Films inspired by floods

It had been a tough couple of weeks for Filipinos, particularly those from Luzon and the Visayas. In all news programs, the features were about floods, floods and even more floods.

I was truly grateful that I am on elevated ground and didn’t have to worry about flooding. But I remembered the late Pilita Corrales who used to live at the other end of the community. She was a pioneer in our place and yet she chose the lowest point in the area — the catch basin.

Her property straddled three streets. One side directly faced a rivulet called Ermitano, which is one of the tributaries of the San Juan River. She used to have a small boat that was used by her household staff whenever they had to run errands during floods.

After “Ondoy” in 2009, Pilita just threw in the towel. She had enough of floods and sold the property to the homeowners’ association. Her former residence is now our clubhouse.

Pilita moved to Jackielou Ville in Paranaque — in one of the still unsold properties of her late husband, Gonzalo Blanco. That was where she breathed her last — on 12 April 2025. She was unhappy there because it was far from her work. Blame those pesky floods that drove her out of her happy place in Quezon City.

Yes — those floods. But flooding is not exactly new to Manila. As early as the Spanish era, Intramuros and Binondo were already getting inundated during the rainy season.

But trust our filmmakers to see flooding as an inspiration for movies. Below are four local films that were based on actual events about flooding in the metropolis and nearby provinces:

28 De Mayo

Boomers will never forget this date: 28 May 1960. Lilibeth Vera-Perez (now Nakpil), whose family owned Sampaguita Pictures, vividly remembers the flooding that day which submerged the Greater Manila Area, today’s Metro Manila.

Heavy rains were being dumped on the city by Typhoon “Lucille” (the weather bureau used the name of American girls then to identify typhoons). Lilibeth was safe at home in their Valencia residence in Quezon City. But it was water world around her.

When she looked out the window of her bedroom on the second floor, the images she saw were like scenes from a disaster movie. First, there was a whole roof made of nipa being carried away by floodwaters.

Next, Lilibeth saw a pregnant woman floating belly up. The poor woman was dead and could no longer be saved.

Not far from the Vera-Perez residence — over at San Juan (then still Rizal) — were the Nebrida sisters. One of them was Baby Nebrida, who later became a FAMAS winner for best screenplay.

Baby’s brother, Vicente “Ting” Nebrida, who was one of the creative minds behind the historical film, Heneral Luna, had this interesting tale to share about his sisters. According to him, the Nebrida girls were just on vacation at a relative’s house in San Juan that time when the 28 de Mayo flood happened. The Nebrida sisters thought that was the end of them.

They prayed fervently to God and vowed to become nuns if they didn’t drown. Although they made it through, no one entered the nunnery. Baby Nebrida though became a rabid Marian devotee and would arrange fluvial processions even in New York.

The New York Times later reported that the 28 de Mayo flooding left 108 dead and 150 missing. That was in 1960 — when the country’s population wasn’t still that big.

After the tragedy that was 28 De Mayo, Lilibeth’s father, the producer Dr. Jose Perez, was inspired to make a movie about the great flood. He gathered Amalia Fuentes, Romeo Vasquez, Rosa Mia, Van de Leon and Bella Flores and cast them in a film called — but what else? — 28 De Mayo. The movie was exhibited at Dalisay Theater from 28 July to 6 August 1960.

Baha Sa Central Luzon

Typhoon “Gloring” (international name: Rita) started forming in the Pacific Ocean in early July of 1972. In a week or so, there was so much rainfall that parts of Greater Manila got submerged in water. The situation was far worse in Pampanga and Tarlac — even in Pangasinan.

In Bulacan, a family friend tried driving through floodwaters, but heard a thud on the passenger side of the car. When he checked, it was a floating coffin that must have come from a nearby cemetery.

In the middle of the typhoon, ABS-CBN was still able to stage the Tawag ng Tanghalan grand finals. The winner was Marsha de Rivera. It was a bittersweet victory for her because her father had died, but couldn’t be buried because of the flood.

On 4 September 1972, the movie Baha sa Central Luzon was released in theaters. It had a subtitle: Gutom, Sakit at Kamatayan. The film was released by Juver Productions and starred the mother and son tandem of Virginia and Robin Aristorenas, who also owned the production outfit.

Ibalik Mo Ang Araw

Sa Mundong Makasalanan

To this day, the flooding of Manila and Central Luzon in 1972 is still widely believed to have been caused by the theft of the Sto. Niño de Tondo on the night of 14 July of that year. The image is made of ivory and had always been decorated with precious stones — very delectable to thieves.

The Sto. Niño was eventually recovered upon the initiative of then President Ferdinand Marcos (his wife, Imelda Marcos, is a Sto. Niño devotee). By the time the Sto. Niño was found, however, the venerated icon from Tondo had been badly mutilated.

The Marcos couple had the image sent to the Taller de Maximo Vicente, the premier “santero” (maker of religious statues) to have it restored to its original form. Was it coincidence that the rain supposedly stopped as soon as the image was recovered?

Half a decade later, Lupita Aquino (now Kashiwahara) was inspired to make a movie based on the theft of the Sto. Niño de Tondo. Although a lot of it may be fiction, Ibalik Mo ang Araw sa Mundong Makasalanan gives an insight as to what might have happened during the time the Tondo image was stolen.

The film implies that the Sto. Nino de Tondo was passed on to an antique dealer from either Malate or Ermita. Supposedly, there was double-crossing and gruesome is this scene showing a woman (I don’t know the name of the actress) being mutilated by a sword — with her arms and legs being torn off her torso. That must have been symbolical of what the robbers did to the Sto. Niño de Tondo image.

Ibalik Mo ang Araw starred Gloria Diaz, Zaldy Zshornack and George Estregan. The esteemed Marina Feleo Gonzalez wrote the screenplay.

Pushcart Tales

This 2024 film by Sigrid Bernardo is about a group of people trapped inside a grocery at the height of a typhoon. It stars Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Centenera and Carlos Siguion-Reyna.

Although the movie doesn’t say it was inspired by “Ondoy,” wasn’t there this urban legend about the staff of a supermarket getting locked inside the store at the height of the 2009 great flood?

Pushcart Tales is a well-made film and has, in fact, reaped honors in film festivals abroad. It is also in the running in this year’s awards races.