It is not unusual for us to receive comments for what we have written in this column and elsewhere which we have always acknowledged. However, nothing beats the letter we received from Ginny L commenting on our piece The Best of Philippine TV July 2011 – July 2012 that came out in The STAR on its recent anniversary issue.
Ginny wrote, “I am disappointed and sad that the highly ambitious and TV landscape-changing project Amaya by GMA 7 network did not merit a slot among your Top 26. As a concerned viewer, that’s how I feel about Amaya — a great TV offering in a long, long time that left such an indelible impact on my mind and such pride in my heart as a Filipino… I believe the show and its proponents have already achieved an even higher and more important goal… than entertainment, thus Amaya deserves its good and much-earned place in television history…”
We were so touched by Ginny’s defense of Amaya, we decided to look back at why it was missed out on our list and came up with the following. We admit to not having watched more than three or four episodes of Amaya, simply because we confess to a bias against unprofessionally and hastily done costume pictures, without realizing this one was simply not one run-of-the-mill type. So sorry about that! And another reason was because, our interest was diverted to 100 Days to Heaven which aired opposite Amaya, and which starred Coney Reyes whom we personally know.
With our interest sparked by Ginny’s letter, we decided to research and found a long report on Wikipedia, which we have condensed below:
Amaya is the first Philippine historical fiction epic-serye set in the Visayas mid-15th century prior to the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. Created and developed by Suzette Doctolero for GMA Network and directed by Mac Alejandre, it premiered May 30, 2011 and ended last Jan. 13.
Produced at an overall cost of P150M, it had a cast of thousands from mainstream and theater, in large and small roles that included Marian Rivera as Amaya, Mikael Daez as Lumad, Sid Lucero as Marian’s love interest Bagani, Aljur Abrenica as Dayaw, Gardo Versoza, Lani Mercado, Gina Alajar, Daniel Fernando, Ayen Munji-Laurel, Raymond Bagatsing, Ryan Eigenmann, Buboy Villar, Aubrey Miles, Diana Zubiri, Ronnie Lazaro, Yasmien Kurdi, Ana Feleo, Rocco Nacino, Juan Rodrigo, Deborah Sun, Yutaka Yamakawa, Spanky Manikan, Rustica Carpio, Archie Adamos and Dingdong Dantes as Magellan.
Extensive research was spent during pre-production, which involved historians Dr. Vic Villan and Prof. Neil Santillan of the UP History Department who helped guide in the re-creation of early Filipino culture in architecture, weaponry, jewelry made by jewelers of Meycauayan, and fashion with some textile material for costumes imported from various Southeast Asian countries.
To create a pre-colonial setting, sets were built in Pagsanjan, Laguna; Bolinao, Pangasinan; in addition to the use of existing pre-Spanish structures from Bagac, Bataan. Production also built an ancient warship known as Karakoa at a cost of P2M. An all-original musical score was composed by Von de Guzman. The theme song was composed by Ogie Alcasid and sung by Gian Magdangal.
Amaya earned a citation from the National Historical Commission and the DepEd for its depiction of Filipino culture, beliefs, traditions and mores in the Pre-Hispanic era and for its teaching of the history of early Philippines, previously passed on as oral literature through generations. Amaya also received recognition from the Meycauayan Jewelry Industry Association of 135 jewelers for the promotion of the country’s rich jewelry-making heritage. The series also won the 2011 Anak TV Seal Award as one of the Top 10 Most Child-Friendly Program on television.
Malaysia TV Network, TV3, announced recently that they have acquired the rights to air the show in their network within 2012.
(E-mail your comments to bibsy_2011@yahoo.com.)