The Claws of Light - Plot

Plot

Julio Madiaga is a probinciano or a simple country boy who arrives in Manila. From time to time, Julio would pass by the corner of Ongpin and Misericordia as he stares at a peculiar building from a distance. While pursuing his quest, he has to work in order to survive the conditions of the urban jungle.

At first, Julio lands a job as a construction worker. Being not used to such labor, he at one point falls unnconscious due to fatigue. In the site, he befriends Atong, a fellow construction worker who has been employed for five weeks prior. A co-worker advises Julio that city life is quite difficult unless one has the income to enjoy living off the comforts of the city. Julio begins to slowly observe the harsh reality of the society, even witnessing the accidental death of one of the workers.

One day, while Julio and Atong are shopping for clothes in the marketplace, a fat lady dressed in black and wearing sunglasses catches Julio's attention. Julio immediately runs to the crowd and attempts to follow this woman. He successfully locates the woman and approaches her. However, before he could even say anything, the lady yells in distress. Julio instantly flees in order to prevent a scene to be made. Julio runs back to Atong and both of them leave the area, much to Atong's chagrin.

Eventually, the construction of the building is nearing completion. In order to lessen the number of expenses, it is natural that a handful of workers are laid off from work. Julio is one of them. As his time in Manila becomes much longer, Julio gets slowly overwhelmed by the system. For instance, while having coffee at an eatery, Julio sees a waitress being abused and berated by her employer. This leaves Julio all somber. In between each scenario, Julio would often reminisce of his simple life in the province.

Julio once again visits the street corner he would frequent, staring at that building right across him. He then catches a glimpse of a young woman's silhouette by the lit window. Julio cannot believe what he saw and immediately calls out to the figure, addressing her as "Ligaya". But his call was not heard and he can see that the room is already dark. The scene then abruptly cuts to Julio having a conversation with a friend. His friend asks Julio why he is looking for a certain Ligaya Paraiso, something he heard from Atong. Then, in place of the brief flashbacks previously shown, Julio finally tells his story in full narrative.

Both Julio and his girlfriend Ligaya shared a happy life together in the province. However, the idyllic moments have been interrupted when a fat lady wearing sunglasses (the same one Julio encountered in the market), arrives on their shore. The fat lady is Mrs. Cruz, whom Julio describes as "obese like a pig". Cruz handles a brothel in Manila and happens to look for young women to recruit. She takes a keen interest in getting Ligaya, who is referred to by Julio as the most beautiful woman in their community, to work for her. Cruz asks the consent of Ligaya's mother for Ligaya to work in Manila, promising a great opportunity for her and a very high salary, as well. Ligaya, who is reluctant to go, accepts the offer in order to help her family live a better life by bringing home whatever fee she earns. As Ligaya is ready to board the boat that will take her offshore to a place that will be new to her, the community bid her farwell. Julio, on the other hand, does not join the others and instead distants himself from a far vantage. Ligaya sees Julio, and likewise; but the latter is deeply hurt to even approach her. She then gets on the boat with Cruz. That is the last time that Julio will ever see Ligaya.

Regretting the actions he did, Julio travels to Manila in order to search for Ligaya. As soon as Julio arrived, he was looking everywhere for Ligaya. Then one day, Julio happened to glance at Mrs. Cruz walking by some street. Julio followed her until she stopped at a certain building parallel to Ongpin and Misericordia. Julio seemed curious, so he entered the building one time. He wounds up in the third floor of the building and stumbles upon a large unit there. He checks to see if people are on the other end of the door. An old woman responds and asks who is he looking for, to which Julio tells the woman that he is looking for someone named Ligaya Paraiso. The old woman claims of not knowing her and asks the other person guarding the place, an old man, if he knows Ligaya. The old man becomes hostile to Julio and denies that he even knows of a Ligaya Paraiso and slams the door. Hence, this is the reason why Julio poses by the street corner, to keep a look out for Ligaya, if ever she leaves the building.

Julio has encountered a lot of misfortune while in Manila, having been prone to being victimized by the city’s scum. To make matters worse, he finds out that his best friend, Atong, had been arrested because of a mere squabble and has died in jail.

Atong’s sister, Perla, later goes missing after their father dies in a fire that consumed their house. Julio continues looking for Perla and learns from Imo, who now has generated good income after landing a job in advertising, that the girl is now in Makati.

In one of his searches for his lost love, Julio gets robbed of most of his belongings including his most treasured diary. Slowly, Julio develops a cynical demeanor as he gradually loses hope of ever finding Ligaya.

One day, however, Julio finally reunites with Ligaya after many years of being away from each other. They both spend the night together. Julio learns from Ligaya that she had been tricked by Mrs. Cruz, ending up as a recruit in a prostitution ring under the authority of Ah Tek, a corrupt Chinese businessman. Ligaya further explains that she is now the mother of Ah Tek’s child and how she has become disillusioned with how her life is going. Julio, feeling the same sentiment, proposes to Ligaya that they are to meet at the Arranque market by midnight and leave Manila together. Ligaya is initially reluctant for fear that Ah Tek might find out, but Julio promises her that he will wait three more hours for her. Ligaya then agrees to it.

Later at Arranque, Julio patiently waits for Ligaya until the wee hours of the morning, only for the latter not to show up. Thinking that Ligaya broke her promise, this saddens Julio, and he returns to Pol's home to sleep it off.

Pol, being aware of how depressed his friend is, tries to sport a cheerful mood and wakes Julio up for an outing. Julio complies half-heartedly. Later as the two are dining at an eatery, Pol tries to lighten the mood but fails to do so as Julio is still quite depressed. Pol gives up and reluctantly breaks the news to Julio that Ligaya is dead. Julio does not want to believe it, but Pol hands him a copy of a newspaper article declaring it to be true. Julio learns from Pol that Ligaya died after being thrown off a flight of stairs right after being strangled. The two later visit the funeral parlor where Ligaya’s wake is being held and pay their respects.

Julio, dealing with so many frustrations, transforms from a meek and kind-hearted boy into a bitter and vengeful man.

A few days after, Julio and Pol view Ligaya’s burial from afar. Only a few people, including Mrs. Cruz, are in attendance for the last rites. Julio spots a peculiar Chinese man standing next to Mrs. Cruz. Julio assumes this to be Ah Tek. Pol consoles Julio, advising him to let the matter go and leave the burial peaceful.

One night, Julio, who is bent with rage, approaches the brothel in Misericordia with the intention of killing Ah Tek. The moment he arrives, Julio successfully stabs Ah Tek to death. A mob quickly gathers and runs after Julio. Eventually, Julio is cornered in a dark alley and the mob is ready to beat him up. The screen freezes to a close-up of Julio’s terrified face.