Leon Luis Nicolas

As a weary jeepney driver reflects on years of sacrifice and hardship, he works nonstop to secure a better future for his son, believing that every trip brings him closer to his dream of seeing his child become a doctor. Years later, a chance encounter in a jeepney ride reveals how far he has come and what it cost him— blurring the line between sacrifice, time, and fulfillment in a life always moving forward.

“Matumba, Taya”(Fall, You’re It.) – draws from the Filipino games Tumbang Preso and Baraha, where matumba marks a fall and pagtaya means to take a risk. As two childhood friends, Lara and Lino, grow up, their innocent play turns into a reckoning with real-world injustices—forcing them to choose whether to change the system or be changed by it.