Bakit May Kahapon Pa?

Bakit may Kahapon Pa? (Why Is There a Yesterday?) is a 1996 Filipino drama film directed by Joel Lamangan. It features a rogue New People's Army hitwoman, played by Nora Aunor, who takes revenge on an Army General, played by Eddie Garcia, for ordering the massacre of her village. The movie gave Nora Aunor her second international acting award from 1st East Asia Film and Television Award (Malaysia).

Plot
In 1971, the inhabitants of San Marco in Laguna are massacred by soldiers led by Colonel Valderama for allegedly sympathizing with communists. The only survivor is a little girl, Helen Morda, who is taken into the care of the Catholic Church. More than twenty years later, she joins a New People's Army hit squad but suffers from flashbacks caused by post-traumatic stress disorder and goes rogue, killing relatives of Valderama, now a decorated General, in separate ambushes. The death of Valderama's son Mario leads to his return from Washington DC, where he serves as military attaché, to attend the funeral, unaware that this is part of Helen's plan to lure and kill him as part of her desire for revenge, which she sees as a religious crusade.

Helen rents a room in the Valderama residence under the name Karina Salvacion, while discreetly gathering explosives and other materials for her plan. The general is wary of her while his daughter, Lea, harbors ambiguous feelings for her tenant. On the other hand, Helen/Karina bonds with Lea's daughter, Mumay, whom she seeks to protect from the repercussions of her plan and warns her of monsters lurking around. Lea, while making a documentary tribute for her father, learns from multiple sources that he was involved in several human rights violations, including the massacre in San Marco. She confronts her father, but is disgusted at how he justifies his actions as part of his duty to the country.

While Lea is away, Helen cuts off the Valderama residence's power supply, drugs the housekeep and security guards and expels the remaining staff at gunpoint before sealing off the house and setting up explosives inside. She then wakes a sleeping Valderama by shooting him in his sleep, injuring him. She confronts him for his role in the massacre, but Valderama shows no remorse. While arguing, Helen is distracted by Mumay, who is awakened by the outage and disoriented. While Helen tells Mumay to hide claiming that there are monsters in the house, Valderama escapes and gets into a shootout with Helen.

Lea arrives at the house and is told by the maids of what happened. She calls for help and enters the house to save her family after a policeman tells him of Karina's real identity. She pleads with Helen to stop her revenge, but is angered by Helen's admitting her role in her brother's death. The two struggle for Helen's gun, but Helen manages to shoot Lea in the arm, forcing her to flee. As Helen prepares the charges for the explosives, she is mortally shot by General Valderama in front of Mumay. Helen comforts a distraught Mumay and assures her that she will always watch over her before telling her to leave the house. Helen dies contentedly as Valderama approaches, but the latter fails to stop the timed explosion, which consumes the house and kills him.

Cast

 * Nora Aunor as Helen Morda / Karina Salvacion
 * Eddie Garcia as Gen. Valderama
 * Dawn Zulueta as Doña Leandra "Lea" Valderama
 * Melisse Santiago as Mumay
 * Sarah Jane Abad as Young Helen
 * Rolando Tinio as Priest
 * Daniel Fernando as Mulong
 * Tony Mabesa as Colonel Baluyot
 * Irma Adlawan as Karina's Mother
 * Jim Pebanco as Karina's Father
 * Madeleine Nicolas as Nun
 * Ernie Zarate as Colonel
 * Ray Ventura as Col. Madrigal
 * Angel Baldomar as Lt. Mario Valderama
 * Elmer Jamias as Major Victa
 * Julie Fe Navarro as Reporter
 * Raul Dimaano as Bodyguard

Reviews

 * "Bakit May Kahapon Pa? is heavy in flashback, it is almost where the entire film hangs its dramatic tension, but once you see Ate Guy with a gun, running with the loose screws of her head like a loony action star, isn’t that already enough fun for a two-hour film?" - Richard Bolisay, film blogger
 * "The filmmakers are able to use and integrate creatively the various elements of the cinema - screenplay, production design, direction, acting, cinematography, editing, music, and sound. It reflects the creative integration of the various elements of cinema to an eminent degree. Its screenplay is effective; it explores significant subject matter of experience and conceives this with originality according to the particular demands of the film medium. The Cinematography is considered effective too; it successfully visualizes content through lighting, composition, movement, and related camera techniques, can't you see that "Bakit May Kahapon Pa?" is just a perfect movie?"

List of Film Festivals competed or Exhibited

 * 1997 Bakit May - 1st East Asian Film and TV Festival Penang, Malaysia, Aug. 28 – Sept. 3. (Competition Film)
 * Winner, Golden Pearl Award for Best Actress (Nora Aunor)*
 * 1997 - Fukuoka International Film Festival, Feature Film: Excellent Films of Asia, September 12–21
 * 1997 - Cairo International Film Festival Cairo, Egypt, Competition Film, December 1–15
 * 1995 - 2nd Asian Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan,
 * 1998 - International Film Festival of India New Delhi, India, Competition Film, January 10–20
 * 1998 - Brussels International Independent Film Festival, Competition Film