1) The film follows Iska, a mother living in an urban slum in Manila, who struggles to care for her family and her special needs grandson Dongdong with little help from her neglectful husband.
2) Iska works long hours in multiple jobs to support her family but faces difficulties finding childcare for Dongdong when she works.
3) After Dongdong is taken away and placed in an unsuitable facility due to false rumors, Iska has a breakdown but perseveres to be reunited with her grandson, showing the resilience of Filipina women in facing life's challenges.
1) The film follows Iska, a mother living in an urban slum in Manila, who struggles to care for her family and her special needs grandson Dongdong with little help from her neglectful husband.
2) Iska works long hours in multiple jobs to support her family but faces difficulties finding childcare for Dongdong when she works.
3) After Dongdong is taken away and placed in an unsuitable facility due to false rumors, Iska has a breakdown but perseveres to be reunited with her grandson, showing the resilience of Filipina women in facing life's challenges.
1) The film follows Iska, a mother living in an urban slum in Manila, who struggles to care for her family and her special needs grandson Dongdong with little help from her neglectful husband.
2) Iska works long hours in multiple jobs to support her family but faces difficulties finding childcare for Dongdong when she works.
3) After Dongdong is taken away and placed in an unsuitable facility due to false rumors, Iska has a breakdown but perseveres to be reunited with her grandson, showing the resilience of Filipina women in facing life's challenges.
The film started by providing an overview of who the main character is
and what sort of challenges she is going through. At the outset, it can be observed that she is struggling to put clothes on his grandchild because the latter keeps on screaming, resisting and rolling around the bed. Immediately, I observed that the kid was not acting “normal”. Later on, the viewers will see that the boy, named Dongdong, is a “special” child, taking care of whom was one of the woes of the main protagonist Iska. Iska is a typical Filipina mother living in the urban slums of Metro Manila. She lives with her husband Joven, who is a womanizing, sloth and drunkard person, who adds to Iska’s woes and heavy burdens of being the sole provider of the family. Iska works as a digital printer operator during weekdays and as a household maid during weekends. Her family hardly gets by with their daily sustenance, so she cannot afford to lose her employments. Her husband works as a driver but spends all his wages to satisfy his appetite for women, alcohol and food. The film depicts the love, extraordinary diligence, resilience, resourcefulness, faithfulness, conviction, commitment and perseverance our very own Filipina women in the face of all the difficulties and challenges life has to offer in the Metro Manila Slums. Iska is a victim of sexual, physical, mental and economic abuses. She stands as the sole parental guardian of Dongdong, who because of the latter’s condition and minority, is entirely incapable of taking care of himself. Iska must make the ends meet. She needs to go out for work, and she needs to look for someone who will care for Dongdong while she’s out. Joven neglects his grandson and believes that they rather have Dongdong admitted to a child caring institution, an orphanage, or have him adopted by someone else. He wants nothing to do with Dongdong, which makes it so difficult for Iska to maintain her employment whenever there is no one to look after her grandchild. One day, she went out for work and left Dongdong to her close friend, Bining, who lives nearby. There came a TV show personality who claims to rescue those who are being maltreated and abused by their own families. This person was a recipient of false rumors, saying that Iska had chained and locked up Dongdong inside the house so that he his deprived of liberty and basic needs, which is far from the truth. And so, the TV show personality “rescued” Dongdong and caused him to be admitted to a child-caring facility not suitable for special children like Dongdong. Iska had no idea what had happened to his grandson and his whereabouts. Her world fell apart. She had a mental breakdown because of too much stress and anxiety surrounding the lost of his grandson. She cried a river. She almost lost sanity. But eventually, she knew where Dongdong was but had no money to pay for the fare. She wanted to visit Dongdong, but she runs the risk of losing her job. The climax of the film revolves around Iska losing custody of her grandson, losing her job and almost losing her life. These are typical difficulties a woman goes through in the slums of Metro Manila. Every day, women are exposed to violence, maltreatment, physical, mental and emotional abuses. Iska’s character is an embodiment of how Filipino women respond to these challenges. How a Filipino woman would sacrifice her comfort, well-being, strength, peace, values, principles and even her own life for the one she loves. Take care of her, she will take care of you. The movie ends by showing how Iska tried to move on with her life, together with Dongdong. But the challenges remain the same, so is her resilience. Kudos to all the hard-working and loving women around the world. Mabuhay ang kababaihang Filipino.