Soldier who fought in Marawi produces documentary using GoPro Anne Curtis gave him

Photo from Instagram
Photo from Instagram

Anne Curtis, one of the country’s biggest movie stars, shared with netizens yesterday a story of a friendship she developed with a soldier who was contracted to train them for an upcoming action film.

“The gentleman beside me is 1Lt Bala Tamayo of the Special Forces 134 Vishnu company,” Curtis said. “I met Bala when we were training and shooting with the Special Forces in Fort Magsaysay for BuyBust. He happened to offer oral re-hydration salts during a very hot day in full battle gear and the rest is history.”

BuyBust, is an upcoming action film directed by Erik Matti.

“Shortly after, we learned that the troops were to go fight the war in Marawi. We somewhat kept in touch – which was great because we knew exactly what the soldiers needed during such a harsh time and sent over care packages to somehow boost their morale,” she said.

Hello everyone. . Please take time to read. . 👉🏼 The gentleman beside me is 1Lt Bala Tamayo of the Special Forces 134 Vishnu company.. I met Bala when we were training and shooting with the Special Forces in Fort Magsaysay for BuyBust. He happened to offer oral rehydration salts during a very hot day in full battle gear and the rest is history. He became friends not only with myself but with everyone part of the BuyBust squad. . Shortly after, we learned that the troops were to go fight the war in Marawi. We somewhat kept in touch – which was great because we knew exactly what the soldiers needed during such a harsh time and sent over care packages to somehow boost their morale. Along with my care package I sent over my @gopro to Bala – you see, he is actually a very good film maker and has done shorts for the Special Forces. His request to tell the story and experience the Marawi Siege from the boots of a soldier could not be left ungranted. His words were – “i’ll return it if I survive this war. If I fall, my buddy will return it. That I promise “ I told him that I knew he would NOT fall and HE would personally return the GoPro once the war is over.. and IT IS OVER.. . He returned it without even scratch.. . So now, I would like to ask all of you to take time to watch the video of the actual war footage he shot with the GoPro I have in my hands in this photo. Watch how all the soldiers bravely fought for freedom and peace.. . A salute to all the troops that fought hard, fell and survived fighting for peace in Marawi.. . Thank you for your service and sacrifice.. . Snappy Salute to you Bala! Hi @gopro @goproph you definitely need to see this 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/_4zXI0X8Brc . . Edit: Link in my bio. You can also search BATTLE OF MARAWI on the official Army Special Forces account on YouTube to watch it. I’ve also reposted the video on my official Facebook page ❤️. P.S – if you are to repost or share please make sure to give credit to Bala and ask permission to upload if not using his link 👌🏼

A post shared by Anne Curtis (@annecurtissmith) on


“Along with my care package I sent over my GoPro to Bala — you see, he is actually a very good filmmaker and has done shorts for the Special Forces,” she shared.

Curtis said his request to tell the story and experience the Marawi Siege from the boots of a soldier “could not be left un-granted.”

She said that before he left for war, Bala — which means “bullet” in Tagalog — told her, “I’ll return it if I survive this war. If I fall, my buddy will return it. That I promise.”

Curtis said she told him that he “would not fall” and that “he would personally return the GoPro once the war is over.”

The war in Marawi ended last October with over 1,000 deaths, and a city razed to the ground.

This story has a happy ending though: Bala survived. And he came out of the war with a mini-documentary of what he went through in battle. Parts of the video were shot using the very GoPro Curtis gave him.

The actress directed her Instagram followers (about 8.4 million of them) to watch Bala’s film.

Check out the film he produced on YouTube called The Battle of Marawi here:




BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on