The family members of the Bartolomes:
The reason why they have so many sons is because Amanda tried for a long time to birth a daughter, but later gave up after she gave birth to Bingo and got ligated.
Julian was born to an aristocratic and pure Spanish heritage. He believed that women are only there to serve their husbands, and they shouldn’t know anything about business or politics. He is technically “a good husband” but he does a poor job as being a fulfilling partner for Amanda.
Amanda was born into a middle class family. She didn’t get an education because it was believed that only men should go to school.
The chapter discusses what was expected of women back then, for example thoughts of nudity and sex.
Amanda thought of working in advertising because Julian’s friend, Daniel, encouraged her to. Since she talked to his friend, Julian became furious and denied her from ever getting a job.
The leader of the Kabataang Makabayan (Nilo Tayag) was arrested. This chapter happened around the time of revolutionary movements: the Kabataang Makabayan, SDK, Makibaka, deaths in Mendiola, and the first quarter storm. “Promoting the democratic struggle”, “Fight”, “Overthrow Chinese Imperialism” were some of the writings and graffiti seen on the streets.
In 1971, the writ of habeas corpus was suspended.
During his birthday, Jules asks for a guitar. At first, he plays popular love songs, then he starts to sing songs about revolution. He also brings his revolutionary friend, Willy, home. Julian forbade them from singing because they could get hurt, starting a debate with Willy.
A week before Martial Law started, raids began, drug pushers were killed, bold shows were shut down, Free Press, Leader and Manila Times were closed, school papers and student council were also suspended. To quiet the growing rebellion, a housing agency was set up, newspapers and films were censored, the streets and graffiti was cleaned, and the revolt of the people was cleared and resolved. The students fell silent and Willy disappeared.
In March 1973, Gani received his diploma in an unceremonious way and sought to join the US Navy.
In December 1973, it was revealed to Amanda that Evelyn was already four months pregnant. She had been carrying the child since she and Gani first met. Because of this, the two had to be married even if they kept having fights.
Aside from this, three weeks before Christmas, Em was invited to join an educational seminar for leadership training in Baguio that was sponsored by the Kagawaran sa Edukasyon at Kultura. Em’s school trip would possibly prevent him from coming home on time for Gani’s wedding.
Bingo shows her the kite he made from one of Jules’ subversive newspapers and reveals that Jules has been supporting the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Jules suddenly cries and mourns for the death of Willy, who was killed by the military and NPA.
Amanda is busy with taking care of her kids– fixing Em’s things, Gani’s wedding, gifts for Jason and Bingo’s Christmas parties, and bringing Jules to Willy’s funeral after he was supposedly killed in an armed encounter.
Amanda started to worry about the PC (Philippine Constabulary) branding Jules as a NPA member and him possibly joining the armed struggle as well.
Continuing from the end of the last chapter, Amanda and Jules got into a fight. Amanda was frustrated from handling all the family problems by herself. She demands Julian talk to Jules, which makes Julian shout at her for talking back to him and storms out the room.
Gani and Evelyn have their wedding which was mostly uneventful. The guests kept whispering about Evelyn’s pregnancy.
Em also came home from his school trip to Baguio and talked about what he learned about in the seminar with Julian.
Jules packed his things to go to an armed struggle in Bicol. Amanda slapped him for not directly explaining to her why he was leaving.
Jules indirectly apologized (through Em) and left to a place where there was strong resistance against the Martial Law to live there. The next morning, the family discussed his departure, which Em said was an internal struggle for Jules.
Amanda was scared because she knew how dangerous Jules' future was and feared he would meet the same fate as Willy. She went to Jules' room and reminisced about the argument she and Jules had about the US military bases in the Philippines.
Julian and Amanda talked about Jules' condition, both worried about their son. Julian admitted that he didn't understand Jules but that he believed that "Every man should have something he'd die for."
Evelyn gave birth to her child, Anna Lissa. During the pregnancy, Amanda saw how much Gani cared and fussed over his wife, making Amanda silently jealous that Julian didn’t show her the same level of love. Because of Anna Lissa’s birth, Gani hesitated on joining the US Navy but Evelyn persuaded him to still apply.
