“I was a judge in the Palanca scriptwriting contest last year,” says Joel. “When I read the script, yun agad ang choice ko to win first prize. Later, I contacted Kris and got the rights to film it. I entered it in the Cinemalaya and it qualified. It’s now co-produced by Xiti Productions na associate producer namin in ‘Deadline’. ‘Patikul’ is set in a remote town in Sulu. It’s based on the true story of coffee farmers who fight to give their kids good education. The Abu Sayyaf kidnapped and beheaded a school principal there, played by Marvin Agustin, scaring all teachers and making all the schools ghost towns. The story will be told from the point of view of two students, Martin de los Santos and Angelie Sanoy, who hunger for learning. The parents of Martin are Allen Dizon and Dimples Romana, both illiterate coffee farmers. The mom of Angelie is Ciara Sotto. They’ll ask the mayor and the military to provide security for the teachers but they’re ignored. In the end, it’s the parents who arm themselves to make sure the teachers are safe when they report to and from the school. Glaiza de Castro plays the new teacher who’ll help them, a member of the NGO group called Teachers Without Borders. Also in the cast are Richard Quan, Mengie Cobarrubias, Benjie Felipe, Rubirubi, Althea Vega, Jim Pebanco and Rico Barrera. We’ll shoot it in an actual coffee farm in Amadeo, Cavite before February ends.”
