Princess Rodaisah S.

Mangulamas 10:30am-12:00nn (BE 334)

‘Andres Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo’ Movie Reflection

BONIFACIO: Ang Unang Pangulo is a historical action epic that brings to light the powerful,
true-to-life drama of Filipino revolutionary Andres Bonifacio one of our country’s national heroes
with his virtues and humanity, unfolding through the eyes of a young man in this day and age.

The movie is a combination of tragedy and a little touch of comedy. The film began with the
execution of the GomBurZa as a result of a mutiny in Cavite and from there on, the film would
transition from the past and present era. There it was shown that Andres Bonifacio witness the
execution when he was only a child. Father Burgos said upon his execution ‘hindi ito ang

m
katapusan, kundi simula pa lamang’ I felt that. The revolution awakened the young hearts of the

er as
co
Filipinos and realized the cruelty of Spaniards were beyond words to describe. Upon hearing that

eH w
Jose Rizal was arrested and exiled to Dapitan, Andres Bonifacio decided to raise a new

o.
organization consist of Filipinos who were willing to fight for peace and freedom which is called,
rs e
ou urc
Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan.

The movie also put a smile on my face when Andres Bonifacio and Gregoria de Jesus met
o

each other and also Andres’ sister and Teodoro Plata’s love story. The scene in the church where
aC s
v i y re

Gregoria told Andres that those people who are against the friars has no god and Andres replied
that it was all a lie that friars planted on people’s mind. One thing that I hate and make me sad in
this film is that it highlights the controversial death of Andres Bonifacio in the hands of our fellow
ed d

Filipino in the name of another hero Emilio Aguinaldo. The reason is political intrigues eventually
ar stu

led to Bonifacio’s arrest and death at the hands of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s men. I was expecting a
deeper stories and revelations in Bonifacio’s last days and it seems it was still blurred in my mind
sh is

after I watched the movie.

Th

Overall, “Bonifacio” is a well presented movie and full of messages regarding sacrifices
fighting for the motherland. The death of the revolutionaries including Andres Bonifacio was all
buried. But their lives that have been given to the country will remain forever. The history will not
be erased as generation and new generations will always remembered their braveness. One
question will be only left hanging in the corner in modern time, “Are the lives they sacrificed are
worth fighting for?”

This study source was downloaded by 100000832746887 from CourseHero.com on 11-05-2021 09:17:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/51246709/MOVIE-REFLECTION-copy/
 ‘El Presidente’ Movie Reflection

After I watched the movie entitled ‘Andres Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo’, I already had
this thought that Aguinaldo was the reason of Bonifacio’s death but these are my reflection about
the movie. The El Presidente movie is all about the life of the first President of the Philippine
Republic. The story focus on the life of General Emilio Aguinaldo who was elected by the leaders
of Katipunan. The story tells about the life of Emilio Aguinaldo and the hardships he had
encountered during his time to win the battles against Spanish Colonization to the Philippines and
how he joined and became a member of Katipunan and have a name of Magdalo.

The movie started when Emilio Aguinaldo was in his childhood life. He became a tax
collector together with his friend that on his childhood and he met a fortune teller that tells him

m
er as
what he would a leader in the future, it tells that he would become a king of his nation and he will

co
eH w
leave a long life, but there is also a warning to him that there would be many circumstances

o.
coming to his life as a President. Many of them will attempt to replace his throne as a leader of his
rs e
colony and being the President of the Philippines. The movie also shows the battles of Emilio
ou urc
Aguinaldo to protect his members and his troops in his jurisdiction or on his colony against the
Spanish occupation for the freedom of the Philippines.
o
aC s

The movie also shows the preparation of Emilio Aguinaldo and his troop towards Sultan. In
v i y re

this movie shows how Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as a President of the Philippine Republic. It
was started when the committee of Katipunan decided to have an election of who would be their
ed d

President and leaders under the cabinet of the President. Immediately the committee elected the
ar stu

following persons, Andres Bonifacio, Mariano Trias, and Emilio Aguinaldo. The founder of
Pamahalaang Himagsikan is Andres Bonifacio who also called their Supremo of Katipunan
sh is

became angry when he got a lower position in the cabinet. After the election Emilio Aguinaldo was
Th

proclaimed officially the newly elected and the first President of the Philippine Republic, because
of that Andres Bonifacio became bitter against Emilio Aguinaldo and he decided to destroy
Aguinaldo's leadership. After the juris proved that Bonifacio brothers are found guilty, Emilio
Aguinaldo sentence them into their own death. After the Americans trick Aguinaldo that they will
help the Philippines to get their freedom against Spanish colony, but instead the Americans used
Emilio Aguinaldo name for their own agenda, but Aguinaldo do his best to fight and to get our
freedom.

After I watched this movie El Presidente, I’ve realized that they fought too hard to gain our
independence from the colonies. They bled. Their lives were sacrificed and they did not even felt

This study source was downloaded by 100000832746887 from CourseHero.com on 11-05-2021 09:17:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/51246709/MOVIE-REFLECTION-copy/
 the taste of their own victory. I hope they are happy now and we should all thank them by not
forgetting who they were.

‘Heneral Luna’ Movie Reflection

The movie Heneral Luna is about the life and how Heneral Antonio Luna saved our country
even if his friends are traitors. I became more aware that our country has a lot of hidden story from
the past. We thought things are right but the truth is the perception that we believe is wrong. I also
understand why Filipinos are greedy of power. Even in the past there is a thing politics which many
people killed someone just to maintain their power.

