Not Guilty, Your Honor

a One-Act Play Scene

By Shealtiel Kyze S. Cahilig

Characters:

Gabrielle Cojuangco

Kieran Cojuangco

Judge Lopez

Atty. Mendoza

Jhecel

Clerk

Setting:
Courtroom

Judge Lopez: Do you understand all your rights, Mrs. Cojuangco?

Gabrielle: Yes, your honor

Judge Lopez: Read the complaint

Clerk: For allegedly killing her spouse, Kieran Cojuangco, the accused was charged

with the crime of parricide on September 13, 2020 Information that reads: That on or

about the 13th day of September 2020, in the City of Iloilo, Philippines and within the

jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above name accused, Gabrielle Cojuangco, did,

then and there, willfully, unlawfully, and deliberated to kill her husband, Kieran

Cojuangco, with whom she was united in lawful wedlock, armed with a kitchen knife,
stab said Kieran Cojuangco on the front portion of his body inflicting a fatal wound which

caused his death, which incident happened inside the bedroom of their house.

~Flashback~

(Restaurant)

Jhecel: Gab you're bruised! He's hurting you!

Gabrielle: No, Jes I'm fine.

Jhecel: Do you think I will buy that? You're married to that guy for years and every time

we see each other, you look awful. Why are you doing this to yourself?

Gabrielle: Don't be bothered about it. Just eat.

Jhecel: Look gab you're my friend, and it angers me to know that he's beating you. For

God's sake! You're not a punching bag Gab!

Gabrielle: Please, I don't want to talk about it.

Jhecel: But....

Gabrielle: Shut it Jes. I'm married to the most sought-after bachelors in town and had

been able to be part of one of the most powerful clans in the country. This is what I

want, it was the choice I made and I have to deal with it. 

Jhecel: (look at me worriedly)

Gabrielle: You know what, I'm going home

Jhecel: wait, Gab!

(Leave the restaurant and went home. When Gabrielle arrived, Kier was sitting

while holding a glass of whisky)

Gabrielle: K-kier 
Kier: Where did you go? 

Gabrielle: I w-went out with Jhecel

Kier: Hmm, dress up we're going to a party

Gabrielle: K-kier, 

Kier: (His forehead furrowed) Just change!

(She hurriedly fixed herself inside the bathroom, when she opened the door Kier

slapped her and showed her the pills he found in their room)

Gabrielle: Hon- 

Kier: Your son of a b*tch! Is this why we can't have a child because you secretly

drinking this!? (His jaw clenched and his eyes were intense)

Gabrielle: K-kier, I'm so-rry. I don't want a child y-et (sobbing)

(She tried to stand up but, Kier slapped her again and this time it's harder, her

vision became a blur and she passed out.)

(Few minutes later)

Gabrielle: Kier? Oh God, Kier! W-why am I holding this? W-hat h-happened?.....help!

(cried loudly)

(She reached her phone and dialed someone on her phone)

Jhecel: What?

Gabrielle: Jes, w-hat s-should I do?

Jhecel: Hey, Gab! Calm down! Tell me what’s wrong?

Gabrielle: I….I..

Jhecel: B*tch what the hell! You’re making me so f*ckin worried

Gabrielle: I think…..I think Kier’s d-dead

Jhecel: W-what! What do you mean!?

Gabrielle: I think…I killed him

~End of flashback~

Judge Lopez: How do you plead?

Atty. Mendoza: Not Guilty, Your Honor

Craft Essay
Carlos Bulosan wrote my father goes to court based on folklore in the Philippines
and its underlying social commentary. It was said that this work is a protest against the
economic progress of his time. “My Father Goes to Court” points to the economic status
demarcation between the rich and poor. I had fun reading the story since as a Filipino, I
can relate to it. It depicts the character of Filipino as being resilient and happy,
notwithstanding any circumstances. I love the wit shared in the story and how the author
simply conveyed the story with a profound lesson.
The story is set in a city in the Philippines. The young narrator begins by
describing his large family. Although they are poor, they are full of mischief and
laughter. They are all strong and healthy, even though they often go hungry. However,
the rich man's children are thin and sickly even though they have plenty of good food,
which their neighbors enjoy smelling over the fence. Because of this, the rich man
accuses the narrator’s family that they are stealing the spirit of his family's wealth and
food. Then the case advances to court, while in the court, the father says that he will
pay back the rich neighbor. He does this by collecting coins from people present then,
he shakes the hat full of coins. For being charged to pay for the spirit of wealth and
food, he attests that the jingling of the coins is a fair equivalent. The judge rules the
narrator's father’s favor, and the rich man is forced to depart with no other payment than
the “spirit” of the money the poor man collected.
In my analysis and elucidation, Carlos Bulosan presented and delivered in
thorough use of language such as simple choice of words; clear and detailed manner of
writing. His short stories use simple words, forms, plot, and a simple variety of
sentences. Carlos Bulosan is also accustomed to incorporating representational
language functions in his short stories for them to be more realistic and informative.
Bulosan's linguistic concepts are embodied by simplicity. Flashback and eucatastrophe
are the literary devices used by Carlos Bulosan in the story My Father Goes to Court.
The first literary device used in the story is Flashback. Flashback is shown in this
sentence when the writer of the story inserts a past event to provide background
according to the setting of the current events in a story. In the sentence, it is said that
their family used to live in a small town on the Island of Luzon which provides a
background of the current setting of the story. Another literary device used by Carlos
Bulosan is eucatastrophe. It is shown in the sentence “Father’s farm had been
destroyed in 1910 by one of our sudden Philippine floods, so several years afterward
we all lived in town though he preferred living in the country.” This sentence is
eucatastrophic because it turns a bad situation into a favorable one.
There is also some symbolism present in the story. The narrator's family were
seen as happy, healthy, and cheerful despite their average status in life, I think that this
symbolizes the happiness that we achieve in life. We can attain bliss in life even without
wealth. It shows how important happiness is and that is something that money couldn't
buy. There are also times when we have reached the top, only to lose sight of what is
important. I believe that even with the wealth he has, the rich man was not able to
achieve happiness. The rich man's complaints about other people stealing the spirit of
his wealth and food may symbolize greed, since he was trying to restrain everything,
even the smell, to his family only. This shows just how some rich people in our society
try to take everything for themselves and live life without common goods.
Overall, I believe that this story's theme is an absurdity. We can see how the rich
man blamed the narrator's family because of an illogical reason. I am assuming that
they were laughing at how stupid the whole case was, and how the father resolved it
with an equally absurd yet wise way of solving the whole problem.