DEKADA 70

Dekada 70 is a film about people's lives and events under the administration of former
President Ferdinand Marcos, which featured the first Martial Law declaration. The major subject
of the film is the Bartolome family's struggle at the hands of the Marcos regime during his harsh
tyranny. Julian "Jules" Bartolome, Isagani "Gani" Bartolome, Emmanuel "Em" Bartolome, Jason
Bartolome, and Benjamin "Bingo" Bartolome are Amanda and Julian Bartolome's five (5)
children. When martial law was declared in the Philippines, the lives of the people were
jeopardized. The tough things that the government did to the people during the Marcos period
altered the Filipino people. These unpleasant things and events became a cause of stress for
them. They will gain strength, allowing them to become empowered Filipinos willing to fight for
what is right.
At the same time, because Jules was unaware that his friend was a government agent
looking for people participating in the NPA's anti-government campaign, which led to Jules'
imprisonment, he found himself in a situation none of them had imagined. Jason, the fourth
child, returned home late on Christmas Eve and went out on a date with his fiancée. His mother,
on the other hand, banned him from leaving on Christmas Day. When Jason and Bernadette, his
girlfriend, went on a date, his mother was unaware that he was missing; it was later found that
Jason had been arrested for several months for marijuana-related offenses. He vanished again
after being released from prison, but this time his family learnt that he had been murdered by
three police officers and dumped in a garbage pump.
While Jules was being held captive, the narrative of the second oldest child, who wished
to join the navy, was told. Gani, on the other hand, made a mistake when his girlfriend became
pregnant, resulting in their hasty marriage. Unfortunately, their marriage failed because his wife
needed to repair herself. While his father disagreed with his goals, Emmanuel, the third son, used
his gifts to push for a nonviolent revolution. While both Jules and Emmanuel were imprisoned,
they developed literary material to satisfy their purpose of appealing for liberty. Jules came up
with the idea for the topic, however it was written by Emmanuel.

REFLECTION:
Throughout the film, the plot revolves around a middle-class family struggling against
Marcos' cold-blooded dictatorship. Each character has a distinct identity, point of view, and
political ideas. They also discuss facets of their daily life. However, in the epilogue, each
individual was confronted with the circumstances that gave the Filipino people the confidence to
rebel against the government, launching the People Power Revolution. As a result, I was really
delighted with how the film finished, with Amanda reaffirming her Filipino identity.
I honestly can't imagine my family and I dealing with the same issues as Bartolomes did
in the film's earlier portions. I believe I am incapable of dealing with those circumstances. Under
martial law, the government has a lot of power and frequently exploits it for police purposes.
There are no rights, respect, equality, or human decency. All actions performed by the
government will be codified into laws at some point. It isn't fair to all of us, he says.
During Martial Law, everyone must exercise extraordinary vigilance since unforeseen
events may occur, and your good fortune may change. I instantly realized how fortunate I was
not to have to cope with such problems. But, because I won't be ready when the time comes, I
genuinely hope that what happened during the martial law era would not happen again. As a last
note to the picture, there are bits of Filipino humor from the 1970s that international viewers may
overlook; they effectively indicate that this is a normal, everyday Filipino family struggling to
get through the eye of the political storm.