Summary of Dekada 70

Bartolome family has their blissful and normal life before entering the 70’s. The head of the
family, Julian Bartolome together with his wifeAmanda, give their children, who are all boys, their right
to express themselves. It just shows how they love their sons. The family belongs to the middle-class,
Amanda is the only woman, and they have five sons. However, they lives have changed when the new
president have declared the martial law. Amanda and Julian have their own dilemmas while at it. They
usually fight because Amanda, as a woman, wanted to achieve other things rather than being just a
housewife, while Julian just want her to become the latter. She is torn between the laws back then and
her responsibilities as being the mother and wife. Due to this upbringing front (martial law), Jules, the
eldest son began to be exposed in such rebellious acts. He first hid it from his family, but still, they have
found out what he has been doing because of the unruly papers Amanda saw. Jules’ decision on joining
the NPA is approved by his parents, however, they still fear of losing him. Jules and his younger brother
(and the third son), Emmanuel, are partners in fighting the government because Emmanuel writes what
Jules dictates. The second son, Isagani became a member of the navy. Jules fought over Isagani being
one of the US Navy since he obviously doesn’t like it; Jules is a nationalistic person. However, Gani still
managed to become one. But before that, he made his mistake of getting his girlfriend pregnant and
suddenly became married. Yet, their marriage did not work because his wife has something to
accomplish with her life. The fourth son is Jason, Julian’s favorite. Jason is a typical teenager and enjoys
life too much. He is a happy-go-lucky child. He brings cheers to the family especially when struggles
come. But Jason died, not by his witty acts, but because the police killed him, unjustified. And the fifth
son is Benjamin. He is merely in the middle of his teenage years back then and still doesn’t have a broad
understanding about what is happening around him.