This story slipped by us in the aftermath of New Year’s, but we decided to post it today because it’s so strange it could be the stuff of pulp fiction. Saturday in the Phillipines, in the capital city of Manila, councilman Reynaldo Dagsa, from the Barangay district, was shot dead outside his home while taking a photograph of family members. But in a freak occurrence, he accidentally photographed the man who killed him. The gunman is visible at left in the photo, taking aim at Dagsa an instant before pulling the trigger. The photo led directly to the arrest of the suspected gunman Michael Rollon, as well as an accomplice identified as Frederick Sales, who appears at the upper right. Both men had prior criminal records, and both were out of prison on parole at the time of the killing. The photo was not given to the police immediately because it was not clear that Dagsa had photographed his killer, but during the investigation police asked the family for the camera Dagsa had used in hopes that it would reveal some evidence. Senior Superintendent Jude Santos, police chief of the Manila municipality of Caloocan City where the shooting occurred, admitted that if not for the photo his detectives would have had a difficult time identifying and apprehending the suspects. Both Rollon and his accomplice Sales are behind bars awaiting a hearing, and a third suspect identified as Ariel Buenaflor is being sought. 

We’re patting ourselves on the back today, because El Mono Blanco successfully moved our headquarters from San José City to Manila without missing a beat on Pulp Intl. Why did he move? Well, let’s just say MB wore out his welcome in the hinterlands. His first clue was when his nightly slumber was shattered by hysterical screaming. To his surprise and chagrin, the screaming was coming from his girlfriend, who was sitting bolt upright in bed next to him, having been awakened by rummaging thieves. The crooks managed to steal a camera before they fled, but in true pulp fashion MB stalked the dark streets of San José City, screaming that he would kill them if they dared show their faces again. Picture him in slippers, unleashing a torrent of profanity that would make George Carlin spin in his grave. A day or two later, in an unrelated incident, a man threatened MB with a painful and grisly death via machete. Discretion being the better part of valor, or something like that, MB pulled up stakes and beat it out of town. So add another weird chapter to Pulp’s short but rich history. We know what you’re thinking. Why not avoid these troubles by simply moving someplace safe, like Canada? Soundly reasoned, and thank you. But where would be the fun in that?     

Known as the King of Philippine Movies, actor-director Fernando Poe, Jr. was such a popular figure in his home country that he ran for president in 2004. After a hotly contested election that he lost, his supporters accused the opposition of fraud. Seven months later he was killed by a coronary thrombosis, whereupon some people close to Poe blamed his enemies, but that’s a pulp story for another time. What we’re interested in today in his huge body of work—nearly 175 movies over more than five decades. You’d almost have to be two people to produce so much and, in a way, he was. He directed for years under the name Ronwaldo Reyes, and kept the identity secret until the night he walked onto stage at the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (or FAMAS) Awards to claim a statuette. The above film, the actioner Ang Padrino, may have low budget promo art, but it won three more FAMAS Awards for Poe, including best picture. It opened today in Manila in 1985.