Bonifacio Parabuac Ilagan, often known just as Boni Ilagan,
is a Filipino playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, journalist, and editor best known for numerous socially-conscious, critically-acclaimed works in theater, film and television, most notably the films ''
The Flor Contemplacion Story
''The Flor Contemplacion Story'' is a 1995 drama film directed by Joel C. Lamangan and produced by Vic del Rosario Jr. for Viva Films about the story of the Filipina domestic helper who was hanged in Singapore for allegedly killing her fellow maid ...
'' (1995), ''Dukot'' (''Desaparecidos'', 2009), ''Sigwa'' (''Rage'', 2010), and ''Deadline'' (''The Reign of Impunity'', 2011); as well as his first play, ''Pagsambang Bayan'' (1976), which portrayed the
human rights violations
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
of the
Marcoses. He is also one of the prominent torture victims who survived the Marcos dictatorship.
Ilagan is co-convenor of the
Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (Carmma) is a Philippines-based coalition of victims under President Ferdinand Marcos' Martial law in the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos, martial law. It was launched on February 4, ...
and was vice chair of the organization Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) in 2017 when it was working to get compensation for the martial law human rights violations victims. As the founding director of the activist theater organization Panday Sining, he is acknowledged to have had a significant impact on the development of protest street theater in the Philippines.
He is the elder brother of
disappeared
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...
anti-martial law activist
Rizalina Ilagan
Rizalina "Lina" P. Ilagan (born June 19, 1954—disappeared on July 31, 1977) was an anti-martial law activist who belonged to a network of community organizations in the Southern Tagalog region in the Philippines.
She was abducted by state secur ...
,
one of the
Southern Tagalog 10 The Southern Tagalog 10 was a group of activists abducted and "Forced disappearance, disappeared" in 1977 during martial law in the Philippines under Proclamation No. 1081 issued by President of Philippines Ferdinand E. Marcos. Of the 10 university ...
activists who were abducted in late July 1977 at the
Makati Medical Center
Makati Medical Center (MMC), also known as Makati Med, is a tertiary hospital in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines with more than 600 beds. The hospital was founded on May 31, 1969. The hospital is owned and operated by Medical Doctors Inc., a ...
in
Makati
Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
,
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
, and never seen again.
Major award giving bodies that have recognized Ilagan's work over the years include the Catholic Mass Media Awards, the
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...
Centennial Honors for the Arts, the
Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature
The Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, popularly known as the Palanca Awards, are a set of literary awards for Philippine writers. Usually referred to as the "Pulitzer Prize of the Philippines", it is the country's highest literary ...
, the
Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences
The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (also known as the FAMAS Awards) are the annual honors given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), an organization composed of award-winning writers and movie columni ...
awards, the
Film Academy of the Philippines
Established in 1981, the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) is the Philippines' official counterpart of the United States' Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The FAP was founded through Executive Order 640-A issued by the President o ...
'
Luna Award
The Luna Awards are awards given annually by the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) to recognize the outstanding achievements of the Filipino film industry. The first awards were presented in 1983 in Pasay. It is considered to be the Philippine ...
, the Gawad Balagtas, the Gawad Plaridel, the Palihang Aurelio V. Tolentino, and the
Philippine Movie Press Club Star Awards for Television.
Imprisonment and torture
As an activist during the
Marcos dictatorship
At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last ...
, Ilagan was caught and imprisoned by forces loyal to
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
in 1974, alongside Journalist
Pete Lacaba.
He was brought to
Camp Crame
Camp General Rafael T. Crame () is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) located along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. It is situated across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo, the national headquarters of ...
and tortured.
He was eventually conditionally released in 1976, after which he resumed his studies at the University of the Philippines.
''Pagsambang Bayan''
Ilagan wrote the play ''Pagsambang Bayan'' and dedicated it to his sister Rizalina and other members of the Southern Tagalog 10. It was first staged in September 1977 by director
Behn Cervantes
Benjamín Roberto "Behn" H. Cervantes (August 25, 1938 – August 13, 2013) was a Filipino artist and activist. He was highly regarded as a theater pioneer, teacher, and progressive thinker who was detained multiple times during martial law in the ...
and the University of the Philippines Repertory Company. The
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines ( Tagalog: ''Ang Nagkaisang Iglesia ni Cristo sa Pilipinas''; Ilokano: ''Nagkaykaysa nga Iglesia Ni Cristo iti Filipinas'') is a Christian denomination in the Philippines. Established in its present ...
sponsored the production.
The play's structure revolved around a Christian liturgical Mass.
The staging of the play led to the arrest of Cervantes and the play's musical director Susan Tagle.
According to ''Bulatlat'', ''Pagsambang Bayan'' "was the first play during martial law that challenged the military regime in a way that no theater piece had dared to do then."
The play has been restaged multiple times around the Philippines. A musical adaptation of the play directed by
Joel Lamangan
Joel Lamangan (born September 21, 1952) is a Filipino film director, television director and actor. His award-winning films includes '' The Flor Contemplacion Story'', ''Sidhi'', '' Deathrow'', ''Hubog'', '' Aishte Imasu 1941'', '' Blue Moon'' an ...
was staged in 2017 at the
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
, mottoeng = ''Light of the Nation''
, type = Public coeducational research higher education institution
, established = October 19, 1904
, closed =
, religious_affiliation = ...
and the
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...
.
In popular media
He was portrayed by
Alden Richards
Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr. (born January 2, 1992), known professionally as Alden Richards, is an award-winning Filipino actor, singer, host, and entrepreneur. He is dubbed as "The Asia's Multimedia Star" after receiving the Asian Star Pri ...
in the
GMA Television Network's commemorative documentary ''Alaala'', marking the 45th anniversary of
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
'
declaration of martial law. ''Alaala'' won the Gold Camera Award in the docudrama category of the 2018 U.S. International Film and Video Festival.
See also
*
Rizalina Ilagan
Rizalina "Lina" P. Ilagan (born June 19, 1954—disappeared on July 31, 1977) was an anti-martial law activist who belonged to a network of community organizations in the Southern Tagalog region in the Philippines.
She was abducted by state secur ...
*
Pete Lacaba
*
Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos
At 7:17 pm on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the entirety of the Philippines under martial law. This marked the beginning of a 14-year period of one-man rule that would effectively last ...
References
Filipino male writers
Filipino journalists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century male writers
{{more cats, date=September 2021
Filipino activists
Marcos martial law victims