Iza made the right move

MANILA, Philippines - Iza Calzado is perhaps convinced by now that she made the right decision to switch networks. After transferring to ABS-CBN (from GMA 7) last year, she can say that her first major project with the network is a resounding success.

The daily, late-night soap, Kahit Puso’y Masugatan, is set to end on Feb. 1. Since it premiered last July, the drama has kept viewers glued to their TV sets even during the holiday season. Wenn Deramas directs.

It is not surprising that Kahit Puso’y Masugatan has been a widely followed soap. To think that all the stars are working together for the first time. Direk Wenn is able to make every actor shine in the story, with respective acting highlight.

The story is not rehashed from an old drama and the twists and turns in the plot are something to really follow and look forward to.

Iza gets strong support from the other stars of the soap who play pivotal roles in the story. As Andrea, she emerges a strong and brave woman who triumphs over rape and allows love to rule her life.

Gabby Concepcion is Miguel, Andrea’s understanding, kind and rich husband who owns a company. Jake Cuenca is Miguel’s only son, Rafael, from his first marriage (with Mickey Ferriols’ character). Rafael is the first one who falls in love with Andrea but later turns out her rapist when she decides to marry his father (“sa sobrang selos, galit o inggit.”)

Andi Eigenmann plays a serious, adult role as Veronica, Miguel’s adopted daughter who later falls for his son, Rafael. Interestingly, Veronica is also Andrea’s foster sister when they were younger but ends up foes when they become adults. This is because Andrea later decides to marry Miguel when Rafael gets Veronica pregnant.

The soap gets strong support from Jaclyn Jose as Esther, Andrea’s adoptive mom after her real mother (Mylene Dizon), a cop, gets killed in a shootout. There’s also Barbara Perez as Doña Cleotilde, Rafael’s abuelita (grandmother) and mother-in-law of Miguel with his first wife.

Cris Villanueva plays Bong, the gay doctor-bestfriend of Miguel who gets robbed and stabbed to near-death by his lover. Malou de Guzman is Madonna, Miguel’s older sister who gets to run his household when he becomes a widower.

DJ Durano is Andrea’s Tito-Ninong Luis, a zealous cop married to Salve, a former night club girl, played by Jenny Miller. Assunta de Rossi is Belen, Veronica’s mom who gets jailed for a long time in the Middle East when she kills her employer who attempts to rape her.

Robi Domingo is Gerald, an executive in Miguel’s company who falls for Veronica but ends up not marrying her when he finds out that she is only marrying him for convenience. Matthew Mendoza plays Gerald’s father. They both work for Miguel’s company.

From Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) teens, making his acting debut is Kit Thompson as Ambet, the son of Esther and the younger of her two children. The other child is played by Pamu Pamorada (second place winner in PBB last year) as Becca.

Joey Paras is Bryan, the gay friend of Andrea whom she got to know while working in a hotel in Macau. Marx Topacio is Balong, Andrea’s childhood friend who rescued her from the syndicate even when they were still kids.

For a few episodes, former PBB teens winner Myrtle Sarroza made her acting debut as Monique and Yves Flores (who also joined PBB teens) played one of her love interests as Mico (the other being Kit/Ambet).

Iza manages to successfully pull off the soap for almost seven months with interesting story developments night after night. She gets romantically involved with the two male leads.

Initially, she was the girlfriend of Rafael, but their romance ends when Veronica comes into the picture and gets pregnant with Rafael’s baby. To get away from it all, Andrea chooses to work in Macau. There, she got to know Miguel better. He went to Macau on a business trip.

ABS-CBN evidently gave Iza a good maiden project, where she can display her acting talent. Long before she moved to the network, it will be remembered that Iza played a bit role as Piolo Pascual’s wife in the movie Milan (which also topbilled Claudine Barretto), produced by Star Cinema.

Now that she is with ABS-CBN, Iza stands to get better projects even after Kahit Puso’y Masugatan. It will be tough to follow a successful soap so Iza has to carefully study her future projects which can highlight her acting talent.