Today, 19 August, is Quezon City Day, a holiday in the city, to commemorate the birth anniversary of the country’s second president, Manuel L. Quezon, from whom the city got its name.

In a recent press presentation for new endorsement Maya Black, Jericho Rosales, who plays the titular character in the Manuel L. Quezon biopic, Quezon, recalled his experience playing the president in his later years.

“Yeah, this was a big challenge for me,” Rosales admitted.

Having portrayed the president decades apart in the president’s twilight years made him know Quezon’s different accomplishments for every decade, but at the same time, these entailed different research and acting demands, he said.

“It was just so demanding that, I mean, how can you play someone who's that old, you know what I mean?” Jericho pointed out.

“I was on the chair for eight hours a day and that was really hard to put on that makeup on me.”

Quezon is the third installment of the critically-acclaimed Bayaniverse film series and will play in cinemas starting 15 October.

Rosales urged everyone to continue supporting Filipino films like Quezon as a gesture of respect for everyone who works on the films — from conceptualizing the film to marketing it.

“We have spending power. We just don’t know where to spend it. When we watch a movie, we don’t only get entertained. Ipinapakita rito ‘yung mga pinag-dadaanan ng mga tao (Movies show the triumph of human spirit)… Watching movies is an act of supporting artists in the industry who have been working more than 12 hours a day,” he said.

“If this industry is alive, therefore, there will be more work, more proud of our culture and heritage. It goes beyond cinema… It’s beyond inviting people to watch a movie, para ibalik na ‘yung kultura ng panonood ng pelikula (so we could revive the culture of watching films in theaters).”