''Mila'' is a 2001 Filipino drama film directed by Joel C. Lamangan from a screenplay written by

Ricky Lee Ricardo Arreola Lee ONA (born March 19, 1948) is a Filipino screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and playwright. Starting in 1973, he has written more than 180 film screenplays and collaborated with many of the Philippines' most notable film di ...

, based on the life story of Anita Pamintuan. Starring Maricel Soriano in the title role, the film revolves around a public school teacher who joined a strike where she and her fellow educators demanded the government increase their wages and benefits. It co-stars

Piolo Pascual Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual (, born January 12, 1977) is a Filipino actor, model, singer, television host, comedian and film producer. Pascual began a career in 1993 after landing a bit role in the film ''The Vizconde Massacre Story (God Help ...

, Princess Punzalan,

Cherry Pie Picache Cherry Pie Sison Picache (born May 27, 1970) is a Filipino actress. Known primarily for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters and television productions, she has received numerous accolades, including two Durban Internati ...

Kaye Abad Katherine Grace "Kaye" Cosme Abad-Castillo (born May 17, 1982) is a Filipino actress. Abad started in 1993 and is a member of ABS-CBN's Star Magic. She was launched as a member of Star Circle (now Star Magic Batch 3) in 1996. Career Kaye Aba ...

, Serena Dalrymple,

Jiro Manio Jiro Manio (born 9 May 1992) is a Filipino former actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the drama film ''Magnifico'' (2003), for which he won the Gawad Urian for Best Actor at age 12, making him the youngest-ever ...

and Angelica Panganiban. Produced and distributed by Star Cinema, it was theatrically released on June 27, 2001, as part of the film studio's 8th anniversary offering. In 2018, the film was digitally restored and remastered by ABS-CBN Film Restoration, in partnership with Central Digital Lab.

Plot

Set during the administration of Corazon C. Aquino, Mila Cabangon is a public school teacher who deeply loves and cares for her students despite living with her abusive and good-for-nothing husband, whom she later leaves. One day, she and her fellow teachers went on strike after attending a meeting of the teachers' group.

Cast and characters

* Maricel Soriano as Mila Cabangon *

as Primo * Princess Punzalan as Linda *

as Rona *

as Winona * Serena Dalrymple as Jenny, a student who has been in the third grade for two years *

as Peklat * Angelica Panganiban as Leni *

Luis Alandy Adrian Louis Castro Alandy (born February 7, 1980), also known as Luis Alandy and Adran Alandy, is a Filipino actor and model. His first acting role was as David in the TV series ''Pangako Sa 'Yo''. He has since appeared in soap operas, as we ...

as Ruel *

Nonie Buencamino Anthony Buencamino, known professionally as Nonie Buencamino, is a Filipino character actor known for his television and theater work. He is strongly associated with Philippine New Wave Cinema, playing roles such as Mayor Bartolome in Jun La ...

as Nato, Mila's abusive and gambling-addicted husband *

Eva Darren Eva Darren (born June 28, 1946) is a Filipino actress. Career Darren started appearing in movies during the early 1960s. She won the FAMAS Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie ''Ang Pulubi'' (1969) starring Charito Solis. In 1998, ...

as Mila's mother * B.J. De Jesus as Boyet * Kathleen Hermosa as Teresa * Mel Kimura as Lucille * Alfred Labatos as Momoy * Don Laurel as Ronnel * Tony Mabesa as Mr. De Castro * Mario Magallona as Rambo * Bea Nicolas as Belay * Tom Olivar as Torres * Jim Pebanco as Noli Malvar *

Caridad Sanchez Caridad Yuson Sanchez-Babao (born August 1, 1930 in Mandaue) is a Filipino actress, mostly seen on GMA Network. In 1977, she played the role of Nanay Idad in the revival TV drama series based from the very successful radio soap opera (first hea ...

as Mrs. Pangan * Berting Labra as Uncle Dodoy, Mila's uncle * Soliman Cruz as Kalbo * Florencio A. Pili as Mila's co-teacher

Cameo

* Noel Cabangon as himself

Production

Development

The film was based on the life of Anita Pamintuan, a public elementary school teacher who died in 1990 following her involvement in a hunger strike organized by teachers' groups. Ricky Lee, who previously collaborated with director

Joel Lamangan Joel Lamangan (born September 21, 1952) is a Filipino film director, television director, actor, and comedian. His award-winning films include '' The Flor Contemplacion Story'', '' Sidhi'', '' Deathrow'', ''Hubog'', '' Aishte Imasu 1941'', ''Bl ...

in films including ''

Himala ''Himala'' ('Miracle') is a 1982 Philippine religious drama film directed by Ishmael Bernal and produced by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines. It stars Nora Aunor as a young woman living in the province who claims to have seen a Marian ...

'' (1982), ''Pangako ng Kahapon'' (1994), and '' The Flor Contemplacion Story'' (1995), conducted research about her after he was lingered from seeing a photo of her lifeless body at a newspaper and eventually, made into a screenplay. Lee originally pitched the screenplay to various film producers in 1992 and

Nora Aunor Nora Cabaltera Villamayor (May 21, 1953 – April 16, 2025), known professionally as Nora Aunor (), was a Filipino actress, producer and singer. Known for her leading roles with patriotic, feminist and Political sociology, socio-political th ...

considering for the role but it never realized. Finally, after years of being part of Lee's unproduced works, Star Cinema, which received box-office successes in the past year, gave a green light to the project.

MTRCB rating controversy

Despite the film having no "adult-aimed" themes, it was almost given an R-18 rating by the MTRCB due to the two uses of severe profane words uttered by the characters of Maricel Soriano and Cherry Pie Picache. Joel Lamangan, the film's director, criticized the censor board and blamed them as the "destroyer of the Philippine film industry" after MTRCB chair Anding Roces gave the said rating to the film. The censor board finally gave the film a PG-13 rating instead of R-18 to settle the issue.

Marketing

As part of the film's release, Star Cinema launched a nationwide essay-writing contest named "Sino ang Mila sa Buhay Ko – The Greatest Teacher In My Life", where participants would create an essay about their ''Mila'' in their lives. The panelists for the contest were the film's screenwriter Ricky Lee; singer and youth role model Cris Villonco; Etta Rosales, the representative of

Akbayan The Akbayan Citizens' Action Party, better known as Akbayan (), is a Social democracy, social democratic and Progressivism, progressive List of political parties in the Philippines, political party in the Philippines. The party is noted as a l ...

party-list; Benilda Santos, the chairperson of Ateneo de Manila University - Filipino Department; and Tammy Bejerano, the senior creative manager of the film studio.

Release

The film was first premiered in the Philippines on June 26, 2001, at SM Megamall and had a general release on the following day. It had a Philippine television premiere on

Cinema One Cinema One (also called C1 and stylized as C1NEMAONE) is a Philippine pay television channel targeted to the Filipino diaspora. It is owned by Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. Its prog ...

and a world premiere on

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

Recognitions

FAMAS

*Nominated Best Child Actor for Jiro Manio at the 2002 FAMAS Awards.

Gawad Urian

*Nominated Best Actress for Maricel Soriano at the 2002 Gawad Urian Awards.

References

External links

* 2001 films Philippine drama films Star Cinema films Star Cinema drama films Films directed by Joel Lamangan Films with screenplays by Ricky Lee Films produced by Charo Santos-Concio Films produced by Malou N. Santos Films scored by Jessie Q. Lasaten Films about educators Films about teacher–student relationships Films set in Metro Manila Films shot in Metro Manila Films set in 1991 {{2000s-Philippines-film-stub