Understanding the Self

Political Self
BSA 16

Domingo, Raissa Therese

Mabini, Jea Angeline B.
Reyes, Alliah Belle

a. Who are the characters in the movie?

Main characters
Amanda Bartolome played by Vilma Santos
A mother of the Bartolomes with five young sons. After discovering
copies of rebellious pamphlets lying around the house, she accepts Jules'
inclination to become an anti-Government winger.
Julián Bartolome, Sr. played by Christopher de Leon
The head of the Bartolome family who wants all his children to become
successful in life. Being suspicious of Jules' inclination to become an anti-
Government winger, he also became convinced when they find copies of
rebellious pamphlets lying around the house and supports Jules to rally
against corruption in the government.
Julian "Jules" Bartolome, Jr. played by Piolo Pascual
He is the first son of the Bartolomes. Their home became a constant
place of recreation for Jules who often brought a friend along with him.
Isagani "Gani" Bartolome played by Carlos Agassi
He is the second child of the Bartolomes. Gani becomes the family's
second breadwinner and their hope to raise their social status.
Emmanuel "Em" Bartolome played by Marvin Agustin
He is the third child of the Bartolomes who writes banned literature
whilst maintaining a mischievous, carefree outward personality.
Jason Bartolome played by Danilo Barios
He is the fourth child of the Bartolomes. He was killed and stabbed
multiple times by corrupt policemen.
Benjamin "Bingo" Bartolome played by John Wayne Sace
He is the youngest of the Bartolome’s children.

Supporting characters
Mara played by Ana Capri – the wife of Jules Bartolome
Evelyn played by Dimples Romana – the girlfriend and later wife of Isagani
Bartolome
Willy played by Jhong Hilario – Jules' best friend and activist. He was killed by
torturers in 1972.

b. What social issues were tackled in the movie?

Dekada ‘70 is a Filipino film directed by Chito S. Roño that premiered in

the Philippine cinema in the year 2002. It is based on the novel of an acclaimed
Filipino author, Lualhati Bautista. Dekada 70 is a story about a middle-class
Filipino family struggle to survive in the era of dictatorship.
The story is set in the 1970s, which reflected the difficult situation and
oppression happening in the Philippines. Dekada ‘70 tackled various social
issues that happened decades ago and are still relevant, evident, and
experienced by the Filipinos in the present. The film depicts the situation and
condition during the US-Marcos fascist regime. In addition, the film mirrored
the social and political crisis that is the major reason for the mass movement
and revolutionary actions against the dictatorship. The 1970s is plagued by the
patriarchy, however, the film suggests that gender should not be a basis to
judge a person’s capabilities may it be in the political and social aspect. This is
more emphasized in Amanda Bartolome’s character as the main character, a
woman, and a mother, who have a big heart to fight not only for her family but
also for the country. Various social issues such as injustices, human rights
violations, graft and corruption are also portrayed in the film.
Social issues:

 Marcos regime – Martial law, fascism

 Mass movement and revolutionary actions against the dictatorship
 Patriarchy
 Feminism
 Injustices
 Human rights violations
  Graft and Corruption

c. How do you explain the social issue(s) that you have mentioned in
question #2? Explain the issue(s) in your own words. And completely cite
your source(s).

