Padamlágan (Nightlight), one of the full-length feature films to be screened in this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, revolves around a tragedy that feels startlingly relevant today: infrastructure collapse.
The drama — which marks Eraserheads frontman Ely Buendia’s first lead role and filmmaker Jenn Romano’s directorial debut — depicts the Colgante Bridge tragedy in Naga River, where 138 people lost their lives. The wooden bridge suddenly gave way under the weight of the Peñafrancia Fluvial Procession on September 16, 1972. Just as the people of Naga were beginning to mourn the tragedy, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law, plunging the city and the rest of the country into a dark chapter of Philippine history.
In Padamlágan, Buendia plays Doring, a father frantically searching for his missing son, played by Esteban Mara, in the aftermath of the tragedy and in the dawn of martial law. “Ang objective ko talaga dito sa [Padamlágan] is to commemorate ‘yong tragedy as well as ‘yong regional counterpart ng martial law na horror,” Romano told Rolling Stone Philippines. “Kasi kahit ngayon, when it comes to our [regional] history, it is often competing with the bigger, national, Manila-centric na version of history. Pero lahat naman ‘yong nangyayari ay sabay-sabay… ang martial law nangyayari sabay-sabay sa buong bansa.”
“I was there [in Naga] when it happened,” Buendia said. “I was two years old, but the people affected were my parents, my uncles, my aunties: I knew all of these people. So this is my offering to them, to relive their shared experiences through this movie.”
Romano, who is herself from Bicol, made a deliberate effort to cast an all-Bicolano crew and have them speak in Bicolano throughout the film. “Ang audience namin… sa Bicol talaga,” the film’s producer, Kristine de Leon, told Rolling Stone Philippines.
However, de Leon also acknowledged that she initially saw the strong use of Bicolano as a potential challenge for audiences in Manila, especially since the film would be screened at Cinemalaya. “May behavior ang audience na ayaw nagbabasa ng subtitles,” she said. “Pero… naniniwala ako na ang dami pang magagandang kwento ng regional filmmakers. One of the goals talaga of [Padamlágan] is to elevate regional cinema, and sana marami pang mapalabas na pelikula in their own language or dialect.”
The cast and crew are also well aware that Padamlágan’s premiere comes at a time when failing infrastructure and corruption in power are at the forefront of the national conversation. “Sa current landscape natin, maraming mga infrastructure na hindi naman natin katuparan at nawawala,” Mara told Rolling Stone Philippines. “Feeling ko na that would be your top takeaway after watching the film, kasi ‘yon ‘yong pinakamag-init na usapin ngayon din. And ‘yon ‘yong ma-realize mo na umuulit lang ‘yong history. That’s why we need films like these, as well as these kinds of conversations. Kasi na, kung hindi ulit sya, patuloy ng pag-uusapan, makakalimutan lang ulit sya.”
“It could all just be a coincidence,” Buendia said when asked about the film’s relevance in the context of the ongoing flood control project corruption scandals. “But I don’t believe in coincidences. I think these problems have been deep-seated in our culture for decades now, and the fact that Direk Jenn was drawn to telling this story… it just means that it really has to be the truth.”
Cinemelaya 2025 is set to run from October 3 to 12 at multiple venues: Shangri-La Plaza, Gateway Mall, and Ayala Malls Cinemas in Manila Bay, Market! Market!, Circuit, and U.P. Town Center.
