By AJ Alarcon

On Sunday, October 12, the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) will host the final day of filming for the Martial Law biopic “Edjop,” which tells the story of Edgar “Edjop” Jopson — a former Atenean student leader and prominent activist during the Martial Law resistance.

Film director Katski Flores described the decision to shoot the last scenes on campus as both “an honor and a responsibility.”

“This is where his leadership was shaped, where his convictions took root, and where his story, in so many ways, began,” Flores said.

Edjop’s daughter Joyette Jopson, who co-wrote and co-produced the film, shared that her father’s wake was held for one day on campus after he was killed by Marcos’ soldiers in a military raid in 1982.

“At the time, his presence was seen as dangerous. Today, Ateneo is opening its grounds not with fear, but with generosity. This partnership is an act of healing,” she expressed.

On the significance of Edjop being brought to film, Ateneo Martial Law Museum and Library (AMLML) coordinator Oliver Quintana stated, “It is a powerful educational tool that allows today’s youth to confront the truths of the Martial Law period with clarity and urgency.”

“Bringing the shoot to campus is an act of remembrance — but also of formation,” she added.

The project is a collaboration between Open Water Productions and ADMU, through the AMLML and the Department of Fine Arts.

The production is also calling on Ateneans to participate in the final shoot, which will reenact the First Quarter Storm (FQS) rallies held from January to March 1970.

Edgar Jopson and the FQS

When Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was reelected president in 1969, student demonstrations intensified and culminated in the FQS, beginning on January 26, 1970.

During the opening session of the Seventh Congress and Marcos Sr.’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA), students gathered in front of the Congress building to call for nonpartisan deliberations.

The protest was organized by the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), then led by Jopson as its president.

Following the protest, Jopson was invited to Malacañang Palace for a dialogue with Marcos Sr., where he urged the president not to seek a third term — a request that angered Marcos.

Jopson later went underground and worked closely with the labor movement until his arrest on June 14, 1979.

He escaped imprisonment with the help of Col. Rodolfo Aguinaldo and fled to southern Mindanao, however, after his location was discovered, he was shot and killed by military forces on September 20, 1982.