Let’s

go.

(They

exit.U

ncles

shackin

Tondo:

Joeym

ovestow

ardthe

dooibut

hesitatesw

henhe

hearssom

ething.U

ncleenters.)

UN

CL

E(Softly):

Isth

atyou,

Joey?0,

gisingka

napala.

(Joe>’stabs

him)

What’re

you—

(Jo’

stabshim

again)W

hat—(T

henagain)

(Joeyexits.

Lights

dow

n...

Lights

uponC

hiquitingPueha, L

olita,Barbara,R

omeo

and

Bob

Stone,

eachon

his/herow

nphone.)

CH

IOU

IT!

NG

Hoy,

bruja.I’ve

beentrying

toreach

youall

day!

Did

you

hear

abo

ut

Senato

rA

vila?p

ucn

:Y

outh

ink

it’stru

e?

ST

ON

E:

What

time?

Are

yo

usu

re?

RO

ME

O:

Can

you

imagin

e,

Iw

as

waitin

go

nhim

at

thegolf

co

urs

eju

st

the

oth

erday

and

now

he’sdead?

BA

RB

AR

A:A

y!I

woke

up

tothe

sou

nd

of

military

helicoptersfly

ing

low,

over

my

roo

f—

PuC

HA

:It

can’t

betru

e.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Iran

insid

e.

RO

ME

O:

Ididn’t

want

togo

ou

tsid

ebut

Ihad

tofind

ap

hone

and

callyou!

L0L

ITA

:I

needto

sp

eak

toG

en

era

lL

ed

esm

a.

Aba,

thisis

an

em

erg

en

cy

.

BA

RB

AR

A:

There’s

noth

ing

on

thera

dio

—

PU

CH

A:

Nothing

on

TV

Just

sta

tic!

STO

NE

:T

heusu

alm

edia

blackout.P

uC

HA

:T

hem

ilitary’splan

nin

ga

what?

Acoup?

CH

IQU

ITIN

G:

Naku!

Coup!

RO

ME

O:

Hello?

Hello?

7677

,:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

DO

GE

i7R

5

CFl

ov

Tr

G:

Here

we

goagain.

Roadblocks

andcurfew

.B

AR

BA

RA

,R

OM

EO

,L

OL

l[A

AN

L)

Pt

CH

AD

Dios

ko!cF

lIou

IlIN

G:

How

am1

goingto

getout?

I’msu

pp

osed

to

goto

Rom

ew

ithIm

elda

tosee

theP

apa

Pope!

L0L

ITA

:T

hisis

Lolita

Luna.

Ineed

tosp

eakto

thegen

eral.

In

eedto

kio

wif

the

airport’sclosed!

SCEN

E5

Studio

54

Late

afiernoon.D

arkinterior

of

Studio

54.P

ertitaenters

and

turn

son

thelights.

He

goesbehind

thebar

tostart

straigh

tening

upan

dfinds

Joeyhiding

there.Joeys

clothesare

blo

od

stained.

PE

RI

ITA

:D

iosko!

You

almo

stgave

me

aheart

attack.i o

rv:

Ididn’t

knoww

hereelse

togo,

Perlita.

Pedro

letm

ein.

PE

RL

IF

AA

ndw

hereis

thattarantado?

Pedro!

(ToJoey)

You

looklike

shit.JO

Ey:

Sen

ator

Avila—

PE

RL

ITA

:I

know—

ior

‘:

Isaw

ithappen.

PF

RL

IIA

:Joking-jokingka

lang,rightJoey?

Because

ifyou’retelling

me

thetruth,

thenyou’re

afucking

deadm

an.JoE

y(F

rantic):I

i-an,P

erlita.I

ranand

ran,I

couldn’tbreathe

but

Ididn’t

stopI

keptru

nnin

g.

..I

thin

kU

nclew

entto

thecops.

PE

Rt

fA

Isth

atU

ncle’sblood

allover

you?J0E

Y:

What

amI

goingto

do,P

erlita?W

hatam

Igoing

todo?

PE

RL

ITA

:Y

ou’regoing

tohave

adrink

andcalm

down.

You’re

high,aren’t

you?H

ighor

coming

down

froma

high.T

hinkI

can’ttell?

Look

atyou,

shakingand

tremb

ling

...

(Perlita

pours

himself a

shotof

rum,

drinksit

down.

Beat.

He

handsa

beerto

Joey.)

Pedro!

(Pedro

enters.)

Ihave

tom

akea

phone

call,Joey.

(ToP

edro)T

akecare

ofhim

.A

ndw

atchthe

door.

pE

DR

o:

00,

p0.

(Per! itaexits.

Pedro

goesto

thedoor

He

stands

and

stares

atJoey.)

JO

Ey

:W

hatdo

youth

ink

you’redoing,

Pedro?

PE

DR

O:

Watching

you,sir.

i0

Ev

:Y

ou’rebuggin’

me,

man.

You

betterfucking

stop.(B

eat)

Sit

down.

PE

DR

o:

No,

sir.

(Joeyoffers

Pedro

hisbottle

of S

anM

iguel.)

PE

DR

O:

The

bossw

illkill

me,

sir.

JO

EY

:W

here’dP

erlitago?

PE

DR

O:

Hindi

koalam

,sir.

Idon’t

knowanything.

iov:

Bullshit.

Ibet

youknow

more

than

Ido.

(Pertitarushes

in.)

PE

RL

iT

A:

You

canhide

herefor

thetim

ebeing,

Joey.P

edro

will

takeyou

up

stairsto

my

apartm

ent.

JO

EY

:T

hey’llcom

eafter

me,

Perlita.

They

knowabout

you.

pE

RL

ITA

:Y

ou

’regetting

outof

Manila

with

thehelp

ofm

y

friends.JO

E:

What

friends?W

heream

Igoing?

7879

D0

(,L4T

LR

S:

:JE

SS

IC.4

HA

GE

DO

RN

PE

RL

I1A

:N

everm

indw

hothey

are,never

mind

where

you’regoing.

The

lessyou

know,

thebetter.

But

Iw

illtell

youthis:

there’sno

roomfor

junkies

where

they’retaking

you.I’m

nota

junkie.P

ER

1.1T

A(To

Pedro):

Listen

tothis

boyju

stlie

andlie

andlie!

Lies

come

flyingout

ofhis

mouth,

evenw

henhe

sleeps!(E

xasperated)D

iosko,

my

bloodpressure—

why

doI

evenb

oth

erw

ithpeople

likeyou?

(Beat.)

Pedro!

PE

DR

O:

Yes,

boss?P

ER

IITA

:T

akehim

upstairs,get

himsom

eclean

clothes,and

coverup

allthe

window

s.(To

Joey)A

ndnot

apeep

fromyou

untilI

sayso.

My

friendsw

illbe

heresoon.

ioE

y:

Putang

ma,

Perlita.

Idon’t

want

togo.

PE

RL

ITA

:H

avelev

ersteered

youw

rong,Joey?

JO

EY

:N

o.P

ER

LI

TA

: Then

doas

Isay.Y

oudon’t

haveany

oth

eroptions.

.io:

Who

areyou,

really,P

erlita?P

ER

t1A

‘The

Pearl

ofthe

Orient.”

Di

ba?io

E\:

Ikilled

—P

ER

LIT

A:

Iknow

.jo

iy:

He

was

likea

fath

er-

PE

RL

ITA

:N

o.JO

E‘

:Idon’t

want

todie.

PE

RL

ITA

:I

won’t

letyou.

