bebs & the thank you girls

bebs is a friend from circa 2000.  i met him through anna, who was then the girlfriend of jolaz, a classmate from law school.  i think he was in a semi-quarter life crisis then and was in manila to look for work.  when my former boss suddenly became speaker of the house in january 2001, i told him to apply as we were suddenly in dire need of staff.  eventually, we became co-workers until the time when i moved to the committee affairs department, and he to the journal service.  we were all then permanent/organic employees of the house.

i thought everything was going well when i heard that bebs was resigning, as he had decided to go to film school in UP. 

his decision got me worried:  he could try fixing his class schedules to make sure he would keep his congress job naman.  [to those of you who are not aware of the "perks" of a congress job, just imagine that almost all government employees envy us for those perks.  (which is why until now, i work there, among other reasons...)]  how would he pay for his tuition?  how would he live?  i asked him if he was sure about his decision.  he told me that he had decided to focus on film school.  he told me that this was what he really wanted.  he told me he was ready to face the consequences of a job-less life as long as got the chance to chase his dream of becoming a film director.  so he left.

i was still in law school then and would see him around campus sometimes.  during election years, we would call him for the usual campaign assistance we continue to give our former boss.  but aside from those chance & election encounters, i never got the chance to hang out with bebs again... he had moved on to his film school friends, he had stayed friends with a pseudo-cousin-in-law whom i am not in good terms with, and anna had moved to london.  the connection was semi-lost.

yet i continued to monitor his progress through school and in the film industry.  i knew there were times when he barely had any money left to see him through.  i heard from my sister that he was struggling to finish his thesis since he had difficulty looking for funding.  all i could think was:  he gave up a stable job to follow his dreams no matter what the consequences.

then the good news started pouring in.  bebs had made it through school.  he was starting to do little stuff in the industry.  he was part of the "foster child" team.  i watched "batanes" and saw his name on the credits.  i read a blog and found out that he co-wrote "daybreak."

i made sure i would support bebs on the premiere night of his film.  i rallied our core group in congress to come with me.  i hadn't seen him in years, and i wanted him to know that despite the distance and non-communication, i was still his friend.  and when i saw him that night, i knew he appreciated our presence.  he was tense, kind of scared, but still very excited.  he was cracking jokes and greeting everyone, but he would hug us & squeeze our hands time & again.

the premiere was a resounding success.  it was well-attended, with the requisite press people and celebrities that make a show complete.  the film was GREAT!  it was funny, the lines were witty, and it had a heart.  (i will not write about the film too much, as you now know how biased i am.  but believe me, it's really good.) 

i was, and am, very proud of bebs.  he doesn't know this, but i envy bebs for being brave enough to give up almost-everything and follow his heart.  and now he has come full circle.  still struggling, but definitely already "almost-there."

and now i memorialize my thoughts that night:  what if he had chosen to stay in congress?  then there wouldn't be a director/filmmaker in direk charliebebs gohetia. 

that would, indeed, have been a shame.

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do go and watch the film.  "the thank you girls" is scheduled to be shown at robinson's indiesine on the last week of september.  for screening schedules, local and international, please visit the website, www.thethankyougirls.com.  cheers!