September 24, 2025
In 2019, a encounter between the military and rebels happened in Barangay Pag-asa, Quezon province. A teacher and a student lost their lives there. Because of this tragic incident and the pandemic that followed, the school never reopened. As the children were idle, barangay captain Merlinda "Indang" Sarmenta (Dorothy Gilmore) hired kids to be "scholars" in her video game business called Axis Divinity, where they earned good money.
In 2022, a young teacher named Araceli "Ara" Lumawig (Rita Daniela) was sent by DepEd to Pag-asa to reopen the school and become their new teacher. Kapitana Indang took an instant dislike to her, but fortunately, Ara had parish priest Fr. Caloy (Jim Pebanco) and sari-sari store owner Ka Ambo (Lou Veloso) on her side. A troop of soldiers under 1Lt Randy Meneses (Jak Roberto) was assigned to provide security to the school.
Rita Daniela gave a very dedicated performance as Ms. Lumawig, who reopened the school against all odds. Only five students came in on her first day of class, so she had to go house to house to try to convince hostile parents. Fortunately, her Ara was likable, sincere, and certainly tenacious with a never-say-never attitude. If there was anything jarring about her, it was that overdone kissing scene with her estranged activist boyfriend Teddy (Albie Casino).
Jak Roberto was a quite too obvious as the lovestruck Lt. Randy. He did not find it embarrassing to lovingly stare at his crush in full view of his own men, or her students, not exactly subtle as military officers would likely be. Veterans Lou Veloso and Jim Pebanco can do no wrong with their good guy characters, though they could be too good to be true. Ara pet students Estong (Ynigo Delen) and Betchay (Felixia Dizon) were delightful.
The rural vibe of the whole film, the politeness and good-naturedness of it all, was very refreshing to watch. The Axis Divinity thing may be a bit too sophisticated a plot point, but it did serve its purpose as a source of serious conflict. The screenplay of Eric Ramos had some surprising revelations about Ara in Act 3 that led to a particularly tearful ending scene with her students, which director Joel Lamangan really squeezed for all its melodramatic worth. 7/10
Gabile Sohbet ve gabile chat etmek bir eğlence ve keyif kaynağı olabilir.Sohbetlere katılmak, şakalar paylaşmak ve grup tartışmalarına katılmak zaman geçirmenin keyifli yollarıdır.
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