Although the late Felino Tañada was way ahead of Vince Tañada in working in show business, it was the latter that I first met and ran around with.
Vince was still producing and directing plays for Philstagers, the theater company he founded and managed, when he invited me to watch his plays in various venues in Metro Manila. We had a lot of encounters and interviews in the past while I was wishing I could meet Felino in person because he was a popular name in Quezon Province as a director, writer, actor and producer. Felino was also a public figure to reckon with in Lucena City and other towns and cities in Quezon especially his participation in many cultural activities in the province.
Even until Felino made the movie “Hanggang Dito na Lamang at Maraming Salamat,” we hadn’t met in person but I took the initiative to look for him during the screening of the film at the Cultural Center of the Philippines more than a decade ago. From then on, we would call and send SMS messages every now and then.
Then Vince decided to produce a film, “Otso,” a foray into the life of a scriptwriter who exposes the lives of his neighbors in his screenplay only to discover that reinterpreting the lives of others is a tricky thing.
During the filming of the project directed by Elwood Perez, I would always pay Vince a visit in his locations, particularly in Balic-Balic in Sampaloc, Manila.
This deepened and galvanized my professional binding with him.
Yes, Felino and Vince are scions of the Tañadas of Gumaca. The two film artists were cousins. They are related to the family of the late nationalist politician Lorenzo Tañada and the chips of the old block, former senator Wigberto “Bobby” Tañada and son Erin Tañada, former congressman of the Fourth District of Quezon.
Vince has been carrying on the vision and struggles of the Tañadas not in politics but in the art of filmmaking.
Now that Felino is gone, the responsibilities of a committed art are laid on his shoulders.
Vince, who is also a lawyer, is on the finishing touches of new film, “Katips,” and this time he is the director.
“Katips” is a colloquial term, coined by Vince himself, for “Katipunan” because the story is also about the struggles of the leaders of the community to change the rotten system of governance. It stars Jerome Ponce, Nicole Laurel, Dexter Doria, Lou veloso, Jr., Patricia Ismael, Afi Africa, Dindo Arroyo, Johnrey Rivas and a host of talented actors from theater.
Now, what about the other Tañadas?
Does Quezon still need them in public service?
Yes, because the fire of freedom and democracy is burning in their hearts.
Freedom with a corresponding responsibility is what we need to maintain an upright and a stable life and not the carnival, buffoon public servants and necropolitics scattered around us.