I reminisced about my 2023 visit to Marawi City, which was the focus of two plays featured in the 21st Virgin Lab fest: BALOS by Neil Arkhe Azcuna and HARAM by Alab Usman.
BALOS centers on four medical workers who are faced with the dilemma of treating a wounded fighter. They must decide between staying silent to save lives and speaking up at the risk of exposing everyone’s refuge.
HARAM explores the complex intersections of faith and identity through three interconnected vignettes, focusing on queer Muslims struggling to navigate love and religion across borders and barriers. It delves into religious anxiety, the pain of being labeled haram (forbidden), and the ways some queer individuals continue to hold on to their faith.
Marawi landed in headlines due to the so-called “Marawi siege” that was a five-month-long armed conflict in Marawi that started on May 23, 2017.
The armed conflict was between Philippine government security forces and the militants affiliated with the Islamic State, including the Maute and Abu Sayyaf Salafi jihadist groups.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law through Proclamation No. 216 across the entire island of Mindanao on May 23, 2017, following attacks by the ISIS-linked Maute group in Marawi City.
Upon the declaration, AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) were mobilized to counterattack the enemy’s force in the city. Within the following days, airplanes would start bombing the whole city making sure to crush every site suspected to be the hiding places of the terrorist group members.
The military rule, which resulted in a devastating five-month siege, was extended multiple times by Congress and remained in effect until December 31, 2019.
President Duterte proceeded with the declaration of Martial law not just in Marawi City but in the whole Island of Mindanao even prolonging its original effectiveness of 60 days to one year, noting that it is for the recovery of the affected area and to fully “crush insurgency.”
The estimated casualties reported were 978 militants killed; 12 militants captured; 168 government forces killed; 1,400+ government forces wounded and 87 civilians dead.
Thousands of Marawi residents were forced to leave their homes and their livelihood in order to take refuge from the war.
The battle left the city in ruins with 95 percent of the structures within Ground Zero (4 square kilometers) of the main battle area being heavily damaged or completely collapsed.
On July 4, 2017, the Supreme Court voted 11-3-1 to dismiss petitions challenging Proclamation No. 216, affirming the President’s wide discretion in declaring martial law and determining its territorial scope to quell rebellion.
SC Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen was the lone dissenter who voted to completely nullify Duterte’s declaration of martial law across the entire Mindanao during the 2017 Marawi siege. He argued that the Maute group’s actions amounted to acts of terrorism rather than actual rebellion, and that ordinary police powers were sufficient to address them.
While Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio voted to limit martial law to specific areas of Mindanao (such as Marawi, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Sulu), Leonen was the only Justice who sought to strike down the proclamation completely.
Leonen maintained that the threats posed by ISIS-inspired groups did not meet the stringent constitutional requirement of “actual rebellion.”
Haram and Balos comprise two of the three one-act plays for VLF Set B under the title “Kapit Tuko” centering on individuals who refuse to let go—whether of dogma, God, love, or personal needs.
“Kapit-tuko” is a term popularly used in Tagalog culture that means to “hold on like a gecko” or overly clingy on what defines them: be it their identity, values, beliefs, and who they love, as well as the cost of holding onto these definitions.
Established in 2005 by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), VLF is known as the Philippines’ only festival dedicated to “untried, untested, and unstaged one-act plays” showcasing diverse voices that touch on complex human experiences and social issues.
This year’s VLF carried the theme “Hubo’t Hubad” with the aim of “stripping down all pretense of innocence while showcasing the bold Filipino voice and spirit.”
The plays are grouped into four thematic sets labeled A, B, C, D (Tengang Kawali, Kapit Tuko, Balat Kalabaw, Pusong Mamon) with each set featuring three new plays plus set E (Dilang Matalim) which revisits standout plays from previous years.
VLF XXI will run from June 3 to 28, 2026 at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater).
Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0908-8665786.