The movie Heneral Luna started by interviewing Antonio Luna himself. The meeting that

m
happened on the first part literally shows how the officials were so unilateral. They don’t have any

er as
co
unity that is why it is very hard for them to come up with a joint idea because everyone has their

eH w
own ideal and difficult to persuade. The movie is a real eye opener. I felt sad, angry, and even

o.
almost hostile towards my fellow countrymen who betrayed Luna. It is true, “May malaki tayong
rs e
ou urc
kalaban sa mga Amerikano-ang ating sarili,” the real enemy of the Filipinos are their fellow
Filipinos. Unless there is no unity among ourselves, how can we expect our country to be
o

independent and win against the invader? It is such a pity that betrayal and corruption are evident
aC s

before, which led to our defeat against the Americans.

v i y re

However, what’s truly saddening is that all these terrible things are present even now. True,
it is hard to think of the country especially when your own interests have not been granted yet.
ed d

Everyone has needs, a lot more if you have your own family. Some might choose their family and
ar stu

own interests over the good of the country, while some might give their all for their beloved nation.
Heneral Antonio Luna is one of the latter. He is a certified nationalist, a great general, but his
sh is

temperament caused him to have enemies, both local and foreign. It is devastating to lose one of
Th

the greatest generals, the Philippines ever had just because of petty internal fights. The film shows
that aside from arms and weapons, education should also be used to fight the colonizers.

In spite of the dark cloud hovering over our country, I remain hopeful that we become more
enlightened about the situation the Philippines is in, and finally realize what it is exactly that we
need to change—ourselves.

This study source was downloaded by 100000832746887 from CourseHero.com on 11-05-2021 09:17:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/51246709/MOVIE-REFLECTION-copy/
 ‘Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral’ Movie Reflection

The first thing that I remembered was that Gregorio Del Pilar was in the last part of the
Heneral Luna movie and lately I realized that the movie is its sequel. Now, Goyo: Ang Batang
Heneral is the type of glass-shattering film that will show you that not everyone you glorify is
worthy of praise and that the people in power are not always right. It will show you that even the
ones you idolize are not immune to blind patriotism. It will certainly break your belief that our
heroes are high and mighty but it will show you that even they are susceptible to mistakes, fear,
and vulnerability. Because after all, they are just human.

When you deeply think about the movie, it will make you realize that the issues that
happened years ago are still happening today. It will show you that ties—not skills, will give a

m
er as
person power while the strongest and wisest critics will end up being pacified, silenced, or worse,

co
eH w
dead. The President at that time was Emilio Aguinaldo, to which the great writer Apolinario Mabini

o.
mainly criticize in his governance, in a way that the rebellion to America failed because of division.
rs e
It was where the hero in this film Gregorio del Pilar “Goyo” was depicted as the favorite Military
ou urc
General of the President, and was also quoted as a “dog” of Aguinaldo by those who are in favor
of Antonio Luna, the General that was assassinated.
o
aC s

The story gives me a conclusion in which the motion picture highlights that the governance
v i y re

in general has to be led in flexibility, in a way that when power is being exercised it doesn’t neglect
the strong build-up of people below that welds the throne. Further, it considers the idea of what the
ed d

exact purpose should be that forms the unity, and therefore eliminating the agenda of selfish will
ar stu

and power. It then would have to be no partition that weakens the shield, involving coercion, envy,
and false determination.
sh is

While Heneral Luna showed you what a hero should do, Goyo will show you the mistakes
Th

that a hero makes. He is literally a “batang heneral.” What makes this movie brilliant is that it was
made for a critical-thinking audience; millennials and generation z’s who will dig deep and look
through things beyond fanfare and heroic deaths. After all, being a hero is more than just a tragic
ending. It’s how they got there, how they fought, and what they were fighting for.

This study source was downloaded by 100000832746887 from CourseHero.com on 11-05-2021 09:17:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/51246709/MOVIE-REFLECTION-copy/
 Position Paper — Summary

After finishing all the four related movies, it really hits me that every hero has their
own way of fighting for the country. There were heroes that was brave enough to put up and
sword and kill the enemy while others think about the other way around but the most
important thing is that they did not abandoned our country and they are the reason why all
of us are here now.

The word Patriot has different meanings to different people. Bur for me the term
“Patriot” simply means an intense love of one’s motherland and a passionate devotion to it.
In my personal opinion, yes, patriotism still does matter to me. I have never seen a more
embarrassing example of the government current administration actions regarding this

m
er as
matter. It’s a sign of leadership failure. It seems like everything is wrong and is so untrue. It

co
eH w
seems evident to me that most of our leaders don’t know a lot about our country’s own

o.
history. These are the things that bring disgrace to us all. Well, I think it’s much more better
rs e
than pretending to know things that you don’t know.
ou urc
Education is very important. Knowing the roots of our country, the important events
o

that molded the Filipinos to who they are now can help us further understand what the
aC s

problems really are. Education can help open our minds, think selflessly, love our country,
v i y re

and unite with each other, and hopefully one day, we will finally escape from the grasp of
our colonizers. The movies are a must that every Filipino should watch as it can help us
ed d

understand the ongoing problems that we have now, make a solution, and plan for a better
ar stu

future.

My conclusion is that the happenings from the past are almost the same as what is
sh is

happening today. Now, the mid-term election happened yesterday and the news in the
Th

television shows all the chaos that is happening from region to region. Let’s us all not forget
that the Revolution in 1899-1902 against the Americans failed because of wrong leading of
our government and leaders. And we may fail again as a country by choosing the wrong
leaders who govern our actions, blindly listening to our own principles and forgetting who
we are. We should always bear in mind that,

“History Repeat Itself”

This study source was downloaded by 100000832746887 from CourseHero.com on 11-05-2021 09:17:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/51246709/MOVIE-REFLECTION-copy/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)