Despite the success in both box office and critical reception, The Bourne Legacy is now receiving a lot of backlash from some netizens because of how Manila is portrayed in the film The Bourne Legacy. The intense arguments online becomes more heated when an specific statement from Gilroy went public through PEP.ph. Here is the statement:

“We went to Manila and it felt so Bourne-ish. It's just so colorful and ugly and griddy, raw and stinky and crowded.

-Gilroy through pep.ph

Because of this, John Arcilla a local actor who is also part of the cast comes to the rescue with a very brief statement on his Facebook account. Here is his statement:

photo L-R: Rachel Weisz, John Arcilla, Jeremy Renner and Tony Gilroy photo grabbed from John Arcilla's Facebook account

MARAMI RAW NAIINIS SA BOURNE LEGACY DAHIL PANGIT ANG MGA PINAKITANG LUGAR SA MANILA. Well, i found the aerial and top views of night time Manila amazing and picturesque shots of Manila. Am also wondering why we are so afraid of the reality that we still have a poor country (whether we like it or not) and there is this big part in Manila that really belongs to the depressed area. Remember that even New York City has its Ghetto. I think that this should also serve as a wake up call for our public servants and to all of us, to solve or do something about this reality if we are so uneasy about it, rather than trying to hide something that is so real. The ending shot of El Nido Palawan is so vindicating that inspite of all the odds they FOUND A PARADISE IN THE PHILIPPINES...if we want to make it relevant AFTER SEEING THE BEAUTIFUL PALAWAN we should ask: why is it that there are slums in this Paradise-like country or why is it that there are a lot of poor people in this supposedly rich country? that should be our next question NOT why are we showing these areas in our country...tama si Ed Finlan if i may quote HIM: "The fact is the Philippines had a Billion Pesos worth of publicity which those who are in the POSITION could never do!" and considering the Vast Natural resources that our country has, DAPAT AY WALANG GANITO KADAMING MAHIRAP NA TAO SA ATING BAYAN.

I for one believe that Gilroy's statement is not meant to insult our country. The ugly face of Manila is what makes this locations beautiful in artistic point of view. We've been seeing all of this on our own films specially on indie films. But why on earth we are reacting on The Bourne Legacy alone.

I just wish that all my fellow Filipinos change their perspective. Don't look at this film as an attack but rather an opportunity to feature Manila as a viable location for film not only locally but of course internationally. And we wish that The Bourne Legacy is not the last time we will see our country on a Blockbuster offering.

Still showing on all cinemas nationwide from Universal Pictures, to be distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment.