Tale of twins from two fathers

The Half Sisters is a Filipino family drama broadcasting over GMA 7, topbilling Barbie Forteza and Thea Tolentino, together with Derrick Monasterio, Andre Paras and Eula Valdez joining the cast recently. The story revolves around the sibling rivalry between fraternal twins Barbie and Thea, tackling for the first time on TV the rare clinical condition of hetero-paternal superfecundation, HPS for short, and in layman’s terms, twins having two different biological fathers. Eula plays a rich girl who saves Jomari Yllana from an accident leaving him with post-traumatic disorder. She will do anything to fight for him whom she has learned to love.

In an online conversation with director Mark Reyes, I asked him to explain just what the illness of hetero-paternal superfecundation is, what it does to a person and what made him choose that particular subject matter. He replied, “HPS is not actually an illness but a unique pregnancy condition of a female having twins from two different fathers. We chose it as the premise of the soap because of its dramatic possibilities and the conflict it will bring to a conservative Filipino family. And it has never been dealt with on Philippine TV. That is perhaps why the show is so successful and has stayed on the No. 1 position for several months now.

I asked direk Mark’s expectations of his current cast in Half Sisters, and his dream project. He answered, “Professionalism and commitment. I can become a strict director when it calls for it. All of them are my favorite... if they behave and stay professional! My dream project would be a re-telling of Encantadia, perhaps one of the most successful primetime soaps of the network.”

The Q&A continued: Does direk Mark write and direct the material he is working on? His response: “I sometimes wear the cap of a writer. Resiklo, which won the Best Picture in the Metro Manila Film Festival 2007, was written by yours truly. I usually write, direct and produce ‘pitch tapes’ of concepts I present to potential producers.”

What is direk’s solution to unexpected developments like an extension in the story? I understand Half Sisters, which was supposed to end in early 2015, has been extended ’til March. He replied, “You have to roll with the punches. If something suddenly happens on the set, you have to air an episode no matter what. So our extension until March is not a problem. There are even talks that we just might reach a one-year run in June. That is what we are all working hard and praying for.”

Direk Mark is very happy for the overwhelming support given to his program, and when asked for the secret of his success as a director, he answered, “A good script and a great cast. That is the formula of Half Sisters.”

Barbie, who plays the much-maligned Diana, is riding high, both as a TV and film actress. Finally, Diana is getting to stand up for herself after being put down by the show’s villains for so long. The Half Sisters has often emerged as the second most-watched daytime program in Mega Manila, next only to Eat, Bulaga!.

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