In 1984, the big guns of local cinema exploited the
loosening hold of the Board of Censors, a fascistic arm of the Marcos regime.
Their movies begin hinting of the burgeoning yellow movement. Lino Brocka
collaborated with Pete Lacaba on their long-delayed film project, Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, which dealt with
striking factory workers. Mike de Leon’s Sister Stella L. broke the fourth wall with an enlightened nun
exhorting the people to go out on the streets and fight for their rights and
freedom.
Ishmael Bernal’s Working Girls has a trio of small scenes that may be seen as a
nod to the yellow fever engulfing the country. A friend of a sexy lady shopping
for clothes gently approves of her color choice (yellow), which he says is just
right for the times. The second scene shows another character alighting from a
tricycle. Prominently plastered in the vehicle’s windshield is a yellow sticker
with the words ‘Hindi Ka Nag-Iisa,’ a slogan coined by people seeking justice
for the death of former Senator Ninoy Aquino. The third scene shows a secretary
stripping pages from a telephone directory. The yellow pages will be shredded
and used as rally confetti. Those scenes may be too tame compared to the
heavily politicized scenes and in-your-face rally footages featured in the films
of Brocka and de Leon.
However, the hilarious, blockbuster hit Working Girls is notable for espousing the idea that a woman
can go places where no woman has gone before. The new Filipina can rise to
become a chairperson of a large bank or even assume the leadership of our
country. What a man can do, a woman can also do. As the film shows, women can
do it better.
The stunning and sensuous women of Working Girls are all denizens of Makati’s central business district. Carla
Asuncion, Isabel, and Suzanne work for Premium Bank. Amanda de Luna, Ann
Concio, and Rose belong to a professional management company. Nimfa is a
jewelry seller plying her wares to employees of the two offices. Most of them
are assertive and know what they want. They achieve their goals with dogged
determination and lots of cunning.
The film is recommended to people thinking of getting a job in Makati. It basically says 'no weaklings'
allowed here. The searing portrayal of office politics is still spot on even
today. Transport fare for airconditioned buses and dollar exchange rates may
have changed but the dreams, needs, and idiosyncracies of Makati-based female
workers haven't changed. Seductive secretaries prey on top male executives, who
gamely go along for the ride. These powerful executives utilize their money to
hide problems such as unwanted pregnancies and affairs with subordinates.
Married women are not immune from these playboys. Sometimes, lack of
appreciation from husbands lead these married women to have affairs.
Office gossip is not entirely a women's pastime and social weapon. Jealous and
envious men also indulge in gossips and backstabbing. A jilted suitor of Isabel
connives with his friends to spread unsavory rumors about Isabel. The pregnant
girl, given advice by her boss Carla, eventually learns to fight back. Her
restaurant vengeance act draws applause from fellow women employees.
Carla Asuncion has a hard time getting her objections taken seriously by the
male-dominated board of Premium Bank. The male directors laugh at her female
intuition. She gets downright dirty in getting evidence to support her
objections. In the end, she has the last laugh as she gets promoted as
chairwoman of the bank. It is interesting to note that Carla Asuncion's
initials are C.A.,
which can be an allusion to Corazon Aquino.
Some viewers back then must have begun entertaining the possibility of Cory
Aquino's ascension as the country's president. It is not an 'Impossible Dream,'
as what Nimfa is humming at the start of the film. There is no such thing as an
unbeatable foe. The Filipino people can win if they join forces to fight the
enemy. The 1984 films of Brocka, de Leon, and Bernal show that they were lots
of people (eg. striking workers, enlightened nuns, Makati girls) fighting the system. Two years
later, they did win by kicking out the Marcos regime in the 1986 Edsa People
Power Revolution.
****
Re-posted in remembrance of the martyrs of Martial Law
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