MANILA, Philippines?Despite receiving generally testy reviews at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie ?Serbis,? directed by Brillante Mendoza, should give the nation cause for pride and rejoicing. It is the first Filipino film in almost a quarter of a century to be shown in competition at the world?s largest and most important film festival. The last time a Filipino film was accepted as competition entry to Cannes was in 1985, when Lino Brocka?s ?Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim? was shown. (Four years back, Brocka?s ?Jaguar? had been shown also in competition, the first for the Philippines in Cannes history.) ?Bayan Ko? also didn?t win an award, but the following year, the British Film Institute named it best film. Perhaps, ?Serbis? would enjoy the same reversal.

Not that ?Serbis? is a disappointment. To be included in the Cannes competition is already an honor; getting positive reviews and winning an award are just icing on the cake. To be sure, ?Serbis? consolidates the reputation of Philippine cinema as the most exciting in Southeast Asia. Other cinemas in the region can?t lay claim to having been screened thrice in competition at Cannes.

The European interest in Philippine cinema has lately become particularly intense. Next month, Paris will host a Philippine film festival. The festival programmer is Jeremy Segay from Cannes. The retrospective will be the biggest and most complete of its kind to date. In fact, scheduled for showing is Manuel Conde?s epic in the 1950s, ?Genghis Khan,? which was shown to great acclaim at the Venice Film Festival during its time?the first Filipino feature to grace an international film festival.

The fact that Conde broke ground in the international film festival circuit a quarter of a century before Brocka?s ?Insiang? was shown in the Director?s Fortnight program, also at the Cannes, should indicate that Philippine cinema has a long history of excellence and renown. In fact, film historians generally talk about two golden ages of Philippine cinema: the 1950s, when the world witnessed the cinema of Conde, Lamberto Avellana, Eddie Romero and the great Gerry de Leon; and the 1970s, the era of the ?angry young men??Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Mike de Leon, and even Romero (on the second wind of his cinematic career as the director of ?Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon??).

The two golden ages of Philippine cinema should belie claims that the Cannes date of ?Serbis? was a fluke. That a competition movie is lambasted by critics should not embarrass Filipinos so used to accolades easily heaped from abroad on the likes of Charice Pempengco and Madonna Decena. To be included in the Cannes competition means that a film is worthy to be numbered among the notables of world cinema. One recalls the boos that greeted the 1960 showing in Cannes of Michelangelo Antonioni?s ?L?Avventura,? now considered one of the greatest and most influential films in history and one realizes that to be savaged by critics and audiences is a compliment, not an affront.

The same low regard for a Filipino film making it to Cannes is evinced in the oft-repeated complaint about why no Filipino film has made it to the Oscars? best foreign language film derby. The complaint shows a blind faith in everything Hollywood and betrays ignorance of the Oscars and most award-giving schemes as basically a marketing gimmickry. Simply put: No Filipino movie has made it to the Oscars because no Filipino movie has the deep pockets to launch a credible and well-oiled marketing campaign to be nominated, much less to win. In 1999, the lightweight ?Shakespeare in Love? won best picture over the trenchant ?Saving Private Ryan? because Miramax had spent more to sell the former to Oscar voters than what Steven Spielberg spent to promote the award prospects of the latter.

Therefore, let us appreciate the achievement of Mendoza and ?Serbis.? Mendoza, his great cast and his production company got to Cannes on a low-budget movie done courageously according to the true tradition of Philippine neorealist cinema. And while we?re at it, let?s warn that it may take another quarter of a century for a Filipino film to compete in Cannes if the local film industry continues to be taxed mercilessly, censors continue to wield their scissors out of ignorance and complete lack of taste, and the Metro Manila Film Festival continues to be run by politicians in cahoots with greedy producers who have made the event (which produced some of our most brilliant cinematic gems) into nothing but a showcase of tawdry fantasy films aping the worst productions of the Hollywood theme-park entertainment complex.