Looking Through the Black and White Pictures of Anak Dalita

“Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.” –Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday, we were asked to watch an old film reflecting the reality of the situation that most families here in the Philippines are suffering from, “Anak Dalita” illustrates well the issue of poverty. Directed by Lamberto V. Avellana, the movie creates a view in the minds of the audience on the true and heart-breaking effects of having a poor life among those who are desperately dreaming of a better life for themselves and for their families.

I just want to share with all of you this story and hopefully, you would develop an interest to this film.=)

The story took place in the ruins of a cathedral in Intramuros which painted the perfect picture of poverty among its settlers. But at the same time, the Church became a symbol of hope and unity present in the community.

Vic, a soldier from Korea returned to the Philippines to be with his dying mother but in the very short span of time spent with her, she eventually died. With her reached death, Vic became bitter. Unlike the citizens living there in the slums, he had no sense of belonging to a community. He hated his neighbors, he refused to accept his weaknesses and he refused to seek the help of others. All he knew was he was living his life alone and he was living it the way he wanted to. Unfortunately, since he was already part of the squatters’ community where his mother lived in, he had to be taught differently by his mother’s close friend, Tita. She worked as a prostitute in a nightclub just to survive the cruelty of poverty together with his younger brother. Despite this struggle for continued existence, she still accepted Vic in their small humble abode and took care of him when he was still mourning. Eventually, Vic learned to interact with his neighbors together with his deepening relationship with Tita.

As their lives progressed, they started to face the biggest challenge ever as they were asked to leave the slum settlement for the restoration of the house of God, the cathedral. Upsetting words crushed the hopeful hearts of these settlers. They had no other place to turn to. Poverty-stricken, Vic decided to turn to drastic means for survival. He worked for Cardo, a friend from the military. He became a desperate sympathetic smuggler in spite of his lover, Tita’s disapproval of it. As bad as this already seemed, he even shadowed his evil agenda with the blessed and pure image of the Virgin Mary. He took advantage of this blessing and opportunity given to him by the priest, Father Fidel. This is where the quote from Benjamin Franklin comes in. Because of poverty, people like Vic and Tita are blinded from seeing their values and beliefs.

They become victims of the thoughts of poverty being equal to death so they feel that they have no other choice but to take even the worst move as long as they will live.

As Vic was expecting something good in return for this chosen path, it just made everything worse for him. His supposed to be source of relief became the source of destruction for his life. His relationship with Tita was torn and his identity was ruined because of this evil act in disguise. Good thing Tita had a golden heart and a clear determined mind. She rescued him from the cruelty of a pursued life with Cardo. But later, when the smuggler found out, they ended up fighting and creating a chaos around the neighborhood. Because of their fight, the younger brother of Tita got shot and died. Danger also faced the life of Cardo as he fell from the cathedral but before he died, he miraculously had a change of heart and decided to give up his money for the poor settlers in the community.

Blessings poured on their mourning hearts. Father Fidel brought a revitalized spirit for the once less fortunate people of Intramuros. The area was resettled to a different place with the help of Cardo’s immediate desire to change and to help. Vic, Tita and the other settlers were given a new hope to live up to and a new life to respond to.

That is the end of the story.=) I reflected on its significance after and I had a thought that many Filipinos are currently experiencing the same situation as what our characters had. Poverty is a significant problem in our country today, right? Almost 3.8 million of our population is living below poverty threshold and the numbers are still growing. Many of them make cut-throat decisions like those made by Vic. They put aside their morality and take the risk of committing sins just to be able to survive another death-defying day. They throw away their dignities just for the welfare of their families depending on them. But thinking about them conscientiously, is a life full of indecent acts really worth living? I guess not. Poverty is merely a challenge for everyone that must be faced. It is a test on what their real stands in life are. It is only discipline that every person captured by poverty must gain. Just like in the story, one must

not give up his values and beliefs just to survive because in the end, if one does, one will not gain anything but instead lose everything.

I must admit that this film is really not as good as those films today but the lessons behind the story gives the magic to it!=) Enjoying a film really depends on how you appreciate it.=) No matter how boring a film is or how lame the actors and actresses act or how predictable it is, it's still the viewer's choice if he/she will make a movie worth it! Now I'm telling you that actually, I've learned a lot more from this film than what the story really implied. I learned how to appreciate and see the goodness in every movie that I watch!=)