ADDU Honors Edjop Through Film Screening, Conversation, and Candlelighting
Ateneo de Davao University commemorated the life and legacy of Edgar “Edjop” Jopson through a two-part program on 18 and 21 September 2026, combining a student screening of EDJOP: The Movie with a campus conversation and a candlelighting ceremony for those who stood for democracy and human rights during Martial Law.
Bringing Edjop to the new generation
On 18 September, Ateneans watched EDJOP: The Movie in a student block screening across three cinemas at SM City Davao, days after the film’s nationwide release. The film chronicles the life of Jopson, the student activist who rose to national prominence in the years leading up to and during the Marcos regime. He was killed in 1982 in a military encounter along Skyline in Davao City, where he had gone underground.
The program introduced his story to a new generation of Ateneans, highlighting his ties to Davao and Mindanao, which shaped his analysis of the region’s socio-political conditions. Discussions centered on courage, leadership, and social responsibility, and on a guiding question: what kind of leaders are we being called to become in our own time?
Rather than a standard film screening, the program was framed as a formative experience that led participants through the film, a recounting of history, personal reflection, the Examen, and a call to commitment. The approach draws on the University’s mission of forming students as persons for and with others: leaders who are historically conscious, socially engaged, discerning, and responsive to the realities of their communities.
More than a film event
In an interactive dialogue held at Arrupe Hall and the Bapa Benny Tudtud Auditorium, participants reflected on how Jopson’s story moved or disturbed them, what courage means today, where injustice persists in their communities, and what responsibility they hold beyond themselves.
The program subsequently culminated in a candlelighting ceremony held at the Sunken Garden in time with the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. Students paused to remember Jopson and all who stood for democracy and human rights during that period, and renewed their commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship.
The University hopes that the experience will continue to inspire Ateneans to become persons for and with others, carrying forward Jopson’s courage in the service of truth, justice, and the common good.
