Insiang Hilda Koronel

Plot:
In the shanty town of Tondo, Insiang works as a laundrywoman. Her mother Tonya, whose husband
left her and her daughter for another woman, sells fish at a market. She has become cruel and
domineering to Insiang, preventing her daughter from pursuing relationships with men although she is
romantically involved with Dado, a butcher several years her junior. Tonya evicts her sister-in-law and
her family from their home, saying that they are a burden, and Dado moves in the following day.
Insiang's car-mechanic boyfriend, Bebot, sneaks into her house one night and asks her to have sex
to make up for missing their date. She spurns his advances, telling him to leave before Dado (who
sneaks out of his bedroom) awakens. Tonya learns about the affair, and slaps Insiang repeatedly.
Dado meets with Bebot and warns him not to go near Insiang again, explaining that he has a hold over
the girl and her mother. After learning from Bebot about Dado's threat, Insiang confronts Dado for
meddling in her relationship. When he claims that Bebot is cavorting with other women and his threat
was intended for her security, Insiang disagrees. He chokes her into unconsciousness later that night,
and carries her away.
Tonya finds her crying in pain the next morning, and learns that she has been raped by Dado. When
he returns home, Tonya throws objects at him and tells him to leave. He admits to having sex with
Insiang, but convinces Tonya that her daughter tried to seduce him by bathing (and lying nude) in his
presence. Tonya then blames Insiang for the assault, comparing her daughter to the girl's womanizing
father. Bebot agrees to elope with Insiang to prove his love for her. They check into a cheap hotel
in Binondo, where they consummate their relationship. Insiang wakes up alone the next morning, with
no idea where Bebot is.
She returns home, and is forgiven by Tonya on the condition that she works with her at the market to
keep her from seducing Dado again. Dado sneaks into Insiang's bedroom that night and admits his
attraction to her, explaining that being with Tonya is the only way he can be near her. Insiang invites
him to have sex the following night. She finds Bebot acting cold and distant the following day; that
night, Insiang asks Dado to avenge her. Dado and his gang beat up Bebot at the dump the next day.
Over the following days, Insiang and Dado's relationship becomes intimate. A jealous Tonya confronts
her daughter, who reveals that she and Dado have been having sex because he has been attracted
to her all along. Furious, she stabs Dado to death as Insiang watches without apparent shock or pity.
Sometime later, Insiang visits Tonya in prison. Uninterested in seeing her at first, Tonya tells her
daughter that she has no qualms about murdering Dado; she did it so that he and Insiang could not
be together. Insiang replies that she was disgusted with him for raping her, and wanted Tonya to kill
Dado in anger and jealousy. Tonya says that Insiang must be overjoyed now that she has her revenge.
Insiang tearfully hugs Tonya, craving her affection. When Tonya responds coldly, Insiang leaves her.
Consumed with guilt, Tonya tearfully watches her daughter walk away from behind the prison bars.

Metro Manila
Oscar Ramirez is a rice farmer who lives in Banaue Province with his wife Mai and their children
Angel and Baby. When his rice crops are no longer profitable, he relocates his family to Metro
Manila in hopes of obtaining a higher quality of life. While searching for a job, Oscar is offered a low-
cost room to rent. However, the next day his family is evicted by the police from the apartment
building for squatting. The room was a scam set up by conmen.
The family move into a vacant shanty house in the slums of Tondo while Oscar secures a job as a
security officer for Manila Armored Couriers after the other guards discover his military background.
He befriends his senior officer Ong and quickly bonds with his co-workers while earning the respect
of Buddha, the president of the armoured truck company. On Oscar's first day at work, Ong tells him
he lost his previous partner during a failed robbery six months prior. Ong is also concerned about
Oscar's residence in Tondo, which is a hotbed for criminals. One night, Oscar tells Ong the story of
Alfred Santos, a man who held up an airliner and jumped off the plane to his death after losing his
father and his family's silk factory to a rival company. Oscar feels responsible, as he had previously
worked at the factory and did not stand up for his former employer. Ong offers Oscar a spare
apartment unit in Makati for his family to live in. Meanwhile, Mai lands a job as a bar hostess at a
nightclub in Makati. While undergoing the mandatory physical checkup, she is revealed to be
pregnant. Mai quickly learns of the hardships she must endure as a bar hostess. When she fails to
make her drink quota and her pregnancy becomes more evident, her boss proposes to have nine-
year-old Angel work for special clients.
During a routine job, Oscar discovers that the client is a drug dealer and sees Ong take a handout
for the delivery. The duo have a tense discussion on the corruption that shrouds Metro Manila. When
Ong pulls over to find a wall to urinate on, Oscar suddenly sees a black Honda Civic pull over with a
group of men headed toward Ong's direction. Going against his protocol, he exits the armoured van
and follows the gang on foot, only to discover that they are in cahoots with Ong. After the gang
leaves, Ong reveals to Oscar that after the failed robbery, he took one of the security boxes with
him, and he is plotting with the gang to have the box opened by staging a robbery and having
himself "debriefed" in the company's processing centre while Oscar makes an imprint of the key in
another room. He also threatens to blackmail Oscar with the truth about his wife working as a bar
hostess, as well as the clever scheme of renting out the spare apartment under Oscar's name and
hiding the box there. Just as Ong prepares to surrender the box, he realizes that the robber in front
of him is not part of the gang but the man who escaped when his former partner was killed. The man
guns him down and runs away while the gang speeds off. Oscar is then given the grievous task of
"postman", having to deliver Ong's personal effects and severance pay to his wife. He does not
disclose Ong's plot to Buddha. As per company procedure, his pay is suspended until the
investigation is closed.
Upon learning that Ong's wife is aware of the security box, Oscar races back home and finds it under
the floor. He and Mai face the dilemma of what to do with the box as she tells him it was a mistake
for them to move to the city. One night, after a job, Oscar sneaks into the processing centre and
takes an imprint of the key while stealing another one, but is quickly caught on security camera by
Buddha and immediately cornered. He is shot in the chest and dies with the key in his hand. Misled
by the different key Oscar stole, the company rushes armed men to the address of the drug dealer
client while JJ, Oscar's new partner, becomes the "postman" to deliver Oscar's personal effects to
Mai. She notices a locket that Oscar had stolen from a shop earlier that morning; upon opening it,
she discovers a clay imprint of the key to the security box. After getting the key duplicated, she
leaves the city with her children by bus. A rucksack full of money sits between her feet.

