Benedikt Jerome B.

Cubinar
PI 10 H-1R
Seeing Through the Rivers Tears
Traces of World War II, from the movies and documentaries I have seen from the past
years, were mostly presented in the cities of Luzon. How Manila was attacked. The Fall of
Bataan. The Death March. All of these are parts of the most despairing moments in the country
which is to say a lot. Deaths reeked all over the country and discouragement filled the country
with a numbing pain of the ones it lost. However, what is remarkable about the movie Panaghoy
sa Suba is the fact that its setting is different from the typical city bombing scene. The fact that
it was placed in Bohol made it quite unique from the movies it is in genre of, thus making it
stand out a bit more than the others.
Perhaps the setting was made to be in Bohol since the director Cesar Montano was from
Bohol himself (as he said in one of his interviews during the earthquake issue last year). There
are, however, parts in which I would like to comment.
First is the ability of Iset (the leading lady, I would presume) to simply attract men. I
think this is some kind of symbolism for the Philippines itself. The country was able to lure
different countries already (Spain, America, and Japan) and perhaps Iset is the personification of
that particular pattern. If this were the case, then I would understand the sexual prowess that Iset
possessed to bait foreigners. I would then deem it to be effective. However, it just seemed
impossible that she would be able to mesmerize the Japanese officer ever so quickly as it took
only a scene (that of when her father was being punished for having dynamites, accused of
helping those who oppose the Japanese).

Next is the scene in which the Japanese officer said something such as no one will die as
long as I am in charge. Perhaps this is possible in the series of events that the Japanese did not
just carry orders blindly and just cause terror to the citizens. Perhaps it shows that there are
Japanese people who did not simply kill mercilessly during the war. However, if it were not real,
for all we know, maybe there are Japanese sponsors to the film which is why there is a bit of
bias. But I do think that this scene is questionable since I have already done a paper concerning
the Bataan Death March, and the data I have gathered about the Japanese simply did not falter
presenting merciless torture so it is simply hard to believe for me. However, seeing as they were
human then as they are now (no grudges held), perhaps it could also be true that not all are as
merciless as those I have gathered data of.
Though there questionable scenes, I think the strength of the film is mainly on the unique
concept. Seeing as there is another view, a view from a province in Visayas, not another view
from the Luzon (which is already prominent), makes it a strong movie. It lent us the eyes to see
what happened to the people in those parts seeing as they were also reached by the Japanese.