Synergy Between Mendoza’s Narrative and LGBTQ+ Legal rights

There was no infamous love affair between Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and another man in his youth, unlike the two women lead characters in the film Until She Remembers, directed by Cannes Films’ winner Brillante Mendoza.

Looks like the sapphic film motivated the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) to recognize specific property rights for same-sex partners.

On 5 February 2026 (publicly released around 10 February), the SC issued a landmark ruling recognizing specific property rights for same-sex partners, confirming they can be co-owners of property acquired during their cohabitation.

While this ruling does not legalize same-sex marriage or create a civil union framework, it provides significant legal protection for the assets of same-sex couples, often referred to as a step toward making their relationships less “legally invisible.”

The decision stemmed from a property dispute involving two women who lived together as a couple and jointly acquired a house and lot.

The Court applied Article 148 of the Family Code, which governs the property relations of couples living together, but who cannot legally marry. It affirmed that same-sex couples can be recognized as co-owners of property if they can provide proof of actual contribution (financial, property, or industry) to the acquisition of that property. The High Court reversed decisions by the Court of Appeals and a regional trial court that had previously failed to recognize the petitioner’s co-ownership.

Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen stated that a same-sex relationship is a “normal relationship” and must be covered by Article 148, stating: “Otherwise, we render legally invisible some forms of legitimate intimate relationships.”

The ruling explicitly clarified that this is not a legalization of same-sex marriage, as the Philippine Family Code defines marriage solely as between a man and a woman. Unlike married couples (covered under Article 147), same-sex couples must provide proof of actual contribution to prove co-ownership under Article 148.

Meanwhile, the country’s Supreme Court stressed that the responsibility for granting broader rights to same-sex couples lies with Congress and other government branches, noting that courts cannot resolve all policy concerns surrounding LGBTQ+ rights.

This decision marks a major advancement for LGBTQ+ civil rights in the Philippines, providing legal recourse for property disputes within same-sex relationships.

In the film, the suspected sapphic lovers would recite haunting Neruda poems over the phone to each other. And by the time Neruda won the Nobel from the Swiss Academy, he was actually all of 75 years old, having been born in Chile in 1904. By 1911, the poet was already famous as Neruda and not by his Chilean poet-diplomat name Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto.

Neruda actually became known as a poet when he was just 13 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924).

Well, at 13 Neruda is often considered the national poet of Chile, and his works have been popular and influential worldwide. The Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language”, and the critic Harold Bloom included Neruda as one of the writers central to the Western tradition in his book The Western Canon.

Neruda was 67 years old when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Born on 12 July, 1904, he received the prestigious award for his poetry, which was recognized for “bringing a continent’s destiny and dreams to life.”

Quite a number of still active media practitioners these days were already around by 1911. They are likely among those reciting heart-ache filled lonely poems to their lovers of whatever gender. Would anyone of them tell the truth now about their “queer” affairs”

Highly respected celluloid queens Anson-Roa and Santos very warmly warned filmmaker Mendoza sometime before the camera grounded for “Until She Remembers” that their playing lovers to each other is just a dream role, not a desired status in life.

Neruda was a renowned Chilean poet diplomat at age 13. He had to use a pen name as early as that age because his father, who was also in diplomacy) felt less about his (the son’s) being a poet than being a diplomat. Besides, not all diplomats can write as movingly as Pablo Neruda. And yet yet they are lines that can fascinate both men and women at the same time, meaning regardless of gender. So how much of their sapphic characters do Santos and Anson-Roa reveal?

How does a classic sapphic poem sound like? Here’ a sample of few lines from a poem of Sappho as translated by Julia Dunboff:

“Immortal Aphrodite, on your intricately brocaded throne,

“Child of Zeus, weaver of wiles, this I pray:

“Dear Lady, don’t crush my heart

“with pains and sorrows.

“But come here, if ever before,

“when you heard my far-off cry,

“you listened. And you came,

“leaving your father’s house,

“yoking your chariot of gold.

“Then beautiful swift sparrows led you over the black earth from the sky through the middle,

“air, whirling their wings into a blur.

“Rapidly they came. And you, O blessed Goddess, a smile on your immortal face,

“asked what had happened this time, why did I call again, and what did I especially desire for myself in my frenzied heart:

“Who this time am I to persuade to your love? Sappho, who is doing you wrong?”

Do you find anything offensive? People have been wondering how much sapphic scenes Mendoza’s upcoming film would dare have without possibly ruining the lead actresses’ unblemished reputation in the industry? And how many sapphic scenes can the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board tolerate and approve?