A letter arrived from Jules for Gani and Evelyn that reads, “Your children are not your children, they are sons and daughters of life! They have passed through you but not yours, and although you raised them, they are not responsible for you…” (which is an excerpt from one of Kahil Gibran’s poems).
Amanda’s heart grew resentful because of what Jules wrote, thinking that he is denying her as his mother, and stops allocating money for Jules.
In October, Jules finally returned home. He now looked like a stranger who didn’t look like the “burgis” kid who came from a privileged family. He is now 21 years old and has clearly seen some things during his time away. However, Jules usually spends time away, preoccupied by discussions and “work”. He does often bring home his “friends” and asks if they could stay with them for a while. Among the people Jules brought home, Amanda liked Domeng the most because he helped in the house and took care of Bingo.
Towards the New Year, Bingo discusses communism with Amanda and how he questions Mao’s communist government.
Julian tried to convince Jules once more that the Philippines had the best democratic society, not just to dissuade him but also to protect his other sons from Jules’ communist influence.
Gani left to go to San Diego to train in the US Navy. Shortly after, Evelyn planned to get a job and leave Anna Lissa with her own parents.
Julian called Amanda to come into bed with him, but she pretended not to understand what he met so that he would say it directly. Silently, Amanda held resentment because she didn’t enjoy doing such things with him; yet whenever he asks, she has to obey him. By the time she finally came to him, he was already out of the mood.
Em had started to be more drawn to Jules’ ideas and line of thinking as he aspired to become a writer.
After Jules disappeared for almost a week, Amanda suddenly got an “urgent” letter to meet him outside the house because the phones were bugged (aka the government was listening in on phone calls). They met in a restaurant and Jules talked about what happened in the movement. He told her that he met a girl named Mara, that Domeng was an infiltrator who worked for the PC, and that the government may come to search their house. They needed to destroy any evidence of Jules and claim that they haven’t seen him in a long time to protect the family.
Jules left home again. Afterwards, the family quickly burns all his things, including photos of him (except for the baby photos that Julian kept of him).
Amanda is still angry about Domeng’s betrayal, but Julian believes that every man should fight for their own principles.
The Bartolome family went back to being (mostly) normal again. Even if Amanda covered up Evelyn's reluctance to go to the US, the truth came out.
Amanda visited Evelyn with gifts for Anna Lissa to have an opportunity to talk to Evelyn one-on-one. It is revealed to Amanda that Evelyn and Gani broke up with each other because their feelings changed for one another.
Julian and Amanda talked about the reasons why a couple would want to break up.
Em was eighteen when his writing talent emerged, however Julian opposes his dreams of becoming a writer because “people don’t earn money from writing”. This chapter debates about the belief that workers aren’t important. It also touches on the mistakes Marcos Sr. made during his term like the Relocation, Chico Dam Project, Nuclear Plant built on unstable ground, and the growth of debt caused by his excessive spending. These eventually motivated revolutionaries like the Rebolusyonaryong MNLF to rise up.
The chapter begins with a confrontation as Jason and Em begin to argue. Jason, known for his rebellious nature, refuses to back down and responds sarcastically to his father's attempts at discipline. The argument shifts to Jason's academic performance, with Julian criticizing his poor grades and emphasizing the importance of education. However, Jason dismisses his father's concerns with humorous and provocative language.
After Bingo's doves fled, Amanda comforted Bingo and said, "No matter how far they go, they always come home." This saying was also compared to Jules’ situation and how Amanda also thought about if he would come home.
Bingo's birthday arrived and they threw a celebration. Amanda waited for Jules to arrive at the party because he never missed Bingo’s birthdays. However, after the celebration ended, Jules hadn't shown up.
While cleaning everything up, Amanda thought about how much food was wasted and she thought about those living in poverty. Her thoughts also led her to remember Gani and worried that Jules and Gani may clash because of their different views.
After waiting for Jules since the party ended and the night settled, Amanda gave up on waiting for him to come home.
Amanda starts thinking about the state of her and Julian’s relationship. They barely talked with each other about anything, leaving her clueless on the work he actually does. Eventually, she mustered up the courage to visit Julian in the library. She expressed how time flies so quickly and how old they have both gotten. Julian consoled her by telling her how proud he is of her in raising their children.
