The pilot episode of “Ikaw Lamang” of ABS-CBN went trending on Twitter worldwide during its pilot episode with its charming scenery of the countryside and wonderful performance of its young cast members. For Negrenses, it evoked nostalgia with Ilonggo lullaby Ili-ili (Click here for the lyrics) vast sugarcane plantations, and ancestral homes. In fact, some of these scenes where actually shot at the Ruins in Talisay.
Ikaw Lamang Story Plot
Ikaw Lamang is a period drama set in Negros in the 1960s. In the pilot episode, a young Samuel (Zaijan Jaranilla) and his family seek a new life in Salvacion, where they find jobs as sacada (sugarcane farmworkers) at an hacienda owned by the town mayor, Eduardo (Tirso Cruz III). He became friends with Eduardo’s son Franco when the latter offered to teach him how to read in exchange for his help in teaching him how to plant sugarcane among other tasks in the hacienda. The two boys eventually formed a friendship with their respective childhood friends, Mona (Xyriel Manabat) and Isabel (Alyanna Angeles). As adults, Franco, Isabel, Samuel, and Mona will be portrayed respectively by Jake Cuenca, Kim Chiu, Coco Martin, and Julia Montes.
Negros as Backdrop of Ikaw Lamang
Where is Salvacion? Salvacion is a fictitious name of a town in Negros which is the backdrop of the story of Ikaw Lamang. With its storyline, Negros is perfect as backdrop for Ikaw Lamang. When you talk of class divide and social struggle in the 1960s, there’s no other place in the Philippines that best depict this period than Negros. It’s good that ABS-CBN made an effort to be authentic by filming some scenes of the pilot episode in Negros. The musical score, cinematography and production design were also very 60’s. I will be watching the future episodes of Ikaw Lamang to hopefully see more of Negros and how the teleserye weaves its story around the life of the hacenderos and the sacadas.
What do you think of Ikaw Lamang’s pilot episode? Do you think we will expect the usual rich-poor love story? Let’s see how the plot turns.