Finding Marcos Sacol

If "Milyonaryong Mini" hadn't been revived over at ABS-CBN, I wouldn't have personally known Marcos Sacol.

Marcos Sacol is the man behind the original version of the mentioned Cebuano television series (or "Cebuanovela") and more of the most memorable TV serials that have graced local television. His most popular was "Si Goot Da Wanderpol" which told the story about a goat that defecated money. It fused comedy, drama and fantasy, and for all we know, it could have been the precursor of sorts of the fantaseryes raging in national television today.

Those who had seen it would remember the camera work as far from spectacular; sometimes the faces were too close-up or too far. In the early 90's, Mexican soap operas were having a field day. So who would have thought "Si Goot" would rouse some level of mass hysteria and that despite the absence of markedly "mestizo-looking" actors, it had created celebrities out of its main stars Julian Daan and Alan Nacorda otherwise known as comedic duo of Teban and Goliat?

Columnist-actor Kriss Relatado, who was part of the original cast, remembers being mobbed in Ozamiz City. (Ozamiz? I had to repeat after him just to be sure if I heard it right.) According to Sacol, "Si Goot Da Wanderpol" posted a 61% audience share-the highest rating ever for a local or national program aired in Cebu. "Si Goot Da Wanderpol" lasted for a good two years, and not because Cebuanos got tired of it but because its producer died, and trouble brewed as to who would helm the series. Anyhow, the moral of the story is that for Cebuano artists and a Cebuano-made production to be big outside Cebu even without the aid of a national exposure is a possibility.

But back to Marcos Sacol. I interviewed the man in an effort to retrace the birth of the "Cebuanovela," and found out that his other works were purposely translated into Tagalog and were nationally televised such as the Channel 9's "Gintong Kristal," "Ang Manok ni San Pedro," and "Flor De Luna" which was the launch pad of Janice de Belen. As for "Milyonaryong Mini" so popular had it become that it was made into a movie starring Anjo Yllana and John Estrada in 1996. There are other TV series that preceded Sacol's (dating back to the 70's), some of which were interestingly adapted from literature, and I could vaguely remember others that followed, but not a few would agree with me it were the works of Sacol that made a dent in the Cebuano TV landscape.

Sacol is writing anew for local television with "Gugmang Dakong Mata" to start showing today at 5:30 PM over at CCTN Channel, the coverage of which reaches Negros Occidental, Leyte to Butuan City. The story revolves around a married couple-the wife being a beauty, and the husband...well, never mind. The young woman marries the guy, not because "love is blind" but because love makes you see things beyond mere appearances. Well, if it's another work of Marcos Sacol, then this should be very interesting to watch.