SCEN

E6

Dirty

Movies

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:S

everoM

acran’sP

rivateS

creeningR

oom

Grunts

and

moans,

cheesym

usicfrom

aporno

soundtrack.

Light

flickersfrom

a16-m

mprojector

Alacrari

and

Lolita

Luna

sitside

byside

ona

sofaor

loveseatan

dface

theaudi

ence—-as

if watching

am

ovie.

AL

AcR

AN

:L

olita,I

loveth

atyou

didthis.

L0L

ITA

:D

oyou.

AL

AC

RA

N:

You’re

thesexiest

wom

analive.

See?

(Places

her

han

don

hislap)

I’vegot

ahard-on.

(Chuckling)

You’ve

givena

jaded

oldm

anan

incrediblehard-on.

LO

LIT

A:

Uh-huh.

AL

AcR

AN

:Y

oudon’t

regretthis,

doyou?

LO

LI

TA

:W

hatdo

youthink.

Itake

fivebath

sa

day.

AL

AC

RA

N(D

isgusted):Y

ou’rean

un

gratefu

lbrat.

Agold

digger—L

0L

ITA

:F

uckyou.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Don’t

Ico

mpen

sateyou

enough,am

or?(B

eat)

Does

ou

rlittle

generalsuspect?

(Gestures

toscreen)

About

our—L

OL

IT

A:

Probably.

Nicky

knows

everything.

AL

AcR

AN

:D

on’tw

orryab

out

him.

He

hashis

han

ds

full

rightnow

.T

heseprivate

movies

will

remain

our

little

secret.

..

(Kissing

herneck)

andnever

leavem

yp

os

session.I

promise.

LO

LI

TA

:N

icky’sa

veryjealous

man.

He

hates

you.

AL

AcR

AN

(Am

used):B

ullshit.T

hegeneral

and

Iare

the

best

and

oldestof

friends,di

ha?L

0L

IrA

:H

ehates

you,but

it’sm

eh

esgoing

tokill.

AL

AC

RA

N:

Don’t

beridiculous,

anior.

8081

DO

GE

AT

tRS:

,:JE

SS

iCA

HA

GE

DO

RN

L0L

ITA

:Is

ittrue

that

he’sgot

Daisy

Avila

lockedup

inth

atcam

pof

his?A

LA

CR

AN

(Casually):

Where’d

youh

earthat?

1.0

LI

TA

:T

heysay

she’sbeen

raped

and

tortu

red.

AL

AC

RA

N(R

ivetedby

them

ovie):T

hisis

my

favoritepart.

Just

lookat

you,am

or.L

OL

lT

A:

They

sayhe

hadD

aisy’sfath

erkilled.

AL

AC

RA

N:

You

havesuch

flairfor

melodram

a.L

0L

ITA

:Fix

my

pap

ersso

my

sonan

dI

canget

out

ofthis

dam

ncountry,

Chuchi,

please.

..P

lease?A

LA

CR

AN

:S

hhh...

LO

LIT

A:

Please!

AL

AC

RA

N:

But

I’dm

issyou

som

uch,am

or.

(Lights

down

asA

lacrankisses

Lolita.)

SCEN

E7

TriniandR

omeo

Break-up

/R

omeo’s

Shooting

TIT

LE

PR

OJE

CT

ION

:E

pifaniode

losS

antosA

venue(E

DSA

)an

dA

uroraB

oulevard,C

ubao,Q

uezonC

ity

On

abusy

streetcorner

Trini

pacesback

and

forth,checking

herw

atch.Finally,

shesees

Rom

eocom

ingtow

ardhe,

TR

INI:

Ith

ought

we

saidnoon.

RO

ME

O:

We

did.I’m

sorry.T

RI

Ni:

Wellyou’re

fortym

inuteslate,

and

nowI

haveto

rushback

tow

orkon

anem

ptysto

mach

..

.A

y,R

omeo.

What’s

goingon?

Ihaven’t

heardfrom

youin

weeks.

RO

ME

O:

It’sonly

beena

fewdays.

Trini.

TR

INI:

You

haven’tcalled.

R0

ME

0:

You

don’thave

aphone

andI

don’thave

aphone.

TR

IN

I:Y

oucan

always

callm

eat

thetheatre.

Ro

ME

o:

Idon’t

wan

tto

getyou

introuble.

TR

INI:

My

bossis

veryi.m

derstanding.R

0M

E0:

Well,

my

bossisn’t.

Would

youplease

stopcalling

me

atw

ork?Y

ou’regoing

toget

me

ftred.

(Abeat.

Trinistarts

walking

away.

Rom

eograbs

herarm

.)

Trini,

please.I

didn’tm

eanto

hurt

you.T

RI

NI:A

ray!Y

ou’rehurting

my

arm.

RO

ME

O(L

ettinggo):

I’msorry.

TR

1NI

For

what?

You’re

tiredof

me,

aren’tyou?

Ro

ME

o:

No,

no.N

otat

all.It’s

just

that—T

RI

NI:

My

paren

tsw

arned

me

about

lifein

Manila.

“The

fastlife,”

theycalled

it.F

ullof

vain,conniving

men

and

foolishw

omen—

foolish,like

me.

Ro

ME

o:

You’re

not

foolish,T

rini.Y

ou’regood-hearted

andsw

eet,an

dw

ouldm

akeany

man

happy.T

RIN

I:B

utnot

you.R

OM

EO

:It’s

just

that—w

ell,m

ybuddy

Tito

came

backfrom

locationan

dhas

pro

mised

toarran

ge

ascreen

testlater

thisw

eek.T

RIN

I:A

screentest.

Of

course.H

ownice.

Ro

ME

o:

I’vebeen

waiting

forthis

chanceall

my

life,T

rini.T

RIN

II’m

tenyears

olderth

anyou

think.R

OM

EO

:I

knowthat.

TR

INI:

Do

you?T

hirty-four,not

twenty-four

andI’ve

beenw

aitingfor

thischance

allm

ylife,

too.I’m

inlove

with

you.M

adlyin

love.I

want

tohave

yourchildren.

RO

ME

O:

Trini,

please.T

RIN

IY

oucan

bean

action

star.Y

oucan

bethe

biggestaction

starin

thew

orld,bigger

and

better

than

your

buddyT

ito.I

loveyou,

Rom

eo.I

want

tom

arryyou.

Iw

on’tget

inyour

way.

R0

ME0

But—

(Backing

away

fromher)

I’msorry,

Trini.

(He

turnsan

dhurries

down

thestreet)

82

83

DO

(1171

R5

:irs

szc.

HA

GE

DO

RN

“No

!”W

ithB

arbara

(Mia

Katig

bak)helplessly

standingnext

tohe,

Trini(Eileen

Rivera)

screams

inhorror

asthey

bothw

atchR

omeo

beinggunned

down

inthe

street.

Lights

upon

Barbara

asshe

lip-synchs“M

aalaalaM

oK

aya”[“W

illY

ouR

emem

ber’7an

oth

erbittersw

eet,yearning,

classicF

ilipinolove

song—and

walks

overto

comfort

Trini.

Am

anapproaches

Rom

eoan

ddraw

sa

gun.M

usicstops.)

SH

00

FF

R:

Rom

eoR

osales.R

esistingarrest?

RO

ME

O:

What?

(Gunshots.R

omeo

Jzllsto

theground.

Triniscream

s,“N

o!”

SCE

NE

S

TheV

IPL

ounge

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:“V

IPL

ounge,C

amp

Meditation,”

Quezon

City

Night.

