CONGRATULATIONS to ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) for coming up with the first Young People's Film Festival from Feb. 1 to 5 at the UP Film Center.

The festival will show movies from different countries on how young people are able to triumph over poverty, hazardous labor conditions, sexual exploitation, racial prejudice, parental absence and other dire conditions.

The festival will premiere "Children of Heaven" from Iran at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1. The simple but moving story of two siblings sharing a pair of shoes to go to school was nominated Best Foreign Language Film at the 1999 Oscar Awards, and won three important awards at the 1997 Montreal Film Festival, Best Foreign Film at the 1998 Newport Film Festival, and the Silver Screen Award for Best Asian Feature in the 1998 Singapore International Film Festival.

Other movies to b shown:

"My Father Lives in Rio" (Netherlands)--a girl discovers that her father is not abroad but in prison. "Muddy River" (Japan)--about the effects of war on women and children. "Leaf on a Pillow" (Indonesia)--on the plight of streetchildren who work in the sleazy world of adults.

"Not One Less" (China)--a 13-year-old girl demonstrates a strong sense of responsibility as a substitute teacher in rural China. "Batang PX" (Philippines)--an Amerasian boy faces up to the reality that his American father can't accept him.

"Muro-Ami" (Philippines)--depicts one of the worst forms of child labor in the illegal fishing system.

"The Mighty" (USA)--about the friendship of two imaginative young boys that helps them overcome problems of self-esteem, discrimination and psychological trauma. For details, call ECPAT at 433-5527.

The festival is also sponsored by ILO-IPEC, the UP Film Center, Unicef and the Unesco Philippine Culture Committee.

Incidentally, the festival can also think of including a TV or video component, because we have a number of outstanding video productions about children and child workers--the documentaries of Ditsi Carolino, and some episodes of "I-Witness," "The Correspondents," "The Probe Team," etc. Some of these video productions are more substantial than some of the movies in the filmfest.

Well-known radio personality Ira Efren Davis, one of the pioneers of radio in the country, died Jan. 9 of ill health in Gilroy, California. He was 83.

Davis began his radio career as a teenager in the early 1930s when radio was new and the most exciting medium of mass communication. He was an emcee and a newscaster at pre-war station KZIB.

During the Second World War when radio was controlled by the occupying Japanese forces, Davis quit radio but helped the resistance by supplying the guerrillas in Nueva Ecija with radio equipment used to broadcast news from the guerrillas, as well as from the United States and the allies.

After the war he joined the Manila Broadcasting Corp. (MBC).

One of the memorable programs he hosted on DZRH was "Radio Schoolhouse," which became hugely popular especially among schoolchildren who knew him as "the man who knew the answer to all the questions." Many still remember the nightly "Pan American News" on DZRH which he delivered for over 10 years.

At MBC, he rose from the ranks and became its general manager. Apart from DZRH, MBC also operated DZMB and the Cebu Broadcasting Company. He was also general manager of the Philippine Broadcasting Company, which ran DZPI, and the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corp., which ran the television station Channel 11 until his retirement in the early '70s.

Several program formats that became the staple of radio during its Golden Years in the '50s to the '60s are credited to Davis. Among these are the heavy melodramas and situation comedies that feature the great stars of the time, such as Chichay and Dolphy, Sylvia La Torre, Oscar Obligacion in the "Big Show," the most popular variety show in its time, Rebecca Gonzales, Patsy and Panchito, and Teddy Valdemor.

When MBC expanded into television by opening the pre-Martial Law Channel 11, Davis played an important part in landing the station on the local television map. He introduced the live variety show to rival the then standard canned variety show. This format is to this day standard fare on almost all television stations.