magnifico

The film opens with the birth of Magnifico (also called Ikoy in the film). It is clearly discernible at the outset that the boy was born in to a rural poor family. His father, Gerry, is a carpenter but does not have regular employment. It was Gerry who christened him Magnifico because he enjoyed watching a magician by that same name. Magnifico’s mother, Edna, augments the family income by stitching embroideries. Their house is a dilapidated hollow-blocks-and-wood structure typical in rural Philippines. They were so impoverished that they could only prepare soup and noodles for the town fiesta. At one point Edna had to pawn her wedding ring so they could have food on their table.
The story actually begins when Magnifico turned nine. His brother, Miong, has just lost his much-needed scholarship from a university in the capital city Manila. This was a heavy blow because Gerry pinned his hopes on Miong to save the family from poverty. His grandmother, Magda, who lives with Magnifico’s family, figured in a serious accident and had to be hospitalized. In the hospital it was discovered that Magda had pancreatic cancer. This was another backbreaking blow because part of Gerry’s meager income would now go to medical expenses. As if these problems were not exasperating enough, Magnifico’ sister Helen had cerebral palsy, which rendered her incapable of self-mobility and comprehensible speech. Burdened by such seemingly insurmountable difficulties, Edna lustily sighed, “life is a never-ending misery”.
But whole throughout the film life proved to be a series of small marvels. When Magnifico heard whispers that his grandmother Magda would soon die and that his family was incapable of shouldering the sky-high burial expenses, he innocently devised a secret plan. Employing the help of his school buddy Carlo, he covertly began constructing a wooden coffin. For materials he asked scrap wood from a local woodcarving shop and borrowed carpentry tools from his neighbors. And