Aw

indowless

interrogationroom

.L

ightsup

onD

aisy,G

eneral Ledesm

aan

dL

ieutenantC

arreon.D

aisyis

han

dcu

fldan

dseated.

Aradio

ison.

Reality

and

thew

orldof

theev

erlasting

soapopera

collide.N

estoran

dB

arbaraare

presentin

theroom

,observers

and

narrato

rsof

thescene.

NE

sT

0R

:A

ndgood

eveningto

allof

you,ladies

and

gen

tlem

en,from

Radio

Manila.

13A

R11

AR

A:

Inthe

Year

ofthe

Rosary

remem

ber:“T

hefam

ilyth

atprays

together,stays

together.”T

onight’sspecial

episodeof

Love

Letters

iscalled

‘Diw

a.”N

EsT

0R

:S

tarring

yourstruly,

theone

and

onlyN

estorN

oralezan

dthe

everlastingan

dever

lovelyB

arbara

Villanueva.

Bro

ught

toyou

byour

sp

onsors

Eye

Mo

Eyedrops,

TruC

ola,M

anilaR

uman

dE

lephan

tB

rand

“Katol”

Mosquito

Coils.

BA

RB

AR

A(A

nxiously):D

iosko!

Where

ism

ypoor

father?

I’vebeen

waiting

andw

aiting.W

ehave

allbeen

waiting.

NE

5T

0R

:Ay

,anak.

BA

RB

AR

A:

Papa?

‘Susm

ariajosep!Is

that.

..you?

(Soap

operam

usicup.)

LE

DE

SM

A(T

urnsdow

nthe

radio):D

oyou

likethese

melo

dram

as,hija?

Kind

ofsen

timen

tal,don’t

youthink?

Your

latefath

eran

dI

shared

am

utu

alresp

ectfor

therem

arkab

lecu

lture

ofthis

country.n

isy

:Y

oukilled

him.

LB

DE

SM

A:

Iam

sorryyour

opinionof

me

isso

low.

Iam

(Trini

iscrushed.

Blackout.)

your

uncle,after

all.D

AIS

Y:

Fuck

you.

8485

DO

(,LA

ILI?

Sif

‘,SIC

AH

AG

FD

OR

N

(Lieutenant

can-eonis

aboutto

strikehe,;

butG

eneralL

edesma

stopshin

t)

CA

RR

E0N

:It’s

goingto

bealo

ng,

hotnight,p

uta.

iE

DF

SM

A:

Watch

your

mouth,

Pepe.

That’s

my

nieceyou’re

talkingto

..

.W

ouldyou

carefor

acigarette,

hija?S

omething

coldand

refreshin

gto

drink?(F

orcesD

aisyto

drinka

glassofw

ater)N

ES

T0R

:T

hirst-q

uen

cher

tothe

stars.T

hethinking

man’s

softdrink.

BA

R13

AR:

After

along

hard

dayat

theoffice

or

atschool—

TruC

ola!N

ES

IO

R:

For

that

quickjo

ltof

energy,th

atfizz-boom

-pop!T

hatsu

nheatab

leco

mbin

ation

ofS

unkistoranges

andcaram

elsoda.

(Nestor

and

Barbara

drinkas

Daisy

chokesan

dgags.)

NE

SIO

RA

NE

)B

AR

I3A

RA

:Aaah!

LEDF.SM

A(To

Daisy):

Blood

isth

icker

thanw

ater,di

ba?N

om

atterw

hatyou

or

yourpath

eticN

PAcom

radesm

aythink.

CA

RR

EC)

N:

How

longhave

youknow

nS

antosT

irador?D

idyou

meet

himthrough

yourfather

orthose

Com

munist

“friends”of

yours?D

AIS

Y:

You’re

reallya

baby,L

ieuten

ant

Carreon.

(Once

again,L

ieutenantcan

-eol

goesto

strikeD

aisy,but

General

Ledesm

astops

him.)

LF.

DE

sM

A(To

Daisy):

One

ofyour

father’sfavorite

songsw

as“W

hiteC

hristmas”

byB

ingC

rosby.N

ottoo

many

peo

pieknew

hew

asa

sentim

ental

man,

with

sentim

ental

tastein

music

andm

ovies.H

ollywood

movies,

mind

you.T

houghhe’d

neverad

mit

itto

hisco

nstitu

ents,

ofcourse.

DA

ISY

:S

toptalking

about

my

father!L

ED

fS

MA

Didn’t

wan

tanything

totarn

ishhis

natio

nalist

imag

e..

.“Pilipinos

forP

ilipinos,”lakas

ngbob,

lakasng

bayan,blab

blahblah—

(Beat)

Are

youaw

areof

Santos

Tirador’s

involvement

inthe

recent

ambush

on

my

troopsnear

Sagada

onN

ovember

second?(B

eat)

All

Souls’

Day.

CA

RR

E0N

:A

llS

ouls’D

ay.L

ED

ES

M:

There

were

veryfew

survivorsam

ongm

ytroops,

which

isvery

up

setting

tom

e.Y

ouun

derstan

d,

hija?C

AR

RE

0N

:Ik

now

how

tom

akeherta

lk,

(GeneralL

edesma

holdsup

hishan

din

adism

issiveg

esture

toL

ieutenantC

an-eon.)

LE

L)

ES

MA

:W

hato

ther

annoyingsu

rprises

and

littlesk

irm

ishesdo

your

NPA

friendshave

plan

ned

forus,

Daisy?

Help

us,hija.

And

then

maybe

we

canhelp

you.

(Beat)

Where

were

youheaded

afteryour

lastco

nfes

sion?Y

ourconfession

was

quiteam

using.Y

ouw

ereon

your

way

tom

eetthe

father

ofyour

babyup

inthe

mountain

s,w

eren’tyou?

We

knowyou’re

preg

nan

t,

Daisy.

We

knoweverything

there

isto

knowab

out

you

Don’t

we,

Lieu

tenan

tC

arreon?C

AR

RF.

0N

Everything.

LE

DE

SM

A:H

ija,Im

ust w

arnyou.

The

men

inm

yelite

urb

anw

arfareunit

arew

aitingoutside

and

arevery

anxiousto

meet

you.A

ren’tthey,

Lieu

tenan

tC

an-eon?cA

RR

EO

N:

Anxious.

iE

DF.s

M:

We’ve

neverhad

aw

oman

ofyourfam

eand

beautygrace

ou

rch

ambers.

Have

we,

Lieu

tenan

tC

an-eon?C

AR

RE

ON

:N

ever.

(General

Ledesm

am

otionsto

Lieutenant

Can-eon,

who

handshim

severalphotographs.)

8687

DU

(,[AT

FR

S:

ILS

SIC

Aa

4G

FID

OR

V

LE

Drs

MA

:A

ndeven

Ican

donoth

ing

aboutm

ym

en’sexcesses,

onceI

leavethis

room.

Here,

hija.L

ookat

theseP

olaroids—so

terrible,don’t

youthink?

Open

youreyes.

Don’t

turn

away.

I’msure

yourN

PAcom

radesw

ouldbe

thefirst

tourge

youto

confro

nt

your

worst

nightmares.

Look!

Rise

tothe

challenge.L

ookat

thisone.

And

thisone.

And

thisone!

My

men

rearrang

edhim

totally.(chuckles

softly)S

antosT

irador!A

styro

foamcup

where

hisbrain

sused

tobe.

Isn’tth

atin

ge

nio

us?

(Beat)

Are

thosetears

Isee

flowing

fromyour

eyes?I

amasto

nish

ed,

Daisy

Avila.Y

ou’renot

astough

asI

thought

you’dbe.

