GomBurZa

Dante Rivero, Cedrick Juan, Enchong Dee

Piolo Pascual, Jaime Fabregas, Elijah Canlas

Cinema 1, The Red Carpet
Shangri-la Plaza Mall

It's 2024! A new year so time to revive this blog. So much has happened in my personal life these past three years but let's just go back to reviewing movies.

This Filipino film directed by Pepe Diokno delves into an important event in our rich history. When the Philippines was still under Spanish rule, a royal decree drove a wedge between the regular and secular priests. Those that belonged to religious orders such as the Dominicans, the Recollects, Franciscans and the Agustinians were the regular while the secular priests (who did not belong to any order) were primarily trained to run the local parishes and were under the jurisdiction of the bishops.

The royal decree provided for the secularization of all parishes or the transfer of parochial duties from the regular priests to the secular priests. Since there were not enough seculars to fill up the positions, the Archbishop approved the ordination of Filipino secular priests. 

Monsignor Pedro Pelaez (Piolo Pascual) was a vocal supporter of the secularization of Filipino priests. Fr. Jose Burgos (Cedrick Juan) took an active role in the movement when Fr. Pelaez died in an earthquake. Under the wise tutelage of Fr. Mariano Gomes (Dante Rivero), along with other secular priests, the movement was strongly opposed by the regulars, mostly Spanish friars who believed it would lessen their dominance and influence in society.

In high school, history books exemplify the trio GomBurza (Fathers Gomes, Burgos and Zamora) as martyrs, and rightfully so. Their execution (by garrote) by the Spanish authorities awakened the Filipino people to demand and obtain freedom from Spain. The event shaped our nationalism and paved the way for the Philippine revolution.

Years later, I am now married to a history professor and as I am quite an inquisitive soul, I would ask him about personalities, events about our history. He willingly obliges and regales me with 'behind the scenes' narratives. So I am fully aware of all the circumstances behind the secularization movement, the background of these three priests, the symbolism of their execution.

That is why of all the films shown at the recently concluded Metro Manila Film Festival, "GomburZa" was my only choice to watch at the movie theater. To avoid the crowd, I chose to see it mid January as the film festival was on its last run. Lo and behold, there were only two of us in the cinema. And nope, the other person was not my history professor hubby (he was at work), just some random cinema goer.

Pepe Diokno's direction of the talented cast was precise. His visual story telling in dark, almost sepia tones added so much weight to the melancholic vibe of the story. My favorite scene in the movie is the execution sequence. Howling winds, hushed crowd, the garrote as the center piece, the three priests agonized facial expressions as they waited for their turn to be put to death. Set and costume design was scenic and appropriate. Dialogue, sometimes sounded theatrical yet still managed to depict the era. 

Did the movie do justice to the important roles "GomBurZa" played in our history? Yes and No. 

I say no, because I felt the script could have added more anti-Spain sentiments, more atrocities/anomalies which the Catholic Church committed towards the Filipinos, not just the local clergy but the entire nation. I expected more 'fire in the belly' moments. Perhaps they did not want the film to have religious and political undertones or they did not want to antagonize the current Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines. Thus justifying this strange scene (after the execution) of a Spanish friar lamenting that history won't be kind to them, that they will be blamed for the execution when it was Spain that gave the order for the capital punishment of the three priests. 

The fact remains that the storied lives of these valiant martyrs Fathers Gomes, Burgos and Zamora deserve to be told, and is still very significant today, now more than ever.