Dogs Killed in Filipino Movie ‘Oro’
Oro, a film entry in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), includes a scene in which a dog is slaughtered.
WTF: 2 dogs beaten & left to slowly die in front of cameras for Filipino movie ‘Oro’. TAKE ACTION: https://t.co/7lw9RgNwlX #MMFF pic.twitter.com/spcg5oAQdr
— PETA Asia (@PETAAsia) January 7, 2017
Whistleblowers involved in the production of the film who wish to remain anonymous came forward to confirm that the controversial dog-slaughter scene was, in fact, real.
According to a cast member who recently came forward, it was in fact two dogs who were killed.
She states, ‘In fact, two dogs died, one accidentally and one deliberately. The production bought the first dog, and the owner, in his excitement to deliver the dog and receive his payment, tied the dog in a sack and unknowingly killed him by suffocation. The production, bent on shooting the scene which apparently was in the script, bought another dog for butchering.‘
She also states explicitly that the scene was indeed in the script.
Read her full statement here:
Whether or not the scene was intentionally staged or the dogs were coincidentally slaughtered at the location of the filming, the fact remains that killing dogs is illegal in the Philippines under RA 8485. Instead of recording the dogs’ slow deaths following a beating, this cruelty could and should have been prevented.
Filmmakers exhibiting their work at MMFF are expected to raise awareness of social injustice, but Alvin Yapan, the film’s director and writer, and Mark Shandii Bacolod, its producer, condoned cruelty to animals instead.
Killing dogs is not entertainment—it’s illegal. It’s also a violation of Republic Act No. 10631, the Animal Welfare Act of the Philippines, as well as the Anti-Rabies Act of 2007.
MMFF announced its decision to withdraw the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award recently granted to Oro, however the two other awards the film won also need to be revoked. The MMFF has also temporarily stopped the screening of Oro in cinemas, but the film needs to be permanently banned. In addition, Yapan and Bacolod have been banned from joining the next MMFF.
