Fight for Us 1989

In 1985, in the obscure town of Santa Filomena, the Orapronobis, a brutal cult led by Kumander Kontra Bembol Roco, murders a foreign priest who had given the last rites to a supposed rebel who was executed by the same group. Following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, political detainees, led by Jimmy Cordero Phillip Salvador, celebrate the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. All political prisoners are released, including Jimmy, an ex-priest-turned-underground revolutionary. Not long after, Jimmy marries a human rights activist, Trixie Dina Bonnevie. Jimmy becomes a steadfast advocate of human rights, and despite Trixie’s protests, her brother Roland and Jimmy head out on a fact-finding mission to Santa Filomena to investigate the latest crimes committed by the Orapronobis.

Jimmy reconnects with Esper Gina Alajar, his ex-girlfriend, and learns that he has a son with her, Camilo. They agree to keep Jimmy’s true identity a secret from the boy. As the army, enemies within the system, and their brutal collaborators push the violence to new levels, the Orapronobis escalate their terror. Jimmy’s group helps evacuate the townspeople first to the town church, and then, when danger closes in, to Manila. Back in the capital, Jimmy declines a friend’s invitation to rejoin the underground movement, choosing instead to work through legal and peaceful channels when possible.

The danger intensifies as Jimmy and Roland are ambushed; Jimmy survives, but Roland does not. A period of recovery follows, and shortly after that, Trixie gives birth to their child. A raid on the refugee center by soldiers—led by a masked man who identifies several villagers as rebels—sparks a wave of anger and protests from the refugees and human rights activists who confront the government. Esper and her son are abducted by the Orapronobis, who accuse Esper of aiding the rebels. She is raped and beaten by Kumander Kontra in front of Camilo. Fighting back, she shoots at Kontra. In a fit of rage, Kontra goes on a shooting rampage, killing Esper, Camilo, and several captured barrio men.

The aftermath leaves Jimmy at a crossroads of grief and duty, weeping over Esper’s and his son’s bodies, while the town and its people reckon with the harsh cost of conflict. The film closes with Jimmy reaching out to an old colleague from the underground, underscoring the ongoing struggle for justice in a country scarred by violence and political upheaval.