Judy Ann Santos brings life to the character of Ploning, who waits patiently for her beau Tomas who went to Manila ten years ago. The movie's plot is based on a folk song in Cuyo, Palawan, that tells of undying love.

Since the plot of Ploning revolves around promises, PEP asked Judy Ann if she ever broke a promise in her life. "Ako kasi, ayoko na hindi ako tinutuparan ng promise, e. Kapag nag-promise ako, kahit anong mangyari, tutuparin ko 'yan. Kaya minsan sinasabi ko na 'Naku, baka hindi ako makapag-pomise'. Pero 'pag sinabi kong 'promise', pupunta ko, kahit bangkay akong dumating d'yan, pupunta talaga ko."

Mylene Dizon (in photo) replaced Iza Calzado for the role of Celeste. The GMA-7 star was unable to do the project because she is too busy shooting her primetime fantaserye Joaquin Bordado.

"I play Celeste, the woman from Manila," explains Mylene. "I would say that she is jaded. She wants to understand the simple life in Cuyo. Gusto niyang maintindihan kung bakit ang mga tao sa Cuyo ay payapa...bakit sila panatag."

In this scene, Ploning (Judy Ann Santos, right) delivers cashew nut brittle to the store where Celeste (Mylene Dizon, left) does her shopping.  Ploning director Dante Garcia explains that the women of Cuyo compare themselves to the way they cook the brittle.

Cashew is abundant in Cuyo, especially during the summer months. Aside from brittle, cashew nougat and cashew nuts are popular pasalubongs from this island.

Juday describes her character Ploning as a very mysterious woman. "Tahimik siya, ayaw pag-usapan yung pag-ibig niya. Pero alam naman ng lahat na isang tao lang ang minahal ni Ploning."

"Masyadong malumanay, lahat ng hindi ako, ayun si Ploning," quips Juday. "Kapag napanood nila ang Ploning, malalaman nila kung bakit sa isang bata lang umikot ang buhay ni Ploning. Nandun yung twist ng story."

Judy Ann poses for her fans who watch her taping this scene in the Tandang Sora plaza in Cuyo. The production team closed down the street for this scene and they tapped young Cuyonons to pass by while carrying salt using bamboo.

Why is her role as Ploning considered a mature role? "Akala kasi ng iba nagma-mature ang isang artista base sa eksenang sumisigaw o eksenang maghuhubad. Puwede ka namang maging mature na artista base sa papel na gagampanan mo."

Mylene Dizon plays Celeste, the nurse on a mission in Cuyo, Palawan. She discourages Ploning from spending her life waiting for a boy who left her ten years ago and has not been communicating with her ever since.

Meryll Soriano plays a simpleminded girl named Alma, an Ilongga who married a Cuyonon.
The actress shared that her son Elijah just turned five months old last January 27. Her estranged husband Bernard Palanca is in Australia but her mother-in-law visits her apo every two weeks.

Meryll Soriano stands at the gate of the house where the esposada scene is shot. An esposada is the local counterpart of a bridal shower.

The young actress told PEP that she turned down roles for Cinemalaya 2008 because she was shooting the movie Ploning.

(From left) Gina Pareño, Judy Ann Santos, and Meryll Soriano prepare the food for the esposada (bridal shower) scene.

Gina plays Intang, the mother of Ploning's first love Tomas. The veteran actress is all praises for Juday: "Magaan katrabaho at magaling. Luto siya nang luto, walang katapusan!

"Ang sarap niya magluto kaya lahat kami naka-abang sa kanya!"

(From left) Direk Garcia, Gina Pareño and Jojit Lorenzo ham it up for the cameras while waiting for the esposada scene to resume shooting. Production only had one camera for shooting, which is why there were long intervals between shots. The crew had to move the camera to a different position and the cast had to reshoot their scene.

Gina Pareño (leftmost) and Meryll Soriano (fifth from left) prepare food with other Cuyonons (natives of Cuyo).

The locals are known for having a laid-back lifestyle. Shops close as early as 5 pm and they eat dinner at around 6 pm. It was a change of pace for the movie team to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning just to finish the shooting of Ploning.

Judy Ann retouches her make-up as she rehearses with her dialect coach Mrs. Marie Rose Quejano (right) before a major scene using Cuyonon language. Marie Rose is just one of the many people who volunteered to coach the artists in mastering the local speech.

Ces Quesada, Crispin Pineda, and Judy Ann Santos practice their blocking before shooting their scene together.

Ces and Crispin play a couple who are caretakers of Juday's family. They are among those who want to see Ploning marry someone and raise kids of her own.

Ryan Agoncillo used two cameras to shoot behind the scenes of Ploning: a Canon 30D and a 5D model. He was very dedicated to the project and even volunteered to extend his stay so he could shoot the next batch of stars who would be taping in Cuyo.

"Dapat uuwi na siya [Judy Ann] on February 11 kasabay ko pero I need to stay for certain key scenes of the movie, so she decided to extend [her stay] as well." Now that's love!

Director Dante Garcia got the idea for the movie seven years ago and he wanted his good friend Judy Ann to star in it. Direk Ga has been styling Juday for over ten years now. In fact, Judy Ann refers to him as her "stylist for life."

Direk Ga started out as a stylist before becoming a production designer for various shows in ABS-CBN. Ploning is his directorial debut.

Ga points out the similarity of Juday with Ploning: "'Pag may intriga, Juday doesn't want to explain it kasi explain mo ngayon, makikitaan ka pa ng butas. After a while, makikita ng tao na hindi naman totoo.

"Kasi if we look back, hindi naman niya pinapatulan yung mga issue sa kanya," observes Dante.

While Cuyonon kids are playing on the set, Ryan captures photos of them with their huge smiles and carefree attitude. Ryan shows his picture of kids to Direk Ga, saying, "Itong picture na 'to, tingnan mo lang para mawala ang lungkot mo." Direk Ga smiles in agreement. 

Mylene Dizon differentiates Cuyonon women from those in the city. "Kahit matagal nang hindi niya nakikita ang mahal niya, nandun pa rin siya. Sa mga Manileño, hindi nangyayari yun, e. 'Pag wala, wala! Goodbye! Pero dito, they patiently wait and believe in their true love."

In this scene, Mylene is one of the judges who will decide which of the two groups of high school students will be able to perform the Ati-atihan in the movie Ploning.

Mylene is also an avid photographer. Aside from a digital SLR camera, she uses a Lomo Diana+ camera that uses 120 film format.

She was supposed to bring her son Tomas to Cuyo but she decided against it.

In the town plaza, two logos of Ploning are the tell-tale signs indicating a movie is being shot in this small municipality composed of 18,000 residents. There is no direct flight to this island. One will have to fly to Puerto Prinsesa first before boarding a small plane to Cuyo.

Two groups of high school students presented their Ati-atihan routines for the chance to be part of the movie Ploning. Since both teams did very well, judges Mylene Dizon, Dante Garcia, and producer Jourdan Sebastian decided to cast both groups in the movie.