(Daisy

spits

atG

eneralL

edesma.

Lieu

tenan

tG

arreonhands

hima

hanky.G

eneralL

edesma

signalsto

Lieutenant

Carreon

toleave.

He

exits,then

reenters,lead

inguniform

edm

ilitarym

eninto

theV

IPInterrogation

Lounge.

GeneralL

edesma

bendsoverD

aisy.H

ew

hispersin

herear:)

After

this,I

promise—

we

canfinally

bealone.

Inm

yprivate

officeright

nextdoor.

Just

youand

I...how

I’vedream

edof

sucha

mom

ent!T

here,there,

Daisy

Shhh.

You’re

evenm

orebeautiful

when

youcry.

“We’ve

neverhad

aw

oman

of yourfam

eand

beautygrace

ourcham

bers”G

eneralN

icasioL

edesma

(right,JoJoG

onzalez)

interrogatesthe

youngbeauty

queen,D

aisyA

vila(R

onaFigueroa),

abouther su

bversive

activities.

(Lieutenant

Carreori

approachesD

aisyan

dunbuckles

hisbelt.

Lights

doivn.L

ightsup

onN

estoran

dB

arbara,holding

abottle

and

two

glassesof

rum.

They

sing“The

Runt

Jingle’)

NE

ST

OR

AN

DB

AR

BA

RA

:

Aparty’s

nota

partyw

ithout

dark

Manila

rum

...M

abu

hay!F

ieryand

sweet,

sucha

treat.M

anilaru

m.

..(T

heytoast

and

drink)A

hh!

SCEN

E9

Daisy

andP

apa’sG

host

Later

thatnight.

Abruised

and

beatenD

aisyin

hercell atC

amp

Meditation.

Abloody

sheetcovers

hernaked

body.S

enatorA

vilaappears.

The

lightsflicker

onand

off

AvIL

A:

Daughter.

DA

isy:

My

god,it

can’tbe.

AvIL

A:

I’mhungry.

Boil

some

rice.

8889

DO

GL

4IL

R.S

:JIS

.S!C

4H

AG

ED

OR

DA

ISY

(Crossing

herself):H

ailM

ary,full

ofgrace—

AV

II

A:

Salt

fishand

rice.G

reenm

angosalad.

You’ll

begone

fromthis

soon.I

promise.

DA

isy

:I’m

bleeding.A

vIL

A:

Sige,anak.

Hurry.

Abig

potof

rice.o

isy

:I’m

notdead?

AvIL

A:

No.

DA

isY

:T

hepain.

IL

A:

Iknow

.M

inew

as

shortand

sweet

butyo

u...

DA

IS‘

:1th

ought

itw

ouldnever

end.I

keptpassingout,

hop

ingto

die,but—

AV

iL:

Rem

ember

The

generalis

family.

And

havem

ercyon

hissoul,

Daughter.

oisy:

I’mlosing

my

baby.F

uckG

od—I’m

losingm

ybaby!

Av

IL

A:

And

don’ttake

thenam

eof

theL

ordG

odin

vain.It

doesno

good.D

AIS

Y:

Iw

antm

ym

oth

eran

dm

ysister!

(Beat)

There

were

som

anym

en.So,

som

anym

en.T

heroom

stank,P

apa.S

permand

sweat.

A\

IL(S

ighing):I

cansm

ellyour

mother’s

deliciousdin

uguan

.B

loodstex&

,D

aughter.C

hocolatem

eat.D

AIS

\:Y

ou’resm

ellingm

e.M

e.G

oddamm

it,P

apa.I

triedto

begood.

Itried

tobe

noblean

dgood,

likeyou.

But

noth

ing

prep

aredm

efor

this.A

\IL

AC

hocolatem

eat,soaked

upby

lotsof

fluffyw

hiterice.

Heaven,

Daughter.

DA

ISY

:Y

ou’resupposed

tobe

comforting

me!

(Senator

Avila

exits.)

Papa?

Papa?

I’mw

et.D

on’tleave

me—

I’mhem

orrh

aging!

Som

eoneget

me

outof

here...

Get

me

my

fuck

inguncle!

Get

me

my

fuckinguncle!

SCEN

E10

TheP

alaceInterview

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:M

alacanangP

alace

Afternoon.

Bob

Stone

isw

aitingto

interviewI;nelda

Marcos.

Finally,Im

eldam

akesher

entrance,

IM

EL

DA

Ihave

ab

anqu

etto

attend.1

cangive

youexactly

fifteenm

inutes.N

om

ore,m

aybeless.

ST

ON

E:

Your

presssecretary

promised

atleast

anhour.

iM

EL

I)A

What

signare

you?M

ister—

“Someone

getm

eout

of hereG

etm

em

yfucking

uncle!G

etm

em

yfucking

uncle!”D

aisyA

t’ila(R

onaFigueroa)

inhercell

atcam

pM

editation.

9()91

DO

GE

AT

ER

5:,

:ii

S5

1C

4H

AG

TD

OR

N

(Inieldasits,

asdoes

Stone.)

sT

oN

E:

Stone.

Bob

Stone.

IME

LD

A:

Bob.

Such

avirile

name.

(Beat)

What

signare

you,B

ob?M

ayI

callyou

Bob?

ST

ON

E:

Of

course.I’m

sorry

madam

e.I

don’tsee

thepoint.

IM

EL

DA

Don’t

youbelieve

inastrology?

Ido.

Cosm

icforces

beyondo

ur

control,shaping

our

lives—sT

oN

E:

Let’s

talkab

out

theassassin

ation

ofS

enato

rA

vila.I

un

derstan

da

suspectby

thenam

eof

Rom

eoR

osalesw

askilled

bythe

military

afew

daysago.

(hneldarem

ovesone

high-heeledshoe

and

holdsit

up.)

sT

ON

E:

He

was

aw

aiter,w

asn’the?

ii

EL

i):

That

was

hisjob,

yes.H

isassu

med

identity.O

h,he

was

brilliant,B

ob.E

venthis

businessw

ithth

atpoor

fiancéeof

his.

.. W

etried

tow

arnS

enato

rA

vila,but—

ST

ON

E:

What

aboutD

aisyA

vila?

IM

EL

DA

:I

amunab

leto

answ

erquestions

about

her.T

hisis

am

atterw

hichpertain

sto

ou

rnatio

nal

security.B

ut

Iw

illtell

youthis,

okay,B

ob?A

sfar

asI

know,

Daisy

Avila

was

releasedfrom

deten

tion

thism

orning.Y

ou

shouldinterview

General

Ledesm

aabout

this.

ST

ON

ET

hegeneral

hastu

rned

drn&n

allrequests

forin

ter

vie

ws.

IMELD

A(S

ighing):A

y,Jam

sotired.

Trials

andtrib

ulatio

ns,

trialsan

dtribulations!

Ifeel

likeA

nthonyQ

uinnin

my

IME

LD

A:

Local

made!

(Beat)

You

see,they

say

Ionly

buyim

ported

products.B

utlook,di

ba,m

yshoe

hasa

labelth

atclearly

says:“M

arikinaS

hoes,M

adein

theP.1.”!

They

accusem

eof

beingextravagant,

butI’ve

owned

theseshoes

forat

leastfive

years.L

ookat

thew

ornheel

And

thisbeautiful

dressI’m

wearing

isalso

localm

ade,out

ofpineapple

fiber,w

hichw

ealso

export.I

ama

natio

nalist

when

itcom

esto

fashion.S

TO

NE

:B

utw

hatabout—

IME

LD

A:

Okay!

