If you think Philippine history is all dusty textbooks and lifeless monuments, Jerrold Tarog begs to differ.
On October 15, “Quezon” hits theaters, and it might just be the jolt our national memory needs.
Produced by TBA Studios, it’s the grand finale of Tarog’s “Bayaniverse” trilogy that began with “Heneral Luna” and “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, films that turned historical icons into flawed, fascinating humans, something that many embraced.
This time, the spotlight lands on Manuel L. Quezon, the country’s first Commonwealth president, played by Jericho Rosales in what could be the performance of his career.
Rosales didn’t just memorize lines; he inhabited Quezon.
“It was both physical and internal work,” he said. “I wanted to understand not just how he looked, but who he was inside.”
He devoured Quezon’s autobiography, studied history books, and read the script five times—until, as he put it, “I could feel him.”
He even adjusted his voice to match Quezon’s distinctive tone.
Set in the 1930s, “Quezon” follows the young leader as he navigates the messy, morally gray world of politics under American occupation. He faces off against rivals Sergio Osmeña, Leonard Wood, and Emilio Aguinaldo in a high-stakes battle for the country’s future.
Film fans will appreciate Mon Confiado’s return as Aguinaldo and Romnick Sarmienta’s turn as Osmeña, while Karylle takes on the role of Aurora Quezon.
And yes, that’s “Game of Thrones’” Iain Glen—better known as Jorah Mormont—playing Leonard Wood, proving colonialism can, apparently, err, cross cinematic universes.
Tarog and Rosales both describe “Quezon” as a mirror of our own times, a film that examines how power, ambition, and compromise shape leaders then and now.
Actress Therese Malvar calls it “revolutionary.” Angeli Bayani sums it up in one word: “Intense.”
For most of us, Quezon exists as a face on the 20-peso bill or a traffic-ridden avenue in a city we complain about. But this film digs deeper, showing the man behind the myth: the nationalist who famously declared, “I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos to a government run like heaven by Americans,” and then spent his life proving it.
TBA Studios president Daphne O. Chiu-Soon calls “Quezon” “a big-screen spectacle to be fully appreciated in theaters,” and she’s right. It’s meant to be seen, felt, and argued over.
After its local release, the film premieres internationally at the 45th Hawaii International Film Festival on October 26, with screenings in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East.
Students and teachers can even catch it for just ₱250—a fair deal for a crash course in patriotism.