Andrea, Paano ba maging Ina?

Andrea is a communist insurgent who fights the government in an armed conflict. When it is
time for her to give birth, she seeks refuge in the city to her best friend Joyce who is married to
Emil, a guy who has no sympathy to the likes of Andrea. When Andrea's husband is reportedly
killed, she temporarily leaves her son to their care. The childless couple becomes emotionally
attached to her son. But before Andrea could return to her baby, she is arrested by the military.
With no news of Andrea's whereabouts and presuming her to have been dead, the couple has
decided to keep the child and bring him to the United States. When they return to the country
after seven years for a visit, Andrea confronts them and tries to claim his son back.

Padre de Pamilya
Joselito Mirasol is a good man who only wants the best for his family, avoiding the graft that
surrounds him in his low-paying government job. That is, until circumstances push him over the edge
and he commits an act that could cost him everything.

Maynila sa kuko ng liwanag

Set in 1970, Júlio Madiaga is a probinciano (a young rustic) from the island of Marinduque who
arrives in Manila. From time to time, Júlio would pass by the corner of Ongpin and Misericordia, as
he stares at a peculiar building from a distance. While pursuing his quest, he has to work in order to
survive the conditions of the urban jungle.
At first, Júlio lands a job as a construction worker. Not used to such labour, he falls unconscious due
to fatigue and hunger. In the site, he befriends Atong, a fellow construction worker who was hired
some five weeks before. Another co-worker advises Júlio that city life is quite difficult unless one has
the income to enjoy urban comforts. Júlio begins to slowly observe the harsh reality of society, even
witnessing the accidental death of one of the workers.
One day, while Júlio and Atong are shopping for clothes in the marketplace, a woman dressed in
black and wearing sunglasses catches Júlio's attention. The woman reminds him of Mrs Cruz—the
woman who brought his childhood sweetheart, Ligaya, to Manila for schooling. Júlio immediately
runs through the crowd to follow the woman, and locates her. He tries to approach her, but before he
could even say anything, the lady shrieks in distress. Júlio flees in order to prevent making a scene,
running back to Atong and leaving the marketplace with him.
This was followed by other chance encounters with Mrs Cruz, leading him to discover that Ligaya
was, in fact, brought to the capital for prostitution. Ligaya explains everything to Julio upon their
reunion. Julio plots with Ligaya of their return to Marinduque with Ligaya's baby. They agree to meet
at Arranque. However, Ligaya fails to appear at the appointed time.
Júlio returns to the house of a friend, Pol, who informs him the next day that Ligaya had died in the
night. She allegedly fell down a flight of stairs, but her bruising suggests she was killed by Ah-Tek,
the man who rented her from Mrs Cruz and kept her and their baby imprisoned. Enraged, Júlio
stalks Ah-Tek, who he saw at Ligaya's funeral, and successfully dispatches his target. In the
following night, Júlio went to his house and he finally killed Ah-Tek as a revenge for the death of
Ligaya. However, after he finished him, a mob pursues and eventually corners him; the film ends
with a slow motion close-up of Júlio's terrified mouth, just as his assailants are about to strike and
before the screen fades to white, a silhouette of Ligaya was shown.