Maghihintay Pa Rin

Synopsis

The story begins with Geneva de Villa a wealthy young lady who, despite having all the riches, longs for the love of a complete family. Right after her father died, all her mother Rio did is to tend their business, the De Villa Maritime Corporation and Manning Agency and treat their employees unfairly.

In the same company, Geneva meets Kiko Sebastian, whose father works in De Villa's agency. While working abroad, his father got sick and eventually died. Like any other case, Kiko didn't get any help from the agency. Fortunately, Geneva helps him until they became friends and developed feeling for each other.

Despite Rio's refusal of their relationship, Geneva fights for her love for Kiko and willingly endures the hardships of being poor. She will then meet Kiko's mother, Trinidad and siblings Cholo, Lita, and Bebot. She will also get close to one of Kiko's friends named Orlando Ramirez, who secretly admires Geneva.

Still adjusting to their situation, Kiko's mother unfortunately suffers a heart attack and needs to undergo an operation as soon as possible. Because of lack of money, Kiko decides to work in Singapore with high hopes that their current situation will get better. Between struggling everyday lives and challenges in communication, Kiko and Geneva prove that distance means so little when someone means so much. Kiko crosses paths with Grace Lim, a Filipino-Chinese businesswoman in Singapore, who will help him look for a better job, while Geneva is being pursued by Orlando. But true love finds its way because Geneva flies to Singapore to visit Kiko.

Finally deciding to come back home to the Philippines, Kiko bids farewell to Grace, which the latter refuses. She sets up Kiko and accuses him of rape. Kiko will be sent to jail and sentenced to death. Upon knowing the unfortunate fate of Kiko in Singapore, Geneva desperately seeks her mother's help. In exchange, Geneva agrees to her mother's wish for her to marry Orlando, who is now affluent.

Seven years later after Kiko was released in prison at Singapore and Geneva gives birth to their son, Franz. Geneva ends up being physically abused and imprisoned at home by Orlando who becomes extremely jealous towards her due to her feelings for Kiko and also involves her son from Kiko. But after Kiko reveals that he had a son with Geneva, he decides to save them both from Orlando's physical abuse. After reuniting with both of them which Kiko reveals to his son Franz that he was his father and Franz was happily accepts him.

Towards the end of the series, Kiko, Geneva and Franz are travelling in Cebu by plane. But they are unaware that Orlando was there on the plane and wants to kill them. Both Kiko and Orlando are fighting each other for the gun inside the plane until Kiko accidentally pulls the trigger and shoots Orlando to his stomach, killing him. Their flight is soon postponed after the incident where Kiko, Geneva and Franz are seen leaving the airport.

After the incident, Geneva finally makes peace with her mother and later reunites with her own family with Kiko and their son, Franz.

Cast and characters

Production and development

Conceptualized by Richard Cruz and developed by Kit Villanueva-Langit, the project—which initially titled as Hindi Kita Iiwan (lit. I Will Never Leave You)—was put on the fast track by the network for a second week of June 2013 premiere. On the mid-part of April 2013, a detailed breakdown of the script was released, containing information on the plot and characters which would be in the series. It also revealed the names of two of the three actors chosen for the lead roles. However, during the casting process of the show, several revisions were made.

Executive producer, Darling Pulido-Torres described the show a reminiscent of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but not a "stereotypical romance". She also added that the series is especially dedicated for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) around the world.

Bianca King and Dion Ignacio were personally chosen by the network management to portray the lead characters and were the first two actors to be cast. King was signed on to play Geneva de Villa, a Richie-rich young lass "who will do everything in the name of love." King summarized her character as being intelligent, brave and compassionate – far from the usual "damsel in distress" roles she portrayed in her past projects. Ignacio was originally cast as Kiko Sebastian but ended up portraying the other love interest, Orlando Ramirez, following some changes made in the series' story lines. Rafael Rosell originally auditioned for Orlando. But the producers asked him to audition for the character of Kiko Sebastian as they envisioned him as Kiko, and so he got the said role.

Production began on the mid-part of May 2013. Most of the scenes were shot on location in Quezon City. They also filmed several scenes (good for two-week episodes) in Singapore. Filming locations were chosen by the series' director Don Michael Perez and by production designer Melvin Lacerna.

Reception

The series is considered a "rating success" from its premiere episode. According to the widely recognized TV ratings data supplier Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, based on overnight household data recorded in National Urban Philippines for June 10 (pilot), the series scored 9.3% household rating versus ABS-CBN's Dugong Buhay with 7.1% ratings. In Urban Luzon, the series scored 10.7% household ratings compared to its counterpart program with 6% while in Mega Manila, Maghihintay Pa Rin posted 11.7% household rating against its counterpart program with 6%.