Following the shutdown of ABS-CBN’s Film Restoration Project, which restored over 240 Filipino films, one question looms: What happens now?
On May 1, Leo Katigbak, the head of the now-defunct project, took to Facebook to officially announce the end of ABS-CBN Film Restoration. With the project now closed, the fate of the restored films remains a key concern. “All restored movies will continue to be used by [ABS-CBN] because the work on them was completed,” Katigbak told Rolling Stone Philippines. “Technically, it is just the restoration that has stopped, but all other work will hopefully continue, especially the advocacy.”
“Most of the work of ABS-CBN [Film Restoration] will be absorbed by other groups,” continued Katigbak. “The only thing that is stopping is restoration. There will be no more restoration for now.”
For over a decade, ABS-CBN Film Restoration, as well as its Sagip Pelikula initiative, preserved and rereleased iconic Filipino films, from its first project, Himala, the Nora Aunor-led religious drama, to acclaimed titles like Oro, Plata, Mata, Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, and Bulaklak sa City Jail. Led by Katigbak, the project quietly revived Philippine cinema for a new generation of audiences.
While the project technically ended its 14-year run on March 31, Katigbak noted that the month of April was dedicated to turnover tasks and wrapping up the project’s final efforts. “We barreled through as much as we could [sic] with what meager resources were available to us and until our very last day, we gave it our all,” Katigbak wrote on Facebook.
In the same post, Katigbak said that the project was initially meant to be shut down in 2020, when former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration ordered the closure of ABS-CBN. While the media company has since resumed operations, Katigbak noted the shift in financial priorities. “It’s public record that ABS-CBN’s finances continue to be troubled,” Katigbak told Rolling Stone Philippines. “It just reached a point where the company found it difficult to maintain the operations of restoration.”
“We were one of the departments closed in 2020,” continued Katigbak, “but was given reconsideration after we trimmed down our manpower. We went from 14 people to 5 doing the same amount and level of work.”