As the movie was set at the time where the Philippines was under the
Marcos Regime, various social issues has occurred, and which are all rooted to
Martial Law.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Martial law is stated to be the
control of a city or country by an army instead by its usual leaders. Martial law
was declared as a solution for the social, political, and economic problems
during the Marcos Regime. However, this caused the Philippines to become
dreary, and the social unrest followed. Due to fascism and the abused
dictatorial power, all sections of the society were restless. With this, millions of
Filipinos, mostly students clamoring for a change in the system joined various
revolutionary activities. In the movie, mass movements and revolutionary
actions against the dictatorship was portrayed, in which is an event that still
occur at the present time. The reason why these mass movements is still
observable until today is because of the several problems the country has.
Human rights violations, injustices, graft and corruption are one of the several
problems that was shown in the movie in which is a problem that is still
evident until now.
Human rights violation is the disallowance of the freedom of thought and
movement to which all humans legally have right (The Borgen Project, 2019).
Currently, under the Duterte Regime, numerous human rights violations
including unlawful or arbitrary killings have been reported and most of the
victims are from the marginalized sectors. In the movie, the ramifications of
human rights violation mostly affected individuals who lived in poverty. Many
of the poor Filipinos especially those who had fought for democracy from the
Marcos Regime had experienced oppression. Sadly, the human rights
advancements in the country remain to be stagnant and has declined over the
past 5 years. Socially disadvantaged groups of society are especially susceptible
to human rights violation, and worse, most of the violators are from the
security forces and other allegedly connected to the government.
Injustice simply means lack of fairness. Similar to human rights violation,
people from the marginalized sectors often experience injustice. Moreover, this
problem occurs because of the people who are in the higher positions. Injustice
is often rooted to graft and corruption, and these social issues are all caused by
the incompetent and corrupt officials. As how other people perceived Marcos’
administration as the richest era of the Philippines, history records and
analysis refuses to agree. The Guinness World Record even declared the
Marcos Regime as the “Greatest Robbery of a Government”. In the present
time, graft and corruption is still evident to some part of the country. There are
still numerous corrupt officials who do only steal government funds but also
induces injustice activities. As long as these people exists, this particular social
issue will continue, and people will continuously initiate mass movements to
fight for corruption and injustice.
Lastly, one of the social issues that was tackled in the movie is Feminism.
During the time Marcos, patriarchy was evident, and females are viewed to be
clueless when it comes to national agendas. However, in the Philippines, the
women's movement has made significant progress in terms of economic,
political, and social equality. Nonetheless, as there is advancement in
addressing feminism, new challenges and work has to be done, particularly
addressing inequalities, aggressiveness and violence brought on by the specter
of patriarchy, which exists up to this day.

d. Who among the characters confronted/stood up against the said social

issue(s)?
The family belongs to the middle-class and Amanda being the only woman
in the circle, wanted to make a change. Not only does Amanda seek to achieve
new things and not just become a housewife to Julian, but she also wanted to
empower herself as a mother and wife. Even though Julian was keen on
keeping it traditional and hope to keep his wife in the kitchen, Amanda soon
became to discover what was important for her. For this reason, she started to
disregard the laws that oppressed women and fought for feminism. The team
believes that Amanda, Julian, and their eldest son Jules, were the characters
who confronted the Martial Law.
The three characters above are the ones who rebelled against the president
and strived to fight the deficit in the system. The other children Gani, Em and
Bingo still helped their parents and took part in confronting the problem in the
society. However, one of the sole reasons why the Bartolomes were so
passionate was because of the death of their fourth child, Jason. He was killed
and stabbed multiple times by corrupt policemen hence why the three
characters wanted to defend their loved one even if they die trying. The social
issues in the movie are Fascism, Patriarchy, Injustices, Human Rights
Violation and Graft and Corruption.
 e. What lesson/insights can you draw from the movie?
The most important thing that I have learned in the movie is to speak up
and stand for what you think is right. To let your voice be heard would also
encourage other people to speak their minds and fight for what they think is
right. This trait is something that can contribute to the general welfare of the
society especially at moments when our country and its people’s freedom and
life is at stake. Moreover, the movie had also taught me the importance of
family. I have learned that the people who has our back and the people we can
trust the most is our family, our home. They are the one who would not only
support us but also the one who can guide us to become a better person.
Lastly, the role of Vilma Santos had inspired me to become a woman of dignity,
a woman who is aware of the national agendas of the country and a Filipino
citizen who could speak, stand, and fight for the right thing. Overall, the movie
made me want to become a better citizen.

References:
Cambridge Dictionary. Assessed from
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/martial-law
The Borgen Project. (2019). Example of Human Rights Violations. Assessed from
https://borgenproject.org/examples-of-human-rights-violations/
Guinness World Record. Greatest robbery of a government. Assessed from
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/65607-greatest-robbery-of-a-
government