Bonifacio: Ang

Unang Pangulo

Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo (lit.

"Bonifacio: The First President") is a 2014
Philippine historical action drama film
centering on the life of Katipunan
revolutionary Andres Bonifacio.It is an
official entry to the 40th Metro Manila
Film Festival.
 Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Enzo Williams

Produced by Rina Navarro

E.A. Rocha[1]

Screenplay by Enzo Williams

Carlo Obispo
Keiko Aquino[1]

Story by Enzo Williams

Starring Robin Padilla

Vina Morales
 Daniel Padilla
Music by Von de Guzman

Cinematography Carlo Mendoza

Edited by Benjamin Tolentino

Production Philippians
company
Productions

Distributed by Solar Entertainment

Release date December 25, 2014

Running time 100 minutes

Country Philippines

Language Filipino

Budget ₱100 million[2]

Box office ₱10 million[2]

Plot
The film begins with the execution of
GOMBURZA in 1872. The story then
flashes forward to the present day where
high school students Joaquin (Daniel
Padilla), Andrea (Jasmine Curtis-Smith),
and Gary (RJ Padilla) visit Museo ng
Katipunan.

Flashback: On July 3, 1892, Dr. Jose Rizal

(Jericho Rosales) brings together La Liga
Filipina, a peaceful reform movement
that aims to unite all Filipinos and give
them one voice. One of its members is
Andres Bonifacio (Robin Padilla), who is
currently supporting his siblings, as both
their parents died due to illness. Rizal is
later arrested after the Spanish
authorities uncover the organization.
Bonifacio then decides to form the
Katipunan to lead a revolution against
the Spanish colonizers.

With the help of his friend Teodoro Plata,

he meets Gregoria de Jesús (Vina
Morales), who is also known as Oriang.
Bonifacio visits the church, meeting
Oriang again. She knows that he joined a
group of Masons and is not religious.
Bonifacio denies the accusations, saying
that those are just inventions of the
friars. Later that day, while walking on the
street, they encounter a friend of Oriang
(Pepe Herrera), begging a friar to give his
salary in the polo. However, the friar
refuses and instead makes derogatory
remarks towards the man. Then he is
shot by one of the Spanish soldiers.

Bonifacio and Oriang's relationship

develops and they finally marry after
Oriang’s parents gave their approval.
Then while recruiting additional
katipuneros, Bonifacio finds out that
Teodoro and Nonay Bonifacio are lovers.
On the following day, a mayor named
Emilio Aguinaldo becomes one of the
new recruits of the Katipunan.

In the present, the museum curator

decides to guide the students towards
the truth about Bonifacio to enlighten
them amidst the wrong historical
information in their textbooks.

Back in the past, the Katipunan starts

publishing the newspaper “Ang
Kalayaan” through the printing press of
Diario de Manila. They distribute the
papers to their fellow countrymen to
further expand the organization. A man
named Teodoro Patino goes out of the
printing press and tells his wife, a nun,
about the revolution. Eventually he tells
the gobernadorcillo on what he has
discovered. After hearing this, the
Spanish authorities raids the press
wherein the gobernadorcillo discovers
"Ang Kalayaan". Because of this
discovery, they begin to grow wary of
anti-government activities.

Afterwards, a man who is one of the

people that published the paper is
tortured. Upon seeing the man's dead
body, Bonifacio calls all the Katipuneros
to gather in Tandang Sora's home.
Tandang Sora gives a sword to Bonifacio
for him to use during their fights against
the Spaniards. Later on, Bonifacio
declares the start of the revolution on
April 29,1897. All men tear their Cedulas
and they scream, "Mabuhay ang
Katipunan! Mabuhay ang rebolusyon!
Mabuhay ang Supremo!"
On the day of the revolution, they cross a
river and secretly pull a foot of one of the
Spanish soldiers while the other one is
shot by Bonifacio. In the entrance of one
of the Officials' houses, Bonifacio throws
a torch that is lit up in the trolley loaded
with canisters and shoots it, letting them
get inside the gate. A fight ensues.
Eventually, Bonifacio is able to kill the
Gobernador Heneral by stabbing. After
the battle, the Katipuneros replace the
flag of Spain with the KKK flag.

