1st Scene: Captain Tiago throws a dinner party for Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra to celebrate his return to the

Philippines. During his conversations with the various guests, he learns that his father, Don Rafael,

passed away recently. During the dinner, Father Dámaso rises from his seat and criticizes Ibarra. Ibarra

responds by refraining from insulting the half-drunk friar and leaving the dinner early.

2nd Scene: Ibarra walks with Señor Guevara, a Civil Guard lieutenant, on his way home. According to the

lieutenant, Father Dámaso charged Don Rafael of not going to confession a few months after Ibarra

left. Guevara said, Don Rafael had already perished in prison by the time he was eventually declared

innocent.

3rd Scene: Ibarra decides to construct a school in San Diego, a goal of his father before he died. Ibarra

presents his ideas to the town's religious and civic leaders, making it appear as though he wants them to

be engaged in the school, despite the fact that he intends to ignore their influence once it is completed.

4th Scene: Crispin and Basilio, two poor boys, are studying to be sextons, or church caretakers, in order
to aid their mother, Sisa, financially. Crispin is wrongfully accused of stealing, and he must continuously
work with his brother to pay off the excessive amounts the chief sexton claims Crispin owes the church.
Crispin is taken away and severely beaten when he opposes this injustice one night. Basilio looks for his
brother, fearful for his safety, before fleeing home during a storm and waits with his mother for Crispin
to come. This never happens, and Basilio returns to town the next day. Sisa is terrified and searches for
both of her boys, learning that the Civil Guard has been instructed to arrest them for stealing, despite
the fact that no one can find them. She is imprisoned and then freed, after which she spends the night
searching for her boys, pushing herself into lifelong insanity and poverty as she walks the town and
surrounding wilderness.

5th Scene: Dámaso shows up uninvited for Ibarra's celebratory dinner. The event is attended by all of San

Diego's most well-known individuals. Dámaso openly insults the school and its design while

making snide remarks about indios.  “In this life the fathers of such vipers are punished,” he says. "They

die in jail, eh, eh, or rather, they have no place..." Ibarra gets up and holds Dámaso down, clutching a

knife in his free hand and openly accusing Dámaso of exhuming his father's body. Ibarra claims he will

not murder Dámaso, but his deeds speak for themselves, and as he lifts the knife to bury it in the friar's

body, Mara Clara grabs it from his grip.

6th Scene: Ibarra is excommunicated from the church as a result of the scandalous act. Captain Tiago

demonstrates his spinelessness by canceling Ibarra and Mara Clara's wedding and instead marrying his

daughter to Linares, the nephew of Don Tiburcio, a fraudulent doctor who treats Mara Clara for a

sudden illness that leaves her incapacitated for several days following the incident between Ibarra and

Father Dámaso. Meanwhile, the Captain General pays a visit to San Diego. The friars beg him to punish

Ibarra, but he refuses since his concerns are more civic than religious, and he supports Ibarra's mission

to construct a school. Instead, he pulls strings to get Ibarra's excommunication overturned.

7th Scene: While Ibarra works on his idea, Father Salvi plots with Lucas to frame Ibarra, who secretly

loves Mara Clara and considers Ibarra as heretic. He recruits a gang of rebels with Lucas'  support to

assault the Civil Guard's military barracks, claiming Ibarra is the mastermind. The attack goes as planned

by Salvi and Lucas, and Ibarra is apprehended. He is imprisoned and convicted based on an ambiguous

line in a letter he sent to Mara Clara. Elias comes to his rescue, rescuing him from prison and

transporting him in a boat.

8th Scene: Before they leave town, Ibarra pays a visit to Mara Clara's residence and bids her farewell.

She claims she was blackmailed into handing up his letter, which resulted in his guilty sentence. Father

Dámaso is her true father, according to a guy who approached her. If she didn't give him Ibarra's letter,

the guy threatened to publicize the information. She gave over Ibarra's letter, feeling compelled to

safeguard Captain Tiago's dignity and the memories of her departed mother. Despite this, she assures

Ibarra that she will always love him and that she regrets betraying him.

9th Scene: Ibarra boards Elias' boat after saying his goodbyes to Mara Clara. As the two men row into the

night, they continue a heated conversation about the nature of revolution and reform.  They become

aware that they are being pursued by another boat while they converse. Elas tries to outpace their

pursuers, but shortly knows that they'll catch up with them. He urges Ibarra to row, then jumps from the

boat to distract the people behind them. Before diving, he instructs Ibarra to meet him in the woods

outside San Diego on Christmas Eve, where Ibarra's grandfather is buried with the family fortune. When

Elias jumps into the water, the boat pursues him instead of Ibarra. Elias confuses them by diving deep

into the water and only rising occasionally. Soon, the ones following him didn't see him come back up.
10th Scene: Father Dámaso returns to San Diego to see Maria Clara, who informs him that she is unable

to marry Linares since she does not love him. She refers to a publication that incorrectly reported

Ibarra's death on the lake's shores. She informs the friar that this revelation has left her no reason to

live, and as a result, she is unable to carry out the wedding, opting instead to enter a convent.

11th Scene: On Christmas Eve, Basilio escapes from a hut in the woods where he's been staying with a

kind family since the Civil Guard began hunting for him.  He travels to San Diego in search of his mother,

Sisa. When he finds her, she doesn't recognize him and flees, bringing him back to the woods, where she

approaches Ibarra's grandfather's old grave. Basilio, on the other hand, faints when he finally catches up

to his mother. Sisa eventually recognizes him as her son and showers him with kisses. When Basilio

wakes up, he discovers that she has passed away beside him.

12th Scene: Elias arrives at that very instant. He is injured, and when he notices that Ibarra has not come,

he informs Basilio that he is going to die and urges him to burn his and Sisa's bodies on a bonfire. "I die

without seeing dawn's light shining on my country... You, who will see it, welcome it for me...don't

forget those who fell during the nighttime," he says, looking up at the sky.