Claim: Rallyists who raided Malacanang during the EDSA Revolution carried torches
Rating: FALSE
A still photo from controversial director Darryl Yap’s movie about the Marcoses called “Maid in Malacanang” showed actors as protestors carrying torches as they stormed the gates of Malacanang.
Darryl Yap has been watching too much aswang movies or even the old Frankenstein films. Obviously, this is overdramatically false. Several witnesses debunked this including lawyer Wilfredo Garrido, one of the protestors who entered the Palace in the night of February 25, 1986.
Garrido said that they did not bring torches (or pitchforks if you want to go horror) to the presidential palace. Garrido also attached their pictures proving that they came only with bags and other essentials to the palace.
Furthermore, there are no historical documents or evidence showing that the people who entered the palace brought torches.
Yap retaliated against this claim stating that his film “Maid in Malacanang” is not a documentary, not a biopic, and that as a writer and director, he has the creative freedom to make his vision come to life.
“Kung gusto kong gawing Pink ang kulay na yan, pwede. kung gusto kong gawing tatlotao lang sila pwede. Yung 80,000 nga nagagawa nyong 400,000 sa mga rally— kahit di naman pelikula. ito pa kaya?”
Yap said that he even went as far as to juxtapose a screengrab from the Aquino campaign video of late former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino holding a torch just to prove his point.
If that is the case, then he should place “historical fantasy” and a disclaimer at the start of the film. That he is including actors portraying the real Marcos family is only confusing the movie.
Why we fact-checked this? This is clearly a case of historical revisionism. Even though the director Darryl Yap has repeatedly stated that the film is in no way historically accurate, it still frames the EDSA revolution and the activists as barbaric, violent, and medieval even though they were just fighting to regain their freedom.
But if Yap’s plan is to portray the Marcoses as aswangs or Frankenstein monsters, then he has all the creative freedom.
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