Aguinaldo’s comrades are concerned

that the revolution might die under
Bonifacio’s leadership. They advise
Aguinaldo to urge Bonifacio to come to
Cavite to reunify the factions of the
Magdiwang and Magdalo and hold an
election for it. Aguinaldo is elected as the
president, while Bonifacio is only elected
as the interior minister. A Magdalo
member named (Daniel Tirona) objects
to his election and insults him, angering
Bonifacio who then challenges Tirona to
a duel. Feeling discriminated, Bonifacio,
as Supremo of the Katipunan, voids the
election results. The newly formed,
Aguinaldo-led revolutionary group is
concerned about the unity of Katipunan
after failing to persuade Bonifacio to join
them. Aguinaldo then orders the capture
of Bonifacio, during which Bonifacio is
stabbed at the neck and suffers a gun
shot at his arm. His brother Ciriaco is
shot dead, while his other brother
Procopio is beaten, and his wife Oriang
possibly raped by Col. Agapito Bonzón.
Suffering from his untreated wounds,
Bonifacio tells his wife Oriang of his
dream of finally achieving his wish of the
country’s independence against Spain.
Later on, Andres Bonifacio and Procopio
Bonifacio are sentenced to death.

Back to the present, the students finally

learn the truth about Bonifacio. Joaquin
decides to share what he has learned
with his classmates: the “true” story of
Bonifacio, the First President of the
Philippines.
At the end of the film, Bonifacio is shown
holding his personal flag aloft while
leading his troops in a charge against
Spanish forces. His personal flag slowly
turns into the present Philippine Flag. In
the post-credits scene, Antonio Luna
does a cameo appearance (This is an
actual part as a preparation for the film
entitled Heneral Luna).

Cast
Robin Padilla as Andres Bonifacio
Vina Morales as Gregoria de Jesus /
Oriang
Eddie Garcia as Museum of Philippine
Political History curator
 Daniel Padilla as Joaquin
Jasmine Curtis-Smith as Andrea
RJ Padilla as Gary

Supporting cast

Jericho Rosales as José Rizal

Isabel Oli as Espiridiona Bonifacio /
Nonay
Joem Bascon as Emilio Jacinto
Rommel Padilla as Padre Mariano
Gomez
Isko Moreno as Padre José Burgos
Dennis Marasigan as Padre Jacinto
Zamora
E.A. Rocha as El Heneral
Fernando Ortigas as Glaring Friar
Ping Medina as Ladislao Diwa
Richard Quan as Teodoro Plata
Junjun Quintana as Procopio Bonifacio
Cholo Barretto as Ciriaco Bonifacio
Miguel Faustmann as Padre Gil
Lou Veloso as Tatang
Bon Vibar as Governor Blanco
Jun Nayra as Emilio Aguinaldo
Crispin Pineda as Moises
Pepe Herrera as Filipino Worker
Mike Gayoso as Lazaro Macapagal
Mon Confiado as Col. Agapito Bonzón
Erlinda Villalobos as Tandang Sora
 Bong Cabrera as Teodoro Patiño

Additional cast

Joshua Lichtenberg as young Andres

Bonifacio
Hector Zaghi as young Padre Gil
Dominic Roque as Bully 1
Patrick Sugui as Bully 2
Ivan Pierre as Bully 3
Jioca Javier as Maxima Bonifacio
David Agonia as Troadio Bonifacio
Richard Manabat as Deodato Arellano
Ernie dela Cruz as Valentin Diaz
Francisco Godoy as Jose Dizon
Ces Aldaba as Nicolás de Jesús
Jeanne Vicars as Baltazara Alvarez
Francisco
Ruth Alferez as Josefa Rizal
Maki Calilung as Trinidad Rizal
Rina Navarro as Marina Dizon
Rick Sanchez as Pio Valenzuela
Myla Angelica Nagal Ajero as Honoria
Patiño
Juliana Ysla as Sor Teresa
Julius Java as Spanish Lieutenant 1
Henry Strzalkowski as Spanish
Lieutenant 2
Jan Urbano as Baldomero Aguinaldo
Lawrence Roxas as Daniel Tirona
Apollo Abraham as Mariano Alvarez
 Jack Love Falcis as Artemio Ricarte
Alireza Libre as Ariston Villanueva
Arkin Villanueva as Edilberto
Evangelista
Alex Laquindanum as Jose Del rosario
Jet Edu as Diego Mojica
Marol Eugenio as Feliz Topacio
An

Production
Philippians Productions is the studio
responsible for the conception of
Bonifacio. Enzo Williams, a Los Angeles
City College graduate was the director for
the film. Williams was aided by
cinematographer Carlo Mendoza,
production designer Roy Lachica,
musical scorer Von de Guzman, and
stunt director Sonny Sison who has
worked for Hollywood. Producers are
Rina Navarro and Eduardo Rocha[3]

According to Williams, he did six months

of research before working on the film.[4]
The film was entirely shot using an Arri
Alexa camera with anamorphic lenses
and a complete Arri Raw post-production
workflow, and was edited using
processes which are also used in major
Hollywood movies such as Gravity and
Iron Man 3. Bonifacio is the first film in
the Philippines to device the
technology.[3][5]
Robin Padilla, who usually does his own
fight choreography entrusted himself to
the production staff's hired
choreographer.[5]

A part of the film was shot at the Las Casas

Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan.

