Some Filipinos appealed for film producers to let deceased flight attendant Christine Dacera “rest in peace” following speculations that her life story will reportedly be turned into a movie.
Pilipino Star Ngayon (PSN) first reported that line producer Dennis Evangelista of BG Productions International Inc. shared a photo with the flight attendant’s mother Sharon Dacera, fueling speculations of a movie production.
The photo could be found on Evangelista’s personal Facebook account.
“May pag-uusap palang isasapelikula ang kuwento ng buhay ni Christine, pero wala pa raw talagang na-finalize at unang pag-uusap pa lamang daw iyon,” the report said.
“Wala pa. Wala pa talaga,” Evangelista was quoted in another report of entertainment news website Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP).
PEP said that if the movie will push through, it will not tackle the events that happened on that fateful New Year’s Eve when the younger Dacera lost her life.
The report added that it would probably be a “docu-drama.”
“Pero wala pa naman daw na-finalize, hindi pa rin nabubuo ang kuwento at wala pa nga raw silang napili kung sino ang magdidirek,” PSN said.
The Dacera matriarch also reportedly want Kapuso actress Bianca Umali to portray her daughter because she finds her beautiful.
“Kung talagang plantsado na raw lahat at nagkasundo na sa terms, saka sila maglalabas ng announcement kaugnay dito,” PSN added.
Some social media users expressed their opposition against the possibility of a Dacera film.
Professional film critic Philbert Dy responded to a tweet he made on January 8, when Christine’s case was still headlining the news, and then looked back on it with a shrugging emoji.
“I have this fear that there is already some vulture filmmaker out there putting together an outline for a film about the Dacera case,” he said before.
“I’m having trauma flashbacks of Jacqueline Comes Home,” Dy previously added to the replies thread of his post.
“Jacqueline Comes Home” is a 2018 crime-biological film distributed by Viva which tackles the controversial Chiong murder case in the late ’90s.
On Tuesday, Dy quote tweeted his January post and then shared a screengrab of the PSN report.
🤷🏻 https://t.co/iGzQTlyIxc pic.twitter.com/CA0SoPC0fK
— Phil Dy (@philbertdy) February 16, 2021
Other Filipinos agreed with Dy’s sentiments and said that the late flight attendant should be allowed to “rest in peace” following the buzz on her case that has not yet reached its definitive conclusion.
“Wow, using someone’s death for profit is a really nice move. Just let her rest in peace, please,” a Twitter user said in response to the reports that Christine’s life will be turned into a movie.
“Hindi pa ba sapat ang abusong isang linggong pinasikot-sikot ang kaso? Napakialaman ng kunsino-sino,” another online user wrote.
“So, y’all just gonna continue milking money from the dead huh,” a different Filipino likewise wrote.
The Dacera case
Christine was a 23-year-old Philippine Airlines flight attendant who was found lifeless in a bathtub at City Garden Hotel in Makati after celebrating New Year’s Eve with her friends.
Her family argues that she was drugged and sexually abused but the police’s medico-legal report stated that the flight attendant died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm.
The National Bureau of Investigation also conducted an independent probe of the case.
Last January, the Philippine National Police said that the case was already “closed” since the “suspects” were supposedly identified but the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office found the evidence insubstantial.
Latest reports note that the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office has concluded the preliminary investigation hearings for the rape with homicide complaint filed against Christine’s companions.
The complaint will either be dismissed or the respondents will have to be indicted in court.
A lawyer who specializes in privacy law said that Christine still has privacy rights under the Philippine law even if deceased.
This may be “invoked by an heir or any authorized representative,” lawyer Jamael Jacob said to reportr before.
The Data Privacy Act protects the privacy of every individual and ensures that the Philippines adheres to the international standards for data protection through the country’s National Privacy Commission.
The law regulates anything that involves personal data, whether the person is dead or alive. This includes data usage, collection, recording, organization, storage, updating and erasure.
