Bonifacio – Ang Supremo and the History We Choose to Forget
By Boy Romero
What makes a musical play memorable, really? Is it the music that stays in your head long after the curtain falls? Is it the actors who carry every scene like they were born for the role? Or perhaps it’s the story that doesn’t just entertain you but makes you rethink what you thought you knew.
Bonifacio: The Supremo is the biggest production yet of the Philstagers Foundation. Written, directed, and headlined by Atty. Vince Tañada, it tells the story of Andres Bonifacio beyond the textbook version. This isn’t just history reenacted in period costumes. It’s an urgent reminder of why history matters.
In their research, they surveyed students and teachers. Eight out of ten believed Bonifacio was killed by the Spaniards. The truth is harder to accept. He was executed by fellow Filipinos, political rivals who saw him as a threat. It’s not a detail that makes it into most classroom lessons. But it should. Because when we lose the uncomfortable truths, we lose pieces of who we are.
Not every school welcomed the play. Some refused to show it to their students. Others embraced it. That says a lot about how we choose which parts of history to pass on. We protect the stories that feel safe, and quietly set aside the ones that sting. But a history told in half is not history at all.
The play moves through moments that stay with you. There are silences heavy enough to make you lean forward. Songs by Popoy Cifra slip into scenes like unspoken thoughts, adding layers the dialogue alone can’t carry. It’s not a performance that just wants applause. It wants you to remember.
This is where art becomes more than art. It becomes a way of holding on to the truth. And in a time when false stories move faster than facts, that role is critical.
The show premiered August 2 at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila to a packed house. It will tour the Philippines until April 2026. Tickets run from about 500 to 1,000 pesos, available through the Philstagers Foundation’s Facebook page or at the venue.
It’s a story about Bonifacio, yes. But it’s also about us. Without knowing our roots, we can’t truly know ourselves. And if we don’t protect the truth about our past, someone else will tell it for us. And it might not be the truth at all.
