Three sisters vie for love, attention, and validation in this emotionally-loaded family drama, helmed by the esteemed director Joel Lamangan.
The concept of siblings fighting over love and other forms of affection and validation–is not entirely new in the context of Philippine cinema or even on the small screen.
Several movies and TV shows have used the plot many times over. Of course, we are not foreign to the award-winning 1982 film Cain at Abel that starred seasoned movie stars Christopher de Leon and Phillip Salvador. The Lino Brocka classic told the fierce sibling rivalry between brothers Ellis (de Leon) and Lorenzo (Salvador).
The 2005 mystery thriller film Nasaan Ka Man, a Claudine Barretto-starrer got Jericho Rosales and Diether Ocampo pitted against each other over Barretto’s love. While the 1987 horror drama, Huwag Mong Buhayin ang Bangkay, chronicled the rivalry between brothers Robertito (Jestoni Alarcon) and Gabriel (Ricky Davao), even when the former died in a vehicular accident.
‘Pangako ng Kahapon’, the 1994 Joel Lamangan-directed film, is one of those remarkable films that took on the sibling rivalry plot. The film had the fast-rising female stars Alice Dixson, Agot Isidro, and Donna Cruz as the lead characters, while it also served as Ian de Leon’s launching vehicle toward becoming a movie star.
In the film, Dixson, Isidro, and Cruz are daughters of different women of Dante Rivero.
Dixson played as the only legitimate child. She despised her siblings from his father’s other women. When their father died, the three young women started vying for their rights over what the Tavera patriarch had left for them.
They also fell for the chaotic web of politics and crime. Agot Isidro’s character decided to run for politics that inevitably pitted her against the province’s leading political figure, played by Albert Martinez, and to whom Alice Dixson’s character married for political and economic convenience.
The film also starred Robert Arevalo, Alicia Alonzo, Edward Belaro, Amelia Baldo, Ben Agravante, Raul Caro, Vincent Berba, Raul Dimaano, and Gary Estrada. The film was shot in the province of Albay in Bicol Region.
What are your thoughts and recollection about this film? Don’t forget to drop a comment below. Browse through the photo gallery to see the set and still photos from the film:
