The passing away of John Regala hit today. I remembered a film called Animal (2004) in which the original title was originally Butakal meaning male pig. Regala starred as Jaco Lozano--an obvious caricature of Juan Francisco Gonzales Larrañaga aka Paco. Strangely enough, neither the Larrañagas nor the Osmeñas were heard to have ever filed a case against the late director Toto Natividad. Instead, it was the Chiong family that filed a lawsuit against Natividad. I did write about whether or not Natividad himself was interviewed by the directors of Give Up Tomorrow. As mentioned, there was over 400 hours worth of footage and over 100 interviews done. Both Marty Syjuco and Michael Collins may have interviewed not only Natividad, the late Tony Calvento but also Regala himself since he played the film's main antagonist.
In 2018, we had an incident when Niño Muhlach apologized to Paco for the portrayal in The Calvento Files. Apparently, Niño himself wasn't interviewed but was probably scheduled for that interview. Maybe, both Syjuco and Collins did interview Calvento. Calvento may have freely agreed to use the footage of the Calvento Files episode that featured the Chiong Sisters' case. If Natividad was interviewed then there was the chance that maybe John himself was considered for the interview. It was in 2004 when Animal was finally released while the film was done in 1999. It seems that both Syjuco and Collins may have interviewed Regala in the process.
The film was exploitative at best. The beginning starts with a gratuitous rape scene by Jaco and his gang. Later, the Tan sisters (who are based on the Chiong sisters) have a prolonged rape scene that wouldn't be allowed in The Calvento Files. However, several events and characterizations clearly made the film fictional. The main antagonist Jaco was an only child in a single-parent home. One of the sisters also survived the incident--something that nailed Jaco and the six others to the lethal injection sentence. The Tan sisters only had one little brother who was the only son of their nuclear family. The film also took place in San Roque instead of Cebu. Though fictional, I still feel it was unethical to be producing a film while the trial was still ongoing. I really don't recommend watching it due to how stupid it can get.
I can't imagine what Regala may have told them if he was ever interviewed. Chances are that Regala may have issued an apology to Paco after seeing Give Up Tomorrow. I wonder if it was intended to put bits and pieces of the film Animal in the documentary Give Up Tomorrow? I wonder if both Natividad and Regala joined the Philippine premiere of Give Up Tomorrow?