Okay!

Okay

lang,so

theydon’t

likem

yface.

They’re

alljealous,okay?

Can

youbeat

that,B

ob?Jam

cursed

bym

yow

nb

eauty

Do

youlike

my

face?S

TO

NE

:Y

es.S

hallw

em

oveon,

madam

e?(B

eat)A

ccordingto

my

sources,R

omeo

Rosales

was

shot

down

inthe

middle

ofa

busyintersection,

inbro

addaylight.

His

fiancéeclaim

edth

athe

was

anin

nocen

tm

an,w

ithno

known

politicalaffiliation.

IM

EL

D:

Isth

atso?

(Beat)

You

know,

Bob—

my

hu

sban

dtells

me

Rom

eoR

osaleshad

agun.

The

same

gunth

atsh

ot

down

Sen

ator

Avila!

How

doyou

foreignersexplain

that?“Local niade!”

InieldaM

arcos(C

hingT

.ldesAran)

praisesher

lot’elvshoe.

9293

L)0

6E

.47L

RS

favoritem

ovie—ano

baiyon?

The

Hunchback

of

Notre

Dat-ne.

Iknow

Anthony

Quinn

quitew

ell,B

ob.D

oyou

knowA

nthonyQ

uinn?S

TO

NE

:N

o.

IM

El.

DA

:W

ou

ldy

ou

carefo

rso

me

merienda,

Bob?

sT

oN

E:

No

than

kyou.

IMII

IDA

:D

on’tyou

likeF

ilipinofood?

ST

ON

EY

es,o

fco

urse.

(Beat)

But

no.T

hankyou.

IME

LD

AI’ll

tellyou

something,

okay?T

hepeople

havenot

lost

faithin

me.

They

know

that

Ilove

them,

that

Iam

their

“S”and

“S.”S

TO

NE

:“S”

and

“S”?IM

EL

DA

:“S

lave”and

“Staj:”I

servem

ypeople

andI

shinew

ithlove

and

beau

tyfo

rth

em.

Ico

me

from

po

verty

Bo

b.

Inev

erden

yit.

Peo

ple

lookat

me.

Because

Ihap

pen

tolook

great—they

assume—

theyput

two

andtw

oto

geth

eran

daccuse

me

ofstealing

foodfrom

chil

dren’sm

ouths.A

bsurd,di

ba?N

ow

ay,José!

(Beat)

Icould’ve

been

asin

ger

Bob.

Ilove

tosing—

(Suddenly;Im

eldabursts

intothe

song“D

ahilS

aIvo,”

thengiggles.

She

onlysings

afew

linesbefore

crackingup)

Ay

Bob,

where

isro

man

cethese

days?P

lease.Y

ourpen

andso

me

paper

(Stone

handsher

hisnotepad

and

pen.Im

eldastarts

todraw

and

scribble,intent

asa

child.L

ongpause.)

I’vebeen

accusedof

beinga

greatdream

er.O

hyes.

Idream

no

to

nly

atnig

ht

wh

enth

ereare

mo

on

and

stars,but

Idream

mo

reso

inth

eday

time.

Iad

mit,

Idream

awak

e,m

yeyes

wid

eopen

.I

could

be

dre

am

ingright

now,diba?

(Beat)

Yourfifteen

min

utes

areup.

(Starts

toexit)

Excuse

my

husb

and

for

not

bein

gavail

able,okay;

Bob?

This

isone

ofhis

golfdays.

SCEN

E11

Safe

House

TITLEPR

OJE

CT

ION

:K

alinga-Apayao

Province,

12—15

Hours

No

rtho

fM

anila

Intensestatic

sounds.In

nocu

ous

popm

usic—either

in

English

orT

agalog—plays

froma

transisto

rradio.

Asm

all,

unftu-nishedroom

.B

ooksare

scatteredabout,

thereis

not

much

else.L

ightsup

onJoey

and

two

art-nedN

PAguerrillas:

Ka

Pablo

and

Ku

Edgar

Ka

Edgar

isim

mersed

ina

book,but

heis

always

ontile

alert.T

heatm

osphereis

tense.Joev

vomits

into

abucket.A

notherN

PAguerrilla,

Ka

Lydia,

entersw

itha

bago

f food

andsupplies.

Sitethrow

sa

packo

f cigarettesat

Joe’

JOE

Y(R

eflrringto

thecigarettes):

Are

theylo

cal?

KA

LY

DIA

:W

hatdo

youex

pect?

JOE

Y:

How

much

longerdo

we

haveto

stayhere?

KA

PA

BL

O:

As

longas

we

haveto.

Keep

yourfucking

voice

do

wn

.

ioy:

I’mlosing

my

mind.

Ineed

dope!1

dunno

ifit’s

day

or

night—K

AP

AB

LO

(ToK

uE

dgar):I

toldyou

he

was

go

ing

tob

e

trouble.

(Ka

Edgar

looksup

brieflyfront

hisbook,

goesback

to

reading.)

30

Ev

(ToK

aL

ydia):C

an’tI

goout

afterdark

forju

sta

little

while?

I’llbe

careful.I

knowhow

tom

ake

myself

invisible.

KA

LY

DIA

:Y

ou’re

path

etic

.(B

eat)Y

ouhungry?

joy:

I’msick.

Ineed—

ii.S

SiC

4H

l(,ED

OR

.\

9495

DO

LL

ITF

RS

JE

SS

ICA

HA

(,LD

OR

S

KA

LY

DIA

:It’llpass.

JOE

y:

Let

me

outof

here,please.

What

thefuck’s

yo

ur

nam

e?

KA

LYD

A:K

aL

ydia.K

eepyour

voicedow

n,io

UY

:N

o,no.

Im

eanw

hatare

yourreal

names.

And

what’s

with

this“ka”

shit?K

AL

YD

IA:

“Ka”

forkasam

a.K

AP

AB

LO

:It

means

“comrade,”

stupid.JO

BY

:I

knowkasam

aand

Idon’t

knowyou,

and

you’reno

flick

ing

kasama

ofm

ine.

(Ka

Edgar

looksup

fromhis

bookand

chuckles.)

KA

iY

DIA

(ToJoey):

You’re

pitiful.

(Music

onthe

radiois

intem

pted

bya

news

bulletin.The

receptionis

terrible.)

AN

NO

UN

CE

R:

Late

breakingnew

sin

Man

ila..

.Asp

ok

esm

anfrom

Arm

yC

hiefofS

taffG

eneralL

edesma’s

head

quarters

hasconfirm

edthat

Daisy

Avila,

releasedfrom

deten

tion,

hasfled

tothe

mountain

snorth

of—

(Static

intensifies.K

aL

ydiafiddles

with

theradio.

Fru

strated,

shesm

ashesthe

radioonto

theflooE

)

KA

PA

Bio

(Incredulous):Sirang

uloka

ba?P

aanotayo

ngayon?

KA

L\

1)1:C

heappiece

ofshit.

JoB

y:

Ican’t

stayin

thisugly

roomanym

ore!T

here’snoth

ingto

do,I’m

sobored!

(Joeytries

tom

akea

breakfir

thedoorand

isblocked

byK

aPablo.)

KA

LY

DIA

(Furious,

toJoey):

Shut

upan

dread

aflicking

book!T

hereare

plentyo

fbooks

hereto

entertain

that

cle

ver

littlem

ind

ofyours,

see?F

anon,M

ao,M

arx

Rizal,

Constantino,

JackieC

ollins.jo

Ey:

Ican’t

read.