Jules brought home his friend, Rene, who was shot during an encounter. Jules pleaded with his mom to let Rene stay and recover at their house because they couldn’t risk bringing his friend to a hospital because the police would capture Rene there.
Rene was wounded when his group returned fire at soldiers during a military operation. After the battle, he had the bullet taken out by a doctor friend. Unfortunately, he could not stay in one place, so he moved from house to house until he was out of the province.
The family discussed Rene's situation over the dinner table. Jules explained that they were supposed to evacuate to a safehouse. However, due to security problems, Jules took Rene home. After much discussion, the family agreed to take Rene in for a week.
Rene told Amanda stories of the problems in various parts of the Philippines, like the struggles of the mining industry with poor working conditions and the sugarcane workers shipped from Antique to Negros. He also told her of the Filipinos' revolutionary efforts. In one of his stories, he told them that in Quezon City, women and children laid their bodies on the streets to block bulldozers in protest. He also told her of the march done by workers, students, squatters, and churches during Labor Day of 1975.
Julian was able to talk, ask questions, and listen to Rene about the history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. They became close, so much so that Julian himself opposed Rene's departure until he was fully healed. This caused Rene to stay with the Bartolome family for one month.
Jules came back home again after bringing Rene back to the province — with a pregnant woman.
Jules brought Mara home to spend Christmas with them. Jules had reunited with Mara (after being seperated by different areas of work in the revolution) by chance when they saw each other in the safehouse, so he decided to bring her home with him.
Julian opened with a conversation about how women and men perceive love and marriage, which ended with Amanda telling her husband that his perception of how women view love doesn't apply to all women.
Mara talked to Amanda about how her own parents didn't support her involvement in the movement. Her mother guilt-trippped her for losing her job, whereas her father started to see her way. She also told her of how she met Jules when his group lent her group aid during the strike. They had also married in the movement.
After some time, Mara gave birth to Rev, but Jules wasn't able to be with her and his son yet. Amanda questioned his behavior as a father, which made him explain that althougth he wanted to be there for Mara's pregnancy, he was focused on the revolution to build a better world for the next generation.
The Philippine economy remained dependent on US multinational corporations. Landlords had taken agricultural land and less people were able to land jobs, resulting in poverty becoming more prominent. Filipinos fought for the change in Philippine society, freedom from American corporations, and pulling out of American bases. This civil and political unrest was used to support the implementation of martial law which was labeled as the “US-Marcos dictatorship.”
More taxes for foreign investments were signed, nationalization of industries were denied, contractualization of workers were implemented, forming new unions became illegal, strikes in vital industries were banned, and homes of informal settlers or “squatters” were demolished. The Philippines’ foreign debt also ballooned because of the amount of money Marcos borrowed from the World Bank.
On Labor Day ‘75, “Bukluran ng Manggagagawang Pilipino” was formed. Additionally, the workers of La Tondena Corporation (currently known as “San Miguel”) staged a strike to demand security of tenure. La Tondena was not considered a vital industry at the time, so the government was not legally allowed to stop its strike. This made Marcos implement Presidential Decree 823 which made strikes from all industries illegal. However, this only motivated people to push harder, which made him repeal PD 823 and partially lift the strike ban, yet people continued to oppose it.
Project Kapitbahayan and later project BLISS was made to fix the problem of lack of housing for squatters, but it remained out of reach for the poor.
The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and New People’s Army (NPA) worked to fight against military troops. In this era, everyone who acts against the Philippine government or does not agree with them is hunted down, arrested, tortured, or killed.
The PC came to inspect the Bartolome family’s house. They asked if they knew where Jules was and revealed that he was a P.O. (political officer), whose name was revealed by Danilo Bagawisan (aka Rene).
On the election day of 1978, LABAN (Laban ng Bayan) opposed the KBL (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan). The streets were filled with LABAN supporters who rallied and opposed the Martial Law.
Jules had been captured by the PC and taken to Kampo Crame on the night of June 12. Throughout the entire night, he was tortured with beatings and extremely cold temperatures while he was naked to strip him of his dignity and force him to confess to their interrogations. Rene confessed to the PC about Jules after he was also tortured himself. Fortunately, Jules had not given up any important names during the interrogation.
