Heneral Antonio Luna

A true Filipino will fight for his Inang Bayan rather than be used by a colonizer for

money and power. Heneral Luna’s life was forcefully ripped out of him because of his beliefs,

many were against it and wanted to take him down. Even though our hero is gone, his story and

beliefs will always be remembered and remain among us.

I have always heard how Heneral Antonio Luna was a harsh general and he makes his

own set of rules and standards. As I was watching, I laugh everytime he curses and strike a

soldier. He shows that he is a tough leader and he needs his soldiers to always be disciplined and

prepared for the Americans. Though he is different, he still has a vision for our Inang Bayan to

be free from the chains of colonization. I have never expected that a fellow Filipino will betray

Luna because of business and prioritizing oneself before freedom and Inang Bayan. If the

betrayal didn’t happen, I think that Pres. Aguinaldo and his cabinet would be able to use Heneral

Luna against the Americans because the latter are scared and threatened by the courage,

aggressiveness and fierceness of Luna. I was inspired by Luna’s statement in the movie: “Ang

totoong Anak ng Kalayaan ay hindi pinapagapos tulad ng aso” because people who are against

Luna prefer to be governed by the Americans due to their self-interest. In my opinion, it

symbolizes that we are not yet ready to lead our own nation by our own hands and that the true

enemy of the Filipinos are themselves because they kill each other by their own beliefs. For me,

it was disheartening to see that Luna was butchered to death by our fellow countrymen due to

them following orders or they seek revenge on him because they feel humiliated and belittled. It

was also disappointing that Pres. Aguinaldo and his men lied about them having no intentions of

killing Luna, they put up a façade which back-fired because Aguinaldo was captured by the
Americans and made Filipinos surrender to the Americans. In my opinion, this was all planned

because the offer of Americans to the government was promising.

In conclusion, this movie is an eye opener to all Filipinos that we must give importance

to our Inang Bayan and honor our heroes such as Luna for the battles they have fought and

sacrificed for this country. Let this be an example to the youth that Luna’s beliefs should be used

as a basis for fighting one’s country. Though his methods were unorthodox, it still results into a

good change because his intentions were clear unlike Aguinaldo and his men.