(Beat.)

KA

1X

D1

A:

You

wan

tm

eto

teachyou?

KA

PA

BL

O:

He’s

not

wo

rththe

troubleL

etm

ekill

him.

KA

LY

DIA

:P

utangm

a,P

ablo!(T

oJoey)I

canteach

you.

jo

y:

Yo

u’re

no

tg

on

na

bra

inw

ash

me!

Let

me

go

.

KA

LY

DIA

:Y

ou’re

much

too

valuableto

us.

.JoL

Y:

Why?

KA

LY

DiA

:Y

ou’re

theso

lew

itness

toS

enato

rA

vila’sassassi

natio

n.

Do

n’t

you

get

it?F

or

once

inyour

sorry

life, youcould

bea

usefulm

em

ber

of

socie

tyand

con

tribu

teto

ou

rstruggle

against—.J0

EY

:F

uckyou,

bitch.I’m

usefulto

myself.

KA

LY

DIA

:E

ven

ifw

elet

you,there’s

nowhere

foryou

togo.

ioy:

What?

KA

PA

BL

O:

Yo

u’re

no

tin

Manila

any

more

.I

gu

ess

that

never

occurre

dto

yo

u,

didit, kanto

boy?J0

BY

:W

herethe

flickare

we?

KA

ED

GA

R:

You’re

ina

safe

ho

use.

jo

y:

Aw

hat?K

AL

YD

IA:

Doesn

’tm

atte

r.S

om

eo

ne

will

beh

ere

so

on

tota

ke

you

on

thenext

leg

of

your

journ

ey

.H

igh,high

up

into

them

ountain

s.J0E

Y:

Am

Igonna

beblindfolded

again?I

don’tw

anna

heblindfolded.

Idon’t

wan

na

bew

rapped

uplike

a

mum

my

and

stuckon

thefloor

ofa

carfor

godknow

s

howlong—

KA

LY

DIA

:C

almdow

n.It’s

goingto

beover

soon.J0E

Y:

What

am

Idoing

here

?P

utangm

a,goddam

nth

at

Perlita

.And

go

ddam

nall

of

you

,“K

a,”w

hoever

yo

uart?

KA

ED

GA

R:

And

may

youachieve

som

esem

bla

nce

of

wis

domand

clarity,Jo

ey

.

9697

D0

GE

4iE

Rs:

JF

3S

1Q

1H

.4G

ED

OR

.\

SCEN

E12

Thini’sL

etterto

Her

Mother

TITLEPR

0JEC

TW

N:

Trinis

Letter

toH

erM

other

Lights

upon

Trini.

TR

1N

I:Dearest

Nanay:

How

areyou?

Im

issyou

aridT

atayso

much.

Forgive

me

fornot

writing

toyou

sooner;but

Iw

asso

busyw

ithm

ynew

job’I’m

am

aintenancesu

per

visorat

theT

ruCola

plant,w

hichis

owned

byM

r.S

everoA

lacran.C

anyou

imagine—

outof

theblue

heshow

edup

andoffered

me

ajob!S

ucha

remark

ablem

anand

sokind.

The

payis

much

betterthan

my

oldjob,

plusw

eget

afree

caseof

softdrinks

everym

onth!(B

eat)M

anila’snot

sobad.

Don’t

believeeverything

youh

earor

readin

thenew

spap

ersand

pleasestop

worrying

about

me.

Iam

fine.It

definitelylooks

likew

eddingbells

areon

thehorizon!

You

and

Tatay

will

finallym

eetm

yP

rinceC

harming

Rom

eo,soon,

verysoon.

God

isw

atchingover

me

and

Iam

trulyblessed,

talaga.L

ovealw

ays,your

dau

ghter

Trini.

(Beat)

P.S.E

nclosedis

some

money

foryou.

Wish

itw

asm

ore.M

aybenext

time?

SCEN

E13

“LastD

ance”

Late

afternoon.Per!ita

atS

tudio54,

rehearsingD

onnaS

urnmers

“Last

Dance.”

Chiquiting

observes.Per!ita

abruptlyturns

off theboonibox

andfans

himself

PE

RL

ITA

:P

uñeta!C

11

10

UIT

IN

GT

hatsong’s

toogloom

y.p

u.R

LI

TA

:Ifeelgloom

y.(B

eat,then

yellsoffstage)

Pedro!

Hurry

upan

dfinish

cleaning!It’s

almost

fiveo’clock.

What

do

youth

ink

I’mpaying

youfor!

The

toiletsaren’t

fitfor

pigsor—

(Rio

enters.)

We’re

notopen

forbusiness

vet,m

iss.

iio:

I’mlooking

forA

ndresM

acran.A

ndres?C

hiquiting?

PE

RI

ITA

(Suspiciously):

And

who

areyou?

RIO

:Y

oudon’t

remem

ber

me?

PE

RL

1T

A:

No.

RI0

Dolores’s

daughter.C

H1

00

ITIN

GD

oloresw

ho?R

IO:

Gonzaga.

You

usedto

callher

the“R

itaH

ayworth

ofthe

Philippines.”

You

and

Chiquiting

would

come

over

oncea

week,

when

Papa

was

outplaying

golf.(To

C’hiquiting)

You’d

dom

ym

other’sh

airand

nails.(To

Perlita)

You’d

tellher

fortune,m

akechism

is—C

FIIQ

UIT

ING

:D

iosko!

PE

RL

ITA

:R

io?R

IO:

Iw

asvisiting,

so—C

HIO

0IT

ING

:I

amin

shock,talaga.

How

didyou

know

where

tofind

us?R

IO:

Mv

cousinP

ucha.S

hesays

thisis

thebest

danceplace

intow

n.C

IIIO

UIT

ING

The

best.A

ba,you

shouldcom

eback

laterto

seeP

erlitaperform

.P

erlita’sa

livinglegend.

PU

RL

ITA

:P

uwede

ha.I’m

notthat

old, puta.C

H1

0IT

ING

She’sour

“Donna

Sum

mer

ofthe

Philippines”

PE

RL

ITA

:“T

oottoot,

hey,beep

beep

”C

H1

00

11

ING

:O

ur“P

earlof

theO

rient”

Wait

tillyou

seeher

inaction.

o:

Sounds

likefun.

9899

DO

(,Li1

!R

S:.

:JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

CF

IIQL

ITIN

G:

We

are.Alo

tof

fun.P

ER

LI1

A:

Your

mother—

howis

she,ha?

Isshe

here?W

eall

miss

her.S

ucha

wom

an,talaga.

Beautiful—

UF

IIQL

Iriu:

And

fun.R

10:

She

went

back.P

ER

LIT

-\:W

ithoutseeing

us?R

io:

Lola

Narcisa

died.W

ecam

efo

rher

funeral.Y

ourem

ember.

..M

ym

other’sm

oth

er?P

ER

IiT

A:

Of

courseI

remem

ber.Y

ouw

erevery

closeto

hei;di

ha?W

asit

hard

foryour

mother?

Seeing

‘our

father

afterall

theseyears,

Im

ean.R

io:

That’s

why

shecouldn’t

wait

toget

outof

here.

pE

RL

ITA

:W

hatabo

ut

yo

u?

Rio

:I’m

leavingtonight.

cH

iou

ITIN

c:

Tonight?

Que

horro

r!W

hyso

soon?

Yo

u’v

e

beengone

for.

..w

hat?F

orever,di

ha?

RIO

:I

don’tknow

wh

at’s

leftfor

me

here.

pE

RL

ITA

:W

hatab

out

your

father—(S

eesthe

lookon

Rio

face,stops

himself)

What

about

me?

