Juan Tamban

Another PETA play was Juan Tamban by Malou Leviste Jacob. First
produced in 1979, the play told the story of a little boy named Juan who
lived in the slums of Manila.(18) He made
money by eating whatever was given him Juan Tamban is reflective
nails, worms, rats as a sort of spectacle.
of the change that many
The police run after Juan because they
artists wished to see
thought that he had stolen something. While occur in their audience.
he was able to get away from them and run These characters could be
back to his father in the squatter area where any of the spectators; the
they live, he falls ill. He is taken to the
question gone unsaid,
hospital and the police arrest him. Instead of "what would you do in
putting him in jail, Juan is sent to see a
this situation?"
psychologist about his behavior. The
psychologist turns out to be a university
student finishing up her thesis. Her role was
to observe his behavior and try to help modify it so that he would not be
self-destructive. But the main character ultimately becomes invested in
her subject's situation, shifting her way of thinking about her purpose
and her work. Juan Tamban is reflective of the change that many artists
wished to see occur in their audience. These characters could be any of
the spectators; the question gone unsaid, "what would you do in this
situation?"
When one witnessed the production of this play, or even read the script,
one would assume that the primary character was the child Juan. This
was not the case. As Michael Bodden pointed out in his article, "Class,
Gender, and the contours of Nationalism in the culture of Philippine
Radical Theater," the central character of Juan Tamban is not the
destitute street child of the play's title, but the middle-class student/social
worker, Marina, a character whose background is similar to that of the
major portion of PETA's audiences. Thus, Marina provide[d] a point of
emotional identification for middle-class women who saw the play, but

more generally, for all middle-class audiences who felt concerned about
the state of Philippine society. As Marina attempts to understand Juan's
problems so that she can "solve" his case, parlay that success into a good
grade in her courses, and advance another rung on the career ladder that
she is climbing, she begins to realize that the concepts of justice,
equality before the law, and the benefits of hard work, concepts she
[had] used to justify and make sense of the existing system, are of little
help to Juan and others who have been similarly marginalized.(19)
Through this piece, PETA challenged their audiences to be introspective
about their own commitment to social justice and their fellow Filipinos.