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.
“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:
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