Pepe Diokno’s movie “GomBurZa” tells the story of three priests who were executed when the Philippines was under Spanish rule.

The film is set in the 1800s and focuses on a young priest named Burgos, who wants fairness between Spanish friars and local priests. It’s a clear and detailed film that doesn’t add unnecessary drama.

The movie starts with a story from the past about a Filipino priest named Hermano Pule. He mixed Filipino traditions with Christianity and created his own group.

Pule and his followers were killed to show what would happen to anyone who challenged the Spanish authority. He was seen as anti-Spanish.

In the movie, Father Burgos gets upset when people speak badly about a rebellion, so he decides to write an article in a newspaper to set things straight.

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He calls it “The Language of Liberalism.” There’s a new leader in town who seems like he’ll be nicer to everyone, which makes everyone happy. Burgos wants to impress this new leader.

He’s also a really good teacher and the kids love him. They look up to him like he’s a big deal. Some of his top students even started a group called The Liberal Youth.

They want to use the new leader’s friendly ways to change the laws that give power to the friars.

Meanwhile, we meet Jacinto Zamora, another priest who lives in a different place from Burgos. Zamora is rebellious too, but differently. He’s into gambling. He even plays cards with a friar, which gets him into trouble later on.

De La Torre’s Downfall and Burgos’ Challenge

Even though De La Torre is a fair leader who changes many unfair Spanish laws in the country, he’s soon kicked out of his position, and people start talking about a big change coming.

Spanish soldiers arrest one of Burgos’ students, Buencamino, who was leading a youth group. De La Torre lets him keep studying but warns Burgos to stop riling up the young people against the friars because, in the end, they’re Spanish just like Burgos.

Burgos shouldn’t be spreading anti-Spanish ideas. Meanwhile, Zamora doesn’t think Burgos would start a rebellion, but he’s told to stay away from Burgos.

Then, there’s a new governor, Rafael Izquierdo, who sees Burgos’ push for secularization as a threat to the Spanish rulers. Izquierdo doesn’t like what Burgos is doing. That’s when things start getting messy.

Izquierdo makes life harder for Filipino soldiers. So, when some important men plan to rebel against the Spanish, the soldiers are ready to join in. However, the rebellion fails because someone in the group tells the governor about the plan.

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Who Killed Father Burgos?

There was a storyline against some priests in the Philippines to show who was really in charge. One of the priests, Gomes, was caught at home with hidden weapons. Another priest, Burgos, was taken by soldiers while visiting an elderly priest.

The people behind the storyline mostly got away with it, except for one guy named Zaldua. The three priests had a trial that wasn’t fair at all. Zamora, one of the priests, got caught because of a note he wrote, even though it was about money, not violence.

The pressure of the trial made Zamora go crazy. Zaldua was forced to lie and say Burgos was the leader of the rebellion. In the end, all four men were executed in a public execution.

Before the execution, Burgos’ student Paciano secretly brought his little brother Pepe to say goodbye. Zaldua felt he was being wrongly executed and didn’t resist. Zamora was like a vegetable, not reacting at all.

Gomes saw his execution as God’s will and told Burgos it happened for a reason. Burgos defended their innocence and forgave the executioner. He was told even Jesus was innocent before he died.

The crowd mourned their religious leaders, and Paciano told Pepe to remember the injustice.

The story is told by Pepe when he’s grown up. Meanwhile, a group called the Katipunan (KKK) prepared to fight for Filipino independence from the Spanish.

The priests’ execution inspired people to fight for freedom. The film aims to show the truth clearly and make people interested in Philippine history.