Forevermore Begins

October 6, 2014. 6AM. Sun was up. The creative team of Forevermore arrived in a transient home/mini-hotel in Sto. Domingo, Benguet. 40 minutes away from Baguio City proper. We would be staying there for a couple of days, weeks… We were not even sure for how long. Just a few kilometers away was the location we coined “La Presa”, where the love story of Agnes and Xander would begin and develop.

Liza woke up early to prepare for her first taping day for "Forevermore".

At the transient homes’ kitchen, I saw Liza Soberano. It was two hours before her call time on the set,  yet she was already preparing. She was reading the script, putting markers on her lines and studying her Tagalog. I even joked at her, “excited ah!” She actually was, and nervous at the same time, she admitted. Oo nga naman, it was her her first serye. Primetime pa. At siya ang unang kukunang mga eksena under Cathy Garcia Molina’s direction lang naman. She felt she couldn’t go wrong.

Visiting the breathtaking location

By 8AM, Liza and the other cast, and the creative team went to “La Presa” to check the location, para ma-visualize naming what scenes we can come up with. Maputik, actually. Hindi kami prepared. But we were impressed sa view, at sa mga tanim na strawberries. We thought magagandahan ang viewers. And nakakatuwa yung pagiging friendly at cooperative ng mga tao sa community do’n.

Our transient place in Benguet

May mga bibe akong nakita,,, Sa set.

We went back sa transient after an hour, leaving Liza and the rest of the production team to tape. Our work in creative had to start – we had an October 27 airing date, at hindi pa buo ang pilot week script. Sobrang unforgettable for me yun because, dahil sa tagtag ng byahe, my laptop was reformatted. All my files and applications were wiped out, wala pa akong back up. Dun ko na-realize how hard it could be for us. Walang signal masyado ang internet so I could download MS Word at least. Kailangan naming maghintay ng service to take us to city proper dahil may schedule ang jeepney, at punuan pa. So talagang pag may gusto kaming ipabili, isahan at ililista kung sa sino man ang luluwas. I even had to buy one of my teammates coat na binili niya sa ukay ukay days later, dahil hindi kaya ng sweater na dala ko ang lamig.

The first night there was hard. Na-homesick ako bigla. Hindi ako makatulog. Iniisip ko na lang then, malamig ang panahon, maganda ang view. Tiis tiis lang. I was even talking to the stars then, trying to spell out someone’s name (meganun). May “wish you were here” moments.

Liza and I with adorable twins Joj and Jai.

Liza took a selfie on my phone before going
to the second taping day of "Forevermore"

When I woke up the following day, at around 6AM, I was still surprised to see Liza in the kitchen, having her hair done (she had to be in curls). Kasama niya na no’n sina Joj and Jai Agpangan, who would play her friends in the serye. Naalala ko, dapat isa lang sa kanila ang kukunin naming. Pero sobrang natuwa si Direk Cathy sa kanila, pareho na raw. I helped Liza in some of her Tagalog lines while I was eating. Then she told me, “sana mag-rate”. I just held her hand and said, “kaya yan!”

Yves arrived in Benguet the same time and day as Enrique

By afternoon, dumating na sina Enrique Gil at Yves Flores. Busy ang production sa set, while the other writers were, well, writing and revising scripts, so ako muna nag-asikaso sa kanila pagdating nila. Their room was just across ours. After mag-unpack, the two would invite me sa garden para magchikahan, mag-bonding. Wala lang, we were just having fun kasi gabi pa or the following day pa sila kukunan.

Enrique arrived on location

The next day, I woke up at around 5AM and was pleasantly surprised to see Enrique, um, shirtless, inaantok pa while his hair was being fixed. When he saw me, he hugged me and greeted me, “good morning Princess France”. I was like, “naka-shirtless talaga?” He just laughed. Hello, below 20 degrees Celsius ang temperature and he didn’t have a shirt on?!?! I didn’t mind. Magrereklamo pa ba ako, Sexiest Man that time ang Enrique niyo.

I didn’t really get to be on the set because busy rin kami mag-brainstorming at sumulat-sulat. Si Ate Rona Co ang laging writer on the set! But based sa mga usapan at sa mga feedback, Liza and Enrique were doing well naman daw. May ilangan pa rin, but Direk Cathy was really helpful especially kay Liza para ilabas ang best niya. At pag may nakikita kaming rushes, nae-excite kami seeing how they bring life to their characters, at sa scenery at backdrop. Panalo ito.

By the end of the week, kinailangan kong bumaba pa-Manila because it was my father’s birthday, at naho-homesick na. OFW feels kasi ang layo at ilang bundok ang pagitan niyo. I said goodbye to the team,and Enrique and Liza. In fairness, I noticed, mas malapit na sila sa isa’t isa. May biruan na. Nagtatabi na sila. Kinikilig na ako. At ilang araw pa lang ito ha.

Matagal-tagal rin bago ako nakabalik sa Benguet. The team decided na baka mas OK kung nasa Manila ako, since ako rin ang magha-hashtag ng serye. Walang signal masyado sa “La Presa” e. So I would just email them my inputs. At that point, Mark Angos has joined the team as co-headwriter. Ako naman, makikibalita lang kung kumusta ang mga ganap sa taas, and I would check sometimes ang mga materyal na binababa from Benguet, especially nung pa-trailer launch na.

When I first saw the full trailer, hours ahead of its launch on air, kinilig ako. Ang refreshing on screen dahil sa location, at dahil sa LizQuen. Perfect match, ika nga. At ibang-iba, unexpected Liza ang makikita dito. That moment, I thought, “she is Agnes”.

Afterwards, I had the pilot episode hashtag approved: #ForevermoreBegins.

Hours before our pilot episode on October 27, Liza and I were exchanging texts. I remember texting her, “this is it Li.” She replied, “Thanks. I’m nervous and excited.” I was too. We were too. Suddenly, sa kabila ng mga saya namin sa finished product by far, na-ground to reality kami na we are introducing a new loveteam, with no fanbase yet. May kaba. But in the end, nanaig ang pananabik na we are giving something new on primetime. Tiwala lang

La Presa

I was with my family during the pilot episode. Sila sa La Presa magkakasama to watch. After the airing, I checked Twitter. We were no. 1 trending worldwide! Then I checked the comments… Generally positive: Refreshing. Magaan. Ang ganda ng Benguet. Ang gwapo ni Enrique. Magaling pala si Liza. Something to look forward nightly.

But best of all, by the end of our Week 1 airing, after batuhin ni Agnes si Xander ng bilog na gulay (repolyo, tama ba?) at mahulog sa putikan, hooked na ang sambayanan! Everyday no. 1 trending. May mga gusto nang dumalawa ng La Presa. The ratings went up, reaching 30% by Day 5. Nagkaka-fanbase na ang LizQuen. The “Forevermore fever” is on.

By Week 2, it was time for me to go back to Benguet. Now, the challenge for all of us was how to keep the growing “Forevermore” mania at its high. But two things I knew I brought with me when I went back to La Presa: the series was a hit, and LizQuen was officially born.