The Bartolome family was able to visit Jules in secret despite it being against the law. Mara was unable to visit but she still kept in touch with Amanda through letters.
After Em finished his schooling, he started working in the advertising business and he saw how the companies exploited marketing tactics to sell their products. Hearing this, Amanda considered the notion that perhaps a revolution is needed in the Philippines.
Jason had started going to college, however his habits in “pasang awa” prevented him from doing well in school. He had started distancing himself from the family and leaving home for long periods of time.
During Christmas time, Amanda had insisted they spend Christmas in Bicutan to celebrate with Jules. However, Jason had plans to spend Christmas in his girlfriend’s house to meet her parents.
One of Jason’s friends called Amanda in the middle of the night to ask if she had seen Jason. It turns out that Jason was arrested for having marijuana. Amanda and Julian immediately drove around to all the precincts they could find. Eventually, one of the police stations that arrested Jason told the couple he had already been released. Knowing this, they immediately rushed home to look for him. Unfortunately, they still had not found him, causing Amanda to start breaking down.
It turned out that Em had also left to try to also find Jason. When Em got home, he approached his dad and talked to him privately in the library with the door locked. After their conversation, Em broke the news to Amanda that Jason was killed. He found his dead body had been salvaged. Jules and Gani came to their brother’s funeral, and the family was reunited in mourning.
Amanda and Julian asked for Jason’s case to be reviewed. However, after the police conducted a short investigation, the case was left abandoned. Every night, Amanda cried and blamed herself for not giving Jason enough attention. Julian started drinking to cope and focused on his other children to cope with his grief. Fortunately, Mara and Evelyn were able to show Amanda their support. Mara sent Amanda a letter and Evelyn visited her.
With another matter, Jules had participated in a hunger strike, during which no visitors were not allowed to enter. By the time the hunger strike ended, Jules had become barely skin and bones.
Amanda had a moment of self reflection. She had not thought of any aspirations for herself after becoming a wife and mother. Now that she is 50, she is often alone in the house. Her thoughts drive her to wanting to get away from Julian in hopes of seeking another life without him.
Julian and Amanda had an argument about Jules and Mara’s relationship. Julain ridiculed them for being separated. When Amanda retorted back by saying a couple would want to talk about their feelings, he challenged her by talking about her own feelings. That was when Amanda confessed that she wanted to divorce him. Julian started shouting at her to confess all her inner thoughts, causing her to leave to pack her things.
As Amanda packed her things, she prepared a plan in her head on how she would leave the house, tell the kids, and start from scratch. Julian came into her room as she was packing. Julian had said that she lost her love for him, while Amanda told him that she was just considering her self image. Their conversation led to them talking and contemplating on multiple topics surrounding the events of their family and marriage: Amanda handing over his slippers, the revolution, their lovelife, and the lives of all their children. This was able to dissuade Amanda from leaving.
Amanda was able to accept and rationalize Julian’s past actions of womanizing during the course of her relationship.
Gani wrote to his parents that he was able to remarry with a woman named Jean. Because Julian was about to retire in a few years, Gani urged his family to join him in the US. Amanda told him to talk about it after Jules was released.
After 2 years since Jules was detained, Colonel Banal was able to get promoted, so he freed Jules. After Jules was freed, he went back to his cause in the revolution.
The chapter then recounts the events after the Martial Law was lifted on January 17, 1981. Journalists and writers broke free and worked to expose the crimes against humanity in the Philippines during Marcos’ reign.
Em became a playwright to create theater plays about martial law and joined a fact-finding committee of a human rights organization. He cared deeply about the people he found as he researched the cases of those who were abused by the military because of being suspected to act against the government. One night, he brought a man home who was involved during a shooting incident when they were unable to go to the hospital.
Gani’s second wife, Jean, had given birth.
Em brought home Marela, a young 8 year old girl who survived a massacre in Samar. Amanda wanted to adopt her, but her trauma went deeper than she thought and they could not understand each other’s dialects.
Now, towards the end of the story, Amanda and Julian found themselves becoming silent participants towards the struggle against corruption.
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