CH

IQU

ITIN

G:

And

me?

RIO

:T

hingshave

changed—P

ER

LIT

A:

And

not

changed.R

Io:

May

Ihave

adrink?

Iknow

you’renot

open,but—

pE

RL

VF

A:

Of

course!W

hat’llit

be,M

issR

ioG

onzag

a?

Rio

:R

um

.

PE

RL

ITA

:W

ow

!

RIO

:A

double.cH

IQuIT

ING

:H

ow

macho,

nam

an.

pE

RL

ITA

:Sige.

Drinks

onthe

house.R

io:

No,

no.I’ve

gotm

oney.p

ER

LIT

A:

Absolutely

not.A

ba,you’re

Dolores’s

dau

ghter.

(Pours

rumfor

allofthem

)S

alud.

(They

drink.A

beat.)

Naku!

Rem

em

ber

when

yo

uw

ere

alittle

girl,R

io?

Alw

ays

bra

gg

ing

about

beco

min

ga

nu

nor

aw

riter

wh

en

yo

ugre

wu

p.

(With

affection)Y

ou

used

tom

ak

e

uslaugh.

Di

ba,C

hiquiting?

cH

IOU

ITIN

ci:So

serious, diosko.

Dra

win

gp

ictu

res,

mak

ing

up

sto

ries—

pE

RL

ITA

:W

riting-w

riting!

We

allknew

you’dbe

famous.

cH

IQu

JT

ING

Are

youfam

ous?R

IO:

Ite

ach

cre

ativ

ew

riting

toautis

ticchildren.

My

kidsare

beau

tiful

and

sweet,

but

impossible

toreach.

PE

RL

iT

A:

Are

theygo

od

write

rs?

(Beat)

Joking-jokinglang,

Rio.

(All three

sharea

laugh)N

owth

atyou’ve

foundus,

youcan

always

come

back.S

tayw

ithm

e.

“Puwede

ba,1,11

notth

atold,

puta.”F

romleft

toright:

Hairdresser

Chiquiting

Aloreno

(Ralph

B.

Peña),R

ioG

onaga(K

ateR

igg)and

clubow

ner

Andres

“Perlita”A

lacran(A

lecM

apa)talk

aboutold

times

atP

erlitaiha,;

Studio

54.

100101

DO

GJ4

[LR

Si:

JE

SS

ICA

HA

GE

DO

RN

cliloul

riNG

:O

rm

e.I’ve

gota

bigap

artmen

t.R

IO:

Idon’t

knowif

Ibelong

hereanym

ore.cnio

t.Irisc:

Aba,

howcan

yousay

that?R

IO:

Thanks

for

the

rum

.I’ve

gottago.

Haven’t

finishedpacking.

PE

RL

ITA

:R

io—

RIO

:I

hategood-byes.

PE

RL

IT

A:

Puñeta!

This

isnot

good-bye.W

elcome

home,

Rio.

(Abeat.

Rio

embraces

Perlita,

then(‘hiquiting.)

RIo

:L

ovely.

(Sheexits

.Per!ita

and

Chiquiting

watch

herw

alkaw

ay.)

cH

10

1IT

IN

c,:

Ay

naku!L

efshave

ano

ther

cocktail,bruja.

PE

EL

ITA

:F

uckit,

Chiquiting.

Let’s

dance.

(“Last

Dance”

isturned

backon.

chiq

uitin

gan

dPer!ita

dance—a

joyfttlcelebration.)

SCEN

E14

Daisy

andJoey

TITLEP

RO

JEC

TIO

N:

Cordjllera

Mountains

Early

morning.

Lights

upon

Joey,hunched

and

shivering,in

ajungle

campsite.

An

armed

Kalinga

Tribesm

anstan

ds

near

by,acting

asa

lookout.D

aisyenters,

anM

-16slung

overher

shoulder:K

aE

dgaris

with

her:

DA

ISY

:H

ev,J

oey.

JOE

v:H

eyD

aisyA

vila.I

knowyou.

..you’re

fam

ous.

DA

isy:

How

are

yo

ufe

elin

g?

Still

sick?K

aE

dgar—

i0E

Y:

I’mokay.

Really.

Fine,

exceptfor

thedam

nbugs.

I’ve

neverseen

bugsso

bigand—

strange.

DA

IsY:

Ka

Edgar

isa

doctor.

JOE

Y:

Iknow

.B

utI’m

cleannow

.(B

eat)Y

ouprobably

need

himm

oreth

anI

do.

DA

ISY

(Signals

Ka

Edgar

toleave):

And

what

theflick

isth

at

supposedto

mean?

JOE

Y:

Where

arew

e,anyw

ay?(Indicates

theK

alingalo

ok

out)W

ho’sth

atspooky

guyan

dall

thesefuckers

walk

ingaro

un

dw

ithguns?

DA

ISY

:M

yfriends,

You’re

inou

rtrain

ing

camp.

You’re

safe

here.JO

EY

(Contem

ptuously):S

afe.(Indicates

Daisys

weapon)

0.

..you

gonnateach

me

howto

usethat

thing?

(Daisy

cocksher

gun,offers

itto

Joev.)

Joke,baby.

(Beat.)

When

doI

getout

ofhere

and

goback

toM

anila?

DA

IsY:

Iw

antyou

totell

me

howthey

killedm

yfather.

.ioE

y:

Why?

DA

isY

:I

wan

tyou

totell

me

everythingin

min

ute

detail,no

matter

howstu

pid

or

trivial.

.. W

hat yousaw

, whatyou

heard

.W

asth

erea

lotof

blood?M

ym

oth

ero

rdered

a

closedcoffin—

(Bitterly)

You

knowI

nevereven

made

itto

hisfuneral?

i0E

Y:

When

doI

goback

toM

anila?

DA

ISY

:N

ever.

JOE

YW

hat?W

hendo

Igo

back?

ois

y:

Never.

JOE

YT

hat’sw

hatyou

think.

DA

ISY

:I

don’tth

ink

it.I

knowit.

They’re

nevergoing

tostop

tryingto

findyou.

102103

DU

GE

.4IE

RS

:.JF

ssicAuIA

GE

DO

R\

1

iov

:Y

ouand

your

NPA

pals,G

eneralL

edesma

andhis

goonsare

allgonna

forgetab

out

“Little

JoeyS

andsfrom

Tondo”

when

thisshit

blows

over.It’s

notab

out

me.

I’mju

sta

kantoboy.

Ican

disap

pear

backinto

thecity,

tom

yold

lifeand

I’llbeju

stfine.

Fine!

Sotake

your

dirtypolitics

and

shoveit

upsom

eoneelse’s

ass.I’ve

had

enough.H

owm

anypeople

haveyou

lostso

far?Y

ourfather’s

dead,your

boyfriendS

antosis

dead.Y

oulost

yourbaby.

Was

itw

orthit?

DA

isy:

Maybe

itw

as.I

don’treally

know,

andthat’s

thete

rrible

thing.joy:

You’re

alone,0

Al

Sy:

No,

I’mnot.

The

peoplehere—

they’rem

yfam

ilynow

.JO

Ev:

You’re

alone.I’ve

beenalone

sinceI

was

five

years

old.M

ym

other—m

ym

oth

erthought

sheloved

thism

an.

..

thisblack

GI

who

probablycouldn’t

evenrem

ember

her

name

oncehe

gotback

tothe

States.

DA

ISY

:W

hatw

asyour

mother’s

name?