Williams supervised the work of the

location managers to locate a suitable
location for a scene during the shooting
of the film. The production staff resorts
to a building sets if a suitable location for
a certain scene satisfying Williams'
standards can not be found. The fort of
El Polvorin, the Aguinaldo Shrine and the
house of the La Liga Filipina meetings
were among those recreated as sets.[5]
Part of the film was shot in Pagsanjan
where the production staff erected a big
battleground set for a scene.[6] Shootings
also took place at the heritage resort of
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac,
Bataan.[7] The production expenses of
the film exceeded the original budget.[6]
The production budget for the film is
₱100 million excluding expenses for the
promotion of the film.[8]

Regarding on the casting of the Gregoria

de Jesus, Bonifacio's wife also known as
Oriang, in the film, Williams asked star
actor Robin Padilla, who portrayed
Bonifacio for his opinion and suggest
Vina Morales to portray Oriang. Iza
Calzado was originally the one to portray
the role of Oriang, but did not due to
scheduling conflicts.[6]

The film was initially planned to be

released under the title Bonifacio, Gusto
Mo Ba Siyang Makilala? (English:
Bonifacio, Do you Want to Know Him?).[9]

Release
The film opened on December 25, 2014,
but the film did not do well at the box
office. Robin Padilla said that the movie
only earned ₱10 million against its 100
million budget. The film ended its
theatrical run at the 7th place.[2]

International release

The “international version” includes

English subtitles, fresh footage and
additional content featuring lead star
Robin Padilla, who plays Bonifacio first
shown in Barcelona, Spain earlier 2015,
had its US premiere in New York City,
screenings in Los Angeles in December
the same year.[10]

Awards
Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo managed
to win the most awards at the awarding
night of the 40th Metro Manila Film
Festival among the eight entries for the
mainstream category of the film festival
with nine awards including Best Picture.
The awarding ceremony was held at the
PICC Plenary Hall on December 27,
2014.[11][12]
 Recipient(s) and
Year Award-Giving Body Category Result
nominee(s)

Bonifacio: Ang Unang

Best Picture Won
Pangulo

Best Actor Robin Padilla Nominated

Best Actress Vina Morales Nominated

Best Director Enzo Williams Nominated

Best
Carlo Mendoza Won
Cinematographer

Best Sound Engineer Wild Sound Won

Best Musical Score Von de Guzman Won

Metro Manila Film "Hindi Pa Tapos" by

2014
Festival Awards[11][12] Best Theme Song Gloc-9 feat. Denise Won
Barbacena

Gat Puno Antonio

Bonifacio: Ang Unang
Villegas Cultural Won
Pangulo
Award

FPJ Memorial Award Bonifacio: Ang Unang

Won
for Excellence Pangulo

Bonifacio: Ang Unang

Best Float Award Won
Pangulo

Bonifacio: Ang Unang

Youth Choice Award Won
Pangulo

References
1. simply amazing. "BONIFACIO: ANG
UNANG PANGULO" . Pinoy TV Magazine.
Retrieved 27 December 2014.
2. "Repeating Bonifacio's tragedy" . Manila
Times. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
3. Red, Isah (22 December 2014). "Robin
Padilla's serious take on Philippine
history" . Manila Standard Today.
Retrieved 27 December 2014.
4. Policarpio, Allan (23 December 2014).
"MMFF 2014: Bonifacio: Ang Unang
Pangulo" . Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Retrieved 27 December 2014.
5. Salvador, Bubbles (1 December 2014).
"Robin Padilla reveals P90 million budget
for Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo" (in
English and Filipino). Philippine
Entertainment Portal. Retrieved
27 December 2014.
6. Bautista, Jude (15 September 2014).
"Vina and Robin reunite for 'Bonifacio' " .
Retrieved 27 December 2014.
7. Guerrero, Amadís (12 September 2014).
"Bataan: On the set of Bonifacio" . The
Philippine Star. Retrieved 27 December
2014.
8. "Robin Padilla Reveals Production
Budget For "Bonifacio: Ang Unang
Pangulo" " . Philippine News. 2014-12-01.
Retrieved 2015-11-21.
9. Cabacungan, Gil (26 December 2014).
"Robin Padilla film sparks fresh debate on
who was 1st president" . Philippine Daily
Inquirer. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
10. Jr., Bayani San Diego. " 'Bonifacio' is
back" . Philippine Daily Inquirer.
11. " 'Bonifacio,' 'English Only' win big at
40th MMFF" . ABS-CBN News. December
28, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
12. "MMFF 2014 winners revealed;
Jennylyn Mercado and Derek Ramsay win
top acting awards" . Philippine
Entertainment Portal. December 28, 2014.
Retrieved December 28, 2014.

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