The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
by Boy Villasanta
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Bishop of the Diocese of Caloocan Pablo Virgilio David has bravely endorsed a film based on the life and times of an underrated Filipino heroine.
It’s not only because the often ignored Gregoria de Jesus in history was born and raised in David’s religious district but she is hailed as well as a true and committed patriot by well-meaning individuals, historians and intellectuals.
In his manifesto which Bishop Ambo titled as “Lakambini, The Story of Gregoria de Jesus Revisited: When History Refuses to Stay Silent,” the controversial clergy admitted that when he was about to see on the big scteen “Lakambini Gregoria de Jesus,” what dawned on him was another filmbio of a historical figure he is already familiar with.
“I must confess, when I sat down to watch this film ‘Lakambini’ directed by Jeffrey Jeturian, I thought I was merely revisiting a historical figure I already admired–Gregoria de Jesús, the Lakambini ng Katipunan, wife of the Supremo. But I wasn’t prepared for what the film stirred in me. It felt less like watching history and more like being confronted by history–by the unfinished work of a nation still struggling to rise from betrayal and broken dreams.
“Bakit ako interesado sa pelikulang ito (Why am I interesred to watch this film)? Dahil tubong (Because she was from) Kalookan si Oryang, and I am presently the bishop of Kalookan. Ang Kalookan, para sa akin ay ‘bayan ng mga bayani (for me is a pantheon of heroes’–and now, painfully, also bayan ng mga dukha, at simbahan din ng mga dukha (a place of the poor, and also church of the poor). Our diocese became ground zero during the darkest days of the drug war. And in those years, I met women who reminded me of Oryang—widows like Mary Ann and Grace, who suffered from senseless violence, fought for justice, went back to school, rebuilt their lives, and stood courageously for truth. Mga bagong Lakambini ng ating panahon (The new Muses of our time).
“Gregoria de Jesús represents something deeply Filipino—gentle but steel-strong, wounded yet unbroken, open to love yet never forgetting loyalty to truth and justice. The film, based on her biography, returns her voice to us: not as a footnote to Bonifacio, but as a storyteller who carried the nation’s memory when powerful men tried to bury it.
“I was taught to look at history not just as a matter of narrating facts (salaysay) but as an earnest effort to make sense (saysay) of the past in the present, in order do better in the future, especially in nation-building. That is what this film invites us into: not just recalling events, but interpreting them, allowing them to question us.
“And for me, the most powerful moment in the part I watched was not the uprising, nor even Bonifacio’s death—but a quiet scene. Oryang hears in 1935 that Aguinaldo has lost the presidential election to Manuel Quezon. She chews slowly, looks out not to a battlefield but to memory, and spits—not in anger, but in vindication. And she whispers a line from Scripture:
‘Walang nalilihim na hindi mabubunyag.’
Nothing concealed will not be revealed.
“I almost fell off my chair—because that line is exactly how I began our CBCP call for participation in the recent Trillion-Peso March to EDSA last September 21, 2025, when we urged our people to demand accountability for the enormous pork-barrel funds hidden in the national budget through ghost and substandard flood-control projects. Truly, history has a way of catching up. Truth has a way of resurfacing. And nations, like people, cannot heal what they refuse to face.
“We Filipinos, sadly, forget too easily. We sweep blood and betrayal under the rug. No wonder our revolutions rarely conclude. The Philippine Revolution—unfinished. The EDSA Revolution—unfinished. And yet, like Oryang, we rise again, remembering the fallen, gathering the broken pieces, starting anew.
“In the film, Oryang does not end as a tragic widow. She marries again—to Julio Nakpil, loyal friend of Bonifacio—and rebuilds a quiet life. This is not weakness. This is resilience. Pagbangon na may dignidad (Rising up with dignity). A revolution not of swords, but of memory and hope.
“That is the hidden power of this film. It is not explosive, but contemplative. Not triumphant, but truthful. Mabagal ang (Slow) pacing, hindi pang-(Not for) mainstream—yet that is its gift. It forces us to sit with the story. To wrestle with the betrayal. To feel the ache of unfinished dreams. And in that discomfort, we remember who we are—and who we might still become.
“Someone once told me, ‘I believe in happy endings. If it is not happy, maybe it’s not yet the end.’ That line has guided much of my own ministry. It applies to Oryang. To Bonifacio. To EDSA. To every mother who lost a son but chooses courage over hatred. To every young Filipino who refuses to give up on democracy.
“To our nation.
“Our story is not done. The march of September 21, 2025—the Trillion-Peso March—reminded us of that. May natutulog na diwa na muling nagigising (The spirit is awajened). And the youth are at the forefront.
“So I invite our young Filipinos: watch ‘Lakambini.’ Listen to Oryang. Let her story disturb you, inspire you, challenge you. And then join the conversation—the one that revisits our past, not to romanticize it, but to finish what was started.
“The struggle for freedom did not end in 1897. Nor in 1986. It is alive in every act of truth-telling, every stand for justice, every story remembered and retold—until our nation finds its rightful ending.
“And maybe, just maybe, this time, we will complete the unfinished project of the revolution.”