Jodi fears having an activist child but understands their greater purpose

“S’yempre nanay ako, so parang iniisip ko na paano kung si Thirdy isang araw sabihin niya sa akin na, ‘Ma, kasama ako sa ganitong pagkilos?'” she shared.

She admitted her first reaction would undoubtedly be fear, noting the harsh realities of activism: “Kasi alam naman natin na sa mga pagkakataon na meron kang nilalabanan, ang pinakamadaling paraan ay patahimikin ka.”

Yet, she acknowledged that parents eventually recognize their child is fighting for “a greater purpose,” much like the film’s titular figure. “Siguro nga baka parang katulad ni Edjop, even ang family niya ay ‘yun ang bayan… extension siya ng sarili niya,” she explained.

Portraying Edjop’s eldest daughter, Joyette, forced Sta. Maria to grapple with the painful flip side of that sacrifice. She described the raw feeling of abandonment children of activists face, channeling her character’s initial resentment: “Oh my gosh, hindi ko naiintindihan bakit. Bakit mo ‘to ginawa? It’s like you abandoned us. Asan ka noong kailangan ka namin?”

She challenged the cultural norm of tight-knit households, asking, “Hindi ba makapamilya tayong mga Pilipino? Pero kung walang mas hahalaga pa sa isang pamilya, parang… anong cause ‘yong greater than the family para magawa mong isakripisyo ‘yon?”

The generational tension Sta. Maria echoes historian Renato Constantino’s 1971 essay, “Parents and Activists.”

Constantino observed that parents are often “seized with paroxysms of fear” over their children’s militant involvement, reacting with “an excess of protectiveness” to shield them from danger.

Ultimately, he argued that the only way to assuage a parent’s profound anguish is through “an understanding of their children’s convictions.”

However, Sta. Maria noted that maturity eventually brings clarity to this generational trauma. “As your eyes are opened, and as you are matured, doon mo naiintindihan na, ‘Ah, makabuluhan pala ‘yong ginawa ng tatay ko,'” she reflected, ultimately realizing that the fight was never a rejection of the family.

“Hindi lang ito para sa amin, pero para sa bayan. And ‘yong bayan na ‘yon, kasama rin naman kami doon.”

Now showing in cinemas nationwide, “Edjop” explores the life of the Ateneo student activist-turned-revolutionary through the eyes of his daughter, Joyette. Pieced together from the family’s personal recordings and interviews, the film chronicles his pivotal role in sparking the First Quarter Storm, the historic 1970s protests that challenged the Marcos Sr. regime.

Yesterday, Sept. 21, marked 54 years since the dictator Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law, exactly ten years before Edjop was slain by the military during a Davao raid on the same date in 1982.

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