Our lesser-known heroes are getting the spotlight they richly deserve. In the Bayani-verse of Jerrold Tarog, we became witnesses to the fire and brimstone that was Heneral Luna; the ‘I am a lover, not a fighter persona’ of the hero in Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral; and the colorful and wicked life of Quezon (Manuel).

In Tarog’s movies, the characters played by John Arcilla, Paulo Avelino and Jericho Rosales were not as textbook demigods but as anguished, bewildered and flawed men driven by ambition, consumed by desire and passion and that unwavering love for their countrymen and the Motherland.

Now, Printstar Film Productions, an independent company, bankrolls and brings to life Liwanag at Dilim (Heneral Emilio Jacinto), a motion picture about the life of the young man known as the “Utak ng Katipunan” with Gerald Santos playing the lead.

Facts

Aside from being the brains of the Andres Bonifacio-led Katipunan, Jacinto was author of the Kartilya ng Katipunan, founder and editor of Kalayaan, the Katipunan newspaper, and an essayist whose written works are compiled in a book whose title serves as the movie’s title.

Prominent Filipino public historian, academic and television personality Michael Charlston “Xiao” Chua, who read the script written by Antonino Rommel Ramilo, also the film’s director, said: “It is a powerful script. It tells what little we know about Jacinto artistically and interprets what we do not know beautifully. The script captures what he stood for and what he loved. It is entertaining.”

Director’s thoughts

Bringing Emilio Jacinto’s life on screen are its writer, director and one of the producers, Rommel Ramilo; director of photography Gilbert Obispo and production designer Jimmy Tablizo.

Gerald Santos is Jacinto. Alexa Miro is Catalina de Jesus, Jacinto’s wife. Sid Lucero is Andres Bonifacio. Alden Richards is Jose Rizal. Aicelle Santos-Sembrano is Gregoria de Jesus and Aljur Abrenica is Heneral Miguel Malvar.

“It was the documentary film about Emilio Jacinto, produced by the National Historical Commission Philippines in 2014, that made me see the potential of making his life into a full-length film,” said director Ramilo. “I know that his life is an excellent subject matter for a movie. He is a compelling and under-represented historical figure whose life deserves to be a movie.”

“This coming-of-age war drama is a challenging undertaking,” said Ramilo. “We are taking this challenge, head-on and hearts-on. With Liwanag at Dilim, I promise the audiences that they will see the intellectual brilliance, military action, drama, feels and the tragedy that happened to Emilio Jacinto.”

Being Emilio

“Jacinto was the intellectual powerhouse of the revolution, that reality alone poses a great challenge, I will not deny that I am daunted,” said international theater actor Gerald Santos. “From his young age of 19 up to 22, he wrote the Kartilya ng Katipunan, edited and published their newspaper Kalayaan, compiled his essays in a book which serves as this movie’s title. I know portraying and giving life to him is not easy.”

His preparations for the role, Santos said: “I did a lot of research, read available materials about him. I even found some of his descendants, met and talked with them. What I promise as an actor is to give him the truth and sincerity he deserves.

“Jacinto’s life was proof that youth is not wasted on the young,” Santos said. “He was in his late teens when he became part of the Katipunan. To say that he is highly intellectual is an understatement. The fact that he wrote the guidebook of the Katipunan is a testament to his superior intelligence. He was emotionally intelligent as well because he was able to gain the full trust of the supremo, Gat Andres. He achieved massive historical impact before he died when he was 23.”

Santos said in conclusion, “We are humanizing the prodigy of Bonifacio that was Jacinto. His brotherhood with the Supremo provides the movie with a great emotional core. We will also see how he is as a young man who fell in love and how much he loves his country.”