Cinema's past haunts Manila

Rumour has it that inside the Manila Film Centre a prankster with an acute sense of the political has painted a portrait of Imelda Marcos. It is said to show the former First Lady bathed in a blood-red light, with centavo coins pouring from her eyes to represent tears.

True or not, the rumour is a popular one. The film centre, which stands on a strip of reclaimed land along Roxas Boulevard, overlooking Manila Bay, has been one of the capital's favourite subjects of tsismin (gossip) since it was abandoned 13 years ago.

Today the centre is the subject of fierce debate as to what should become of it next. It might be bulldozed to make way for 'Boulevard 2000', a skyscraper development that the Philippine Government says will be the city's equivalent to Hong Kong's Central business district. Or it might be refurbished and turned into a centre for the arts.

But before any decisions are made there is an obstacle to overcome. This obstacle has nothing to do with the centre's future, and everything to do with its grim past.

In 1981, casting around for a new international status symbol, Imelda Marcos decided to make the city a rival to Cannes. The first lady wanted a venue in the shape of the Parthenon to host the Manila International Film Festival.

What happened next has always remained unclear. The consensus is that work on the centre proceeded much too quickly until, at 2.35am on November 17, 1981, the ceiling fell through, trapping hundreds of day-shift workers who were asleep.

Rescue workers dug frantically to get people out. Then orders came through from Malacanang Palace telling them to forget the dead and dying and get on with the job of finishing the centre. Military Intelligence arrived and the few reporters who did get through saw only what Malacanang wanted them to see: minor sabotage perpetrated by communists.