At the heart of 2 Valid IDs is a simple infinity loop: you need an ID to get an ID, but you can’t get an ID because you need an ID. It’s a common headache, especially for anyone in the Philippines who has ever needed to prove their identity. But director Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan’s latest feature takes this paradox to the extreme.
The Cinemalaya entry centers on Sylvia (Marietta Subong, also known as Pokwang), whose husband Ramon (Joey Marquez) has been admitted to a public hospital for urgent medical treatment. Ramon requires a constant supply of medication and oxygen to live, along with an operation that he can only get if he transfers to a semi-private (and more expensive) hospital. If only it were that easy!
Sylvia’s problem is not that she can’t afford to send her husband to a better hospital. In fact, the funds arrive in her account almost immediately. Her OFW aunt has already sent over P100,000 via a remittance center. No, Sylvia’s plight is slightly worse than a lack of funds — she needs to present two valid IDs to take the money out of her account.
Wading through the deluge of bureaucratic red tape can be its own type of hell, and 2 Valid IDs effortlessly brings that torment onto the big screen. We follow Sylvia as she jumps from registration center to registration center, trying to get her IDs in time to save her husband. We watch, both in frustration and in awe, as Sylvia fills out countless forms, survives hours-long lines, and attempts to haggle for quicker processing times (she fails, of course, but we must applaud her for her efforts).
Every part of Sylvia’s journey borders on the absurd, and if she were played by any other actress, we might have gotten lost in the tedium that comes with ID registration. But Subong knows exactly how to bring out the humanity in Sylvia’s dilemma. While she may be better known for her comedic timing, Subong has never shied away from more dramatic roles (see A Mother’s Story, or Oda sa Wala). And in 2 Valid IDs, the actress balances her time onscreen by either playing the good, obedient Filipino citizen just trying to get her IDs the right way, or the desperate wife on the verge of a much-deserved mental breakdown.
Adding to the gravitas of the film is Marquez’s performance as Ramon. Like Subong, who seems to have put away her brand of comedy in 2 Valid IDs, Marquez does without his usual one-liners to give a more serious performance. There is, after all, little to joke about — ID processing times can stretch on forever (or “five to seven days” on paper), and the dying husband spends much of his time trying to convince his wife to let him return home to the province.
Despite the doom and gloom, there’s still a lot of love between the couple. To balance out the high stakes, Asuncion-Dagñalan makes sure to linger on the film’s quieter moments, whether it’s Sylvia getting Ramon’s medication ready, or Ramon telling his love story to Denver (Zaijian Jaranilla), another hospital visitor who spends his time there taking care of his comatosed lolo. In fact, supporting characters like Denver, along with the rotating cast of patients and relatives who come in and out of Ramon’s shared hospital room, are what help ground 2 Valid IDs. Yes, Sylvia is trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare, but everyone around her is rooting for her to succeed. The film gives us a tiny speck of hope that Sylvia can beat the system, and that is what keeps us watching to the very end.
Whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist, you’ll most likely spend your watch of 2 Valid IDs hoping that Sylvia can find her way out of this circle of hell. A good chunk of the film will make you think about the futility that comes with trying to navigate any type of administrative system in the Philippines, and that’s the whole point — screenwriter Abet Pagdagdagan Raz did write the script after experiencing a similar situation with his mother. But 2 Valid IDs also knows when to make its message clear and when to remind us that there’s still a point in hoping, and maybe that’s all we can do if we want to escape the infinity loop.
Frequently Asked Questions
2 Valid IDs, one of the full-length feature entries at this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, is about a woman named Sylvia who must present two valid IDs in order to get the money her husband Ramon badly needs for medical treatment.
2 Valid IDs stars Marietta Subong (also known as Pokwang) as Sylvia, Joey Marquez as Ramon, Zaijian Jaranilla as Denver, Meryll Soriano as Mercy, and more.
The film is screening at select cinemas in Metro Manila that have partnered with the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.
2 Valid IDs is based on screenwriter Abet Pagdagdagan Raz’s personal story with his mother. Although Raz himself did not go through the same experience as Sylvia, he did find inspiration in the stories of the patients he met while taking care of his mother in the hospital.
2 Valid IDs is directed by Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan.
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