Aquino Shamie Dekada70 Reflection

Name: Shamie L.
Aquino Section: BSHM 3-D
Dekada 70 Reflection Paper
Dekada 70 written by Lualhati Bautista is a powerful film that offers a

painful reflection on the political and social turmoil of the 1970s in the Philippines.
It depicts the life of most of the Filipinos who lived in the Marcos Era especially
under the Martial law. The film presented the life of Bartolome Family during the
challenging years of the 70’s. During that time there were many things going on
in the Philippines, making living conditions at times stressful and unpleasant. It
was very hard to live a normal life as there were many regulations and limitations
placed on the community. The main focus of the film was the particular middle-
class family who struggled through the cruel dictatorship of Marcos. Each
character has different personalities, perspectives, and beliefs about the
government and life in general. All characters faced the changes that empowered
Filipinos to rise against the government in which led to the People Power
revolution. Despite such situations, the family presented in the movie lived their
lives as best as they could during those time, in some cases living in fear or living
day by day as it comes.
The movie portrays the struggles of Bartolome family amidst the backdrop
of martial law, tackling themes of oppression, activism, and the fight for freedom
and human rights. In this film, there is Amanda (Vilma Santos) a housewife and a
beloved mother who catered to her family’s needs, her husband and children
alike with her patriarchal husband someone with control and power who is Julian
(Christopher De Leon) along with their five sons, Jules (Piolo Pacual), Gani (Carlos
Agassi, Eman (Marvin Agustin), Jason (Danilo Barrios), and Bingo (John Wayne
Sace). This family experienced different perspective of martial law. Two of the
sons of this family became an activist who wants to fight for the rights of the
Filipinos, one of them however became a U.S navy under the Marcos government
and he cannot make a way out but to comply and to serve the government, the
other one became a victim of the abusive police power that caused his death. It is
really relevant that martial law gives dreadful memories among our Filipino
citizens. The horror of being in jail, killed, raped and the injustice experiences that
stomps on the human rights of our fellow Filipino people. The character play by
Jules and Amanda catches my attention more, the injustice imprisonment of Jules,
the eldest brother, he was used by a friend that serves for government that
catches those who join the NPA, it sad to say that during those times even your
closest friend you cannot trust anymore even nowadays. The experiences of their
mother Amanda who is being confused on how she will follow the law as a
Filipino, a mother and a wife, she was not given a right to stand for her rights or
even the right to speak. If I will be in the situation of Amanda, I think I cannot
stand every word Julian will be saying to me. Amanda was torn between the
problems in the country, her family, her sons, and her husband. In a way it
seemed as if she had conflicting struggles with herself as she realizes how much
less of an authority she has compared to her husband. She had the drive to do
things, but was never given an opportunity. Despite such oppression, she
manages to live on seeing her children grow into their personal interests and I do
salute for her patience and for being a good mother to her sons and a good wife
to her husband. Truly a mother can do everything for her family especially when it
comes to her children.
There were few issues in the movie that were presented the strike me the
most. One of it was the evident practice of patriarchy, it not only mean the
dictatorship of Marcos but also the patriarchal scenario happening inside the
family. When Julian condones her wife’s wish to get a job. And from that we could
see back then, men has more voice over women and their opinion was highly
regarded by the society. Women have limited rights compared to men. But
Amanda reaffirmed her identity to state her stand as a Filipino citizen, as a
women and as a mother as well. And also I was struck by the violation of
constitutional laws, the killings, tortures and captivation of a lot of civilians were
inhuman and injustice. There are several laws and policies are mentioned in the
movie like, Proclamation 1081: this was the declaration of martial law, the
Presidential decree 1211 a measure to suppress dissent and control the media,
Batas militar where military assumed significant powers, including law
enforcement and governance functions and Human rights violations.
I learned a lot after watching this movie. No matter what happens a
mother’s love will always be there. No matter how different your beliefs are, she
always be worried about you. No one can take away the worriedness of a mother
when she knows that her children need her. A mother can do anything and
everything just to fight for her children even if it can cost her life. A family always
stay as a family no matter what hardships they experienced. And also I realized
that I am very lucky that I didn’t encountered those situations and hoping it will
never happen again.
The ending of this movie was great and an inspiration as both husband
and wife come together to realize that they need each other to support one
another so that they could live in peace. It also shows every details and
experience of Filipino families during that era. Despite such conditions during
those times, people made the best out of it. The Philippines stood still and the
people became strong and wiser.

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Name: Shamie L.

Aquino Section: BSHM 3-D

Dekada 70 Reflection Paper

Dekada 70 written by Lualhati Bautista is a powerful film that offers a

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