
03/03/1999
It is the time of El Niño, a season ruled by superstition and fear. The rain is long in coming, the ground has cracked up dry. The ricestalks are thin and sickly. Villagers go hungry. And a boy dies from a snakebite. The adults splinter. Some pray. Others join a cult to appease earth spirits and wait for the ada, the ricefield spirit goddess of bountiful harvest who dances naked on moonlit nights and signals the need for a virgin’s sacrifice. There are fence sitters, equally pro-church and pro-cult. A landlord’s steward enforces his master’s usury on hapless farmers. A self-righteous priest says rain must first be deserved. Two young women fight for the right to do with their bodies as they please. A bastard boy and a blind girl come of age. Yesterday, they were children.

Ara Mina
as Salve

Tonton Gutierrez
as Fr. Joey

Pen Medina
as Terio

Ray Ventura
as Encio

Jennifer Sevilla
as Daling

Eva Darren
as Puring

Carlo Aquino
as Marlito

Patricia Ann Roque
as Aning

Ronnie Lazaro
as Nonong

Crispin Pineda
as Kadyo

Gigi Locsin
as Tasing

Zad Centina
as Ado

Carol Buenaventura
as Sacrificial Virgin

Ricky Pascua
as Virgin's Father

Manny Mendoza
as Cult High Priest

Jaime Yaneza
as Cult Torch-bearer

Beto Passion
as Barangay Chairman

Romeo Fidelson Jr.
as Man in Sari-sari Store

Manny Rodriguez
as Lope
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