The story takes place in the island province of Bohol, located in Central Visayas, during

the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines. Duroy (Cesar Montano) is a banca operator

turned guerrilla who is in love with the beautiful Iset (played by Juliana Palermo) from the

same village. Iset is also being courted by John Smith (Philip Anthony), an abusive landowner,

and by Duroy's brother Ibô (Reiven Bulado). Although Iset indicates that Duroy is the one she

likes, he decides to stop courting her out of regard for his brother. But when Smith tries to keep

Ibo and Iset apart, Ibo lashes out and tries to kill him; while defending himself, the American

kills Ibo, and Duroy vows revenge.

When the Japanese invade the country, Smith is drafted into the American army and has

to leave. All the men hide in the mountains while the women and children remain with the priest.

The Japanese commander who takes control of the village also falls for Iset.

After a long period of waiting, Duroy and his men finally reach the end of their resources

and patience, and they launch an attack against the Japanese garrison. Smith returns and

Duroy attacks him but stops short of killing him. Iset realizes that Smith is no good and refuses him.

Trivia

When the movie premiered in Brussels, the venue was jam-packed, making the premiere

event a huge hit.^[15] Of the crowd, about 70% were Filipinos who had to travel three

hours to reach the venue; a hundred more couldn't be accommodated in the theater. ^[15]

Montano in Panaghoy sa Suba hoped to help revive the long-dormant Visayan movie industry. ^[3]

The film had an entirely Visayan (Boholano) dialogue (with English subtitles) and featuring a

mostly Visayan cast. ^[3]

Daria Ramirez, one of the few non-Visayan members of the cast, had to be given a copy

of the script in English for her to absorb her character. ^[3]

Philip Anthony is an American based actor who also starred for over 2 years in a Visayan

soap opera Kapalaran on ABS-CBN. ^[16]

Jackie Woo, the Japanese actor, is also one of Panaghoy’s investors and executive producers.^[3]