JOE

Y:

Zen

aida.

oA

iSY

:P

retty.

You’re

no

talo

ne

any

mo

re,Joey.

Did

—d

idm

yfath

ersay

any

thin

gas

he

layd

yin

g?

(Joeyshakes

hishead.)

Pity.

(Beat.)

Tell

me

everything,Joey,

from

beg

innin

gto

end.

Iw

ant

toknow

about

my

father’sm

urd

er..i0

Ey

:Y

ou

don’tneed

toknow

allthat.

DA

ISY

:I

do.P

lease.T

hat’sall

Iask

.W

asth

erea

lot

of

blo

od?

JOE

s’:S

om

uch

blood,D

ais

y.

My

god,it

was

unbelievable,D

Ais

Y:

Do

yo

ulove

thisplace?

JO

EY

(Puzzled):W

hat?

No.

Too

man

ym

osq

uito

es.T

oocold

DA

ISY

:N

otthis

placehere.

Im

ean

allo

fthis.

Our

country.

Do

you

lov

eour

co

untr

y?

(Joeyis

silent.A

beat.)

Ido.

More

than

ever.W

itha

loveth

atb

urn

s.

“Idon’t

thinkix.

Iknow

it.T

hey’renever

goingto

stoptrying

tojin

d

you.“A

nen

cou

nter

between

JoeySand.s

(Hill

Harpet;

left)an

dD

ai”v

Avila

(Rona

Figueroa)

axa

rebelen

campm

ent

inthe

(‘ordilleras,

104105

DO

GL

AJE

RS

:•

JES

SiC

AH

AG

ED

OR

N

SCENE

15

Prayer

Night.

General

Ledesm

as

wife,

Leonoi

ison

herknees

praying

therosary

inher

bedroom,

General L

edesma

enters.

LE

ON

oR

:H

olyM

ary,m

otherof

God

...

You

didn’tknock.

LE

DE

sMA

:I’m

sorry

,L

eonor.

LE

0N

0R

:Y

ou

mu

stalw

ays

knock

first,N

icasio.

LE

DE

sMA

:Y

es.

LE

0N

0R

:Y

ou

’ve

inte

rrup

ted

my

pra

yers.

LE

DE

SM

AI

can’thelp

it.Y

ou’realw

ays

pray

ing.

LE

0N

0R

:M

ylifelong

pro

mise

toG

od,N

icasio

.

LE

DE

5M

A:

Yes.

LE

0N

0R

:T

hankG

ody

ou

letthat

poor

girl

go.

1,iD

ES

MA

:Y

es.Y

ou

never

leave

thisro

om

,but

yo

use

em

to

know

every

thin

g.

i.E0

NO

R:

That

poor

girl.

What

doyou

wan

tfro

mm

enow

?

LE

DE

5M

A:

Noth

ing.

LE

0N

OR

:Y

ou

want

som

eth

ing

.Y

ou

don’tdisturbm

e,unless—h

av

ey

ou

ever

no

ticed

how

my

littleroom

isshaped

likea

coffin

?

LE

DE

SM

A:

You

asked

for

thisro

om

wh

en

we

got

marrie

d.

LE

0N

0R

:S

ofittin

g,

do

n’t

yo

uthink?

Itg

ives

me

stran

ge

co

mfo

rt,N

icasio

.A

tnig

ht,

wh

en

Ih

av

em

yconversa

tion

sw

ithour

Ble

ssed

Virg

in,

Ista

reup

into

thatceil

ing

and

imagin

eit

clo

sing

inon

me,

finally.E

EL

)E

SM

A:

Get

offy

ou

rknees.

LE

0N

0R

:E

xcuse

me?

LE

DE

SM

A:

Get

off

yo

ur

dam

nknees!

Ev

erytim

eI

seeyou,

you’re

on

your

dam

nknees!

I’vebeen

marrie

dto

a

kneelingw

oman

forthirty

years!Y

oum

ayas

well

haveyour

legsam

putated.L

F.0N

OR

We

hav

ean

arra

ng

em

en

t,N

icasio.

Leav

em

ealone,

andI’lldo

thesam

efor

you.

LF. D

ES

MA

:P

rayfor

me,

Leonor.

LE

0N

0R

:I

do,N

icasio.I

do.(B

eat)O

urm

other,w

hoart

in

heaven.H

allowed

bethy

name.

Thy

kingdomcom

e,

thyw

illbe

done.T

hyw

illnot

bedone.

LE

DE

sM

A:

Sacrilege,

Leonor!

LE

ON

OR

:H

allowed

bethy

name,

thykingdom

nevercam

e!

You

who

have

been

deified,belittled

anddim

inished.

Our

Ble

ssed

Virg

inM

ary

of

Most

Pre

cio

us

Blo

od

,m

en

strual,

ep

hem

era

l,carnal,

eternal—

LE

DE

sM

A:

Puñeta.

This

issacrilege.

LE

ON

OR

:M

adonnaof

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itat

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)

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ould

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dam

mit

who

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ay

the

sins

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the

world

!

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Sick.

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slowly

backsaw

ay,still pointing

agun

atL

eonor)

LE

ON

OR

: Ave

Maria

fullof

grace. Item

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Manila

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as

bornhere,

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.S

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idden

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lessus,

Mother,

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EO

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Our

Lady

of

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andM

ournful

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Lady

of

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as,give

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eliverus

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ur

sinsbut

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Ledesm

aexits.)

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Maria,

moth

erof

revenge.T

heL

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asnever

with

you.B

lessedart

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owand

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orldw

ithout

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way—

young,beautiful,

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t.T

hereare

several

familiar

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eneralL

edesma

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ithS

everoM

acran,the

Am

ericanam

bassad

or

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theam

bassador’sw

ife,L

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una,still

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fabulousafter

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arrivesw

itha

flamboy

ant,noisy

ento

urag

ew

hichincludes

Perlita

Macran

Chiquiting

Moreno

andthe

everlastingand

everlovely

Barb

araV

illanueva.In

theplace

ofh

on

or

where

Imeld

aonce

reigned,now

sitsou

rnew

presid

ent,

for

mer

action

starT

itoM

varez.M

ysoap

opera

continues,

thesoap

opera

ofth

eP

hilippinescontinues.

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Sum

mers

‘Last

Dan

ce”co

mes

up.)

FinalP

agean

t

Nat

King

Cole

“Stardust”

fadesup.

Lights

upon

Rio.

The

playscharacters

enteras

Rio

speaksab

out

them.

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:T

heopen

-airM

agsaysayP

avilionw

herethe

1982M

issP

hilippinespag

eant

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isnoto

rious

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terrible

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dfierce

mosquitoes.

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ano

ther

oneof

theF

irstL

ad

yunnecessary

monum

ents,a

morb

idpile

ofconcrete

and

stonesinking

slowly

intoM

anilaB

ay.D

aisyA

vilaw

alksslow

lydow

nth

erunw

ay,w

avingto

thecheering

crowds.

Her

father

blows

her

akiss.

Itis

aunifying

natio

nal

event.T

hosew

hocan’t

affordto

bethere

watch

thepag

eant

onTV

;those

who

can’tafford

aT

Vlisten

tothe

radio.

(Joeyenters

with

hisboom

box.)

Im

akem

anyvisits

backto

theislands—

I’mnot

surew

hy,but

Ido.L

ongafter

Lola

Narcisa

and

both

my

par

entsare

dead—everything

haschanged

and

noth

ing

isdifferent.

Anew

Miss

Philippines

walks

down

therun-

EN

DO

FP

LA

Y

108109