In the novel "Noli Me Tangere," Sisa is the mother of Basilio and Crispin, who went missing. After her sons disappeared, Sisa went insane and wandered around town looking for them. She was arrested by the Guardia Civil after discovering Basilio went while rushing home and trying to convince her sons to turn themselves in. She started to go insane after being publicly humiliated. The book does not explicitly explain Sisas death, but she is seen traversing the streets toward the books conclusion, still looking for her sons and yelling their names in a heartbreaking and eerie voice. Sisa is frequently credited as an inspiration for social justice and reform movements in the Philippines because of how her terrible fate and character have come to represent the suffering of the oppressed and marginalized in that nation.