A New Moon, A New Chance For Peace

In Bagong Buwan, the recently awarded Second Best Picture in the 2001 MetroManila Film Festival, director Marilou Diaz-Abaya takes us into the world of Filipino-Muslims caught in a struggle for survival, in their search for justice, truth and a lasting peace.

In the opening scene, a vast stretch of land, capped by mountains and surrounded by water, is a vision of beauty and tranquility. The quiet repose that fills the horizon is broken by the sound of gunfire. A Muslim family is jolted out of their sleep. They quickly take cover, huddled together on bended knees. Moments later, Fatima (Amy Austria) realizes that a stray bullet has hit her young son, Ibrahim. The bullet claims his life. Mother and grandmother cry out in pain for this senseless death, and other deaths that are certain to follow.

Fatima’s husband, Achmad (Cesar Montano), a doctor who is practicing medicine in Manila, returns to his village in Mindanao to bury his son, and to come to terms with his identity. Is he a Muslim or is he a Filipino? The year is 2000 – the turn of a new century and the conflict rages on between the government and the MILF as President Estrada launches an all-out war on the MILF. Achmad’s family must flee their home for safety. Achmad decides to move his mother, Farida (Caridad Sanchez) and wife, Fatima (Amy Austria) to Manila, but both are determined to stay in this war-torn land, because it is their home. Achmad’s brother Musa (Noni Buencamino) is a soldier prepared to die for a noble cause and for the rights of his people. An ideological conflict ensues between the brothers. Musa represents the voice of tradition and espouses the view that "it is them against us." Achmad believes that times have changed and war is not the only answer to an age-old, and deep- seated conflict.

The answer lies in education and a shift in consciousness. But Achmad realizes that his family needs him. He decides to stay and becomes the head of the family and leader of the community.

Life in the makeshift camp set-up by a village datu, depicts the struggle for survival that these people have come to accept as a way of life. While on the move, Achmad encourages his mother to rest awhile but she tersely reminds him that she has been on the move all her life even in periods of intense bombardment.

The refugees are afflicted with various illnesses and some succumb to death.

As night falls, the refugees exchange stories about their lives, their heritage, their ancestors and their history. Achmad’s mother, Farida, delights the children with old tales. This was her way of preserving their legacy, and their culture. One day, a Christian boy named Francis (Giro Manio) runs for safety from a bombing incident in a public market.

While fleeing from the scene, he runs into an open field and latches on to a teenager for protection. That teenager, Rashid (Carlo Aquino) is a nephew of Achmad. Rashid refuses to help him, when he finds out that Francis is a Christian, but soon takes pity on him and reluctantly leads him to the camp. When Francis does not understand Rashid’s animosity, Rashid bluntly tells him "there is a difference between being a moro and being a Filipino."

In the camp, Achmad and his family embrace the young Francis as their own.

Soon, the boy begins to feel at home and wonders why there is any conflict at all between Muslims and Christians. But even "Babu," or Farida, is at a loss to explain the conflict because even in the darkest moments of this film, the hope for peace springs eternal. A lieutenant of the AFP (Jericho Rosales) inspects the refugee camp for a security check. He tells the refugees that the government does not want war with them, they only want the MILF to lay down their arms. But Fatima asks him, "If you do not want war, why have you burned down all our homes? Where will we live?"

Soon after, the camp was threatened with an attack from government forces.

The refugees were on the move again, this time on a two-day trip by foot, across inhospitable terrain. As the struggle for survival seems insurmountable, Achmad is ready to give up, but Fatima gently reminds him that they have a mission, they must not lose hope.

In the intense clashes that ensued between the government and the MILF forces, Achmad takes a bullet and dies while trying to save Francis, the young Christian boy. Musa and his son Rashid continue their struggle for the MILF. Farida dies along the journey. In her last moments she tells young Francis , "Do not forget our stories, tell others, so that these stories will live on." Fatima who has lost both husband and son to the struggle, becomes a mother again as she takes on the care of a baby whose mother died in childbirth along the journey to another evacuation camp.

In the end, despite the struggle Fatima holds the hope of peace in her heart.

With Jason (Jhong Hilario), a Christian peace worker, Fatima brings this message to young Muslim children, and tells them that peace is their heritage.

Bagong Buwan is a story told from the perspective of a people who have been disenfranchised in their own land. It speaks of economic exclusion. It speaks of the enormous divide that exists between two religious communities who have grown to mistrust each other. The film is asking us to look at this old conflict through the prism of personal experiences, through the real-life stories of men, women and children in evacuation centers. Scriptwriters Jun Lana and Ricky Lee and director Marilou Diaz-Abaya studied the Koran. Margie Moran Floirendo, the moving spirit behind this film, has said that hundreds of hours were dedicated to research and discussions with various sectors of society in an effort to bring realism to the screen.

Indeed, the film succeeds in bringing into view the untold sufferings of a people and the senselessness of it all. In the characters of Achmad, Fatima, Farida and Rashid we sense the pain, the fear and the hardiness of Filipino-Muslims. Allah is their guide and their source of strength. But death is their constant companion, hovering in their midst. The war transforms these characters as well. Fatima finds deep strength from within. The death of her loved ones imbues her with renewed hope that peace must be given a fighting chance.

Achmad, who was initially torn between his ethnicity and nationality, takes up the struggle of his family, his forebears and his community. In doing so, he reaches the better part of himself.

If the story is compelling, the setting is evocative. We see jungles, open fields, wide expanses of land, sometimes fertile, sometimes barren. We see the diversity and the ruggedness of the terrain and we understand why life in the land requires much courage and fortitude.

Beyond the story of war and human tragedy, Bagong Buwan is also the story of redemption as seen in the character of Fatima. Fatima forges ahead, believing that peace is not just a pipe dream but a legacy to leave to future generations. But the quest for a lasting peace, as this film tells us, begins in our midst and in our hearts. It begins with the consciousness that the choice is ours and the opportunities are there.

If there is one reason to see Bagong Buwan, it is because it is part of the Filipino story. It is a difficult story to tell, whether one is Muslim or Christian. Because behind the veneer of religion and ethnicity, the film speaks to us on a personal level. The film asks us to tear down the walls of prejudice, to let go of some widely-held notions, and to look at our Muslim brothers as human beings and fellow Filipinos who deserve due recognition. Perhaps this can be the path to just and lasting peace.