Why Filipinos love watching Wings Of Love

University professor Tots Aguila does not watch teleseryes until he encountered ABS-CBN’s On The Wings Of Love starring James Reid and Nadine Lustre.

“It’s the only teleserye that I ever watched in my entire life,” exclaimed Tots.

When asked what made him hooked on On The Wings Of Love, Tots excitedly explained, “It’s addicting because the narrative is believable and the characters are not too larger than life. The characters are very human, too. They are people that viewers can relate to.”

Tots is just one of the millions of fans across all ages who is part of the OTWOLista pack, a group of people who religiously watch On The Wings Of Love.

On Twitter, OTWOListas usually express that the kilig factor brought by the love team of James and Nadine, who play Clark and Leah in the hit primetime teleserye.

Clark and Leah are a breath of fresh air on Philippine TV. The teleserye tweaks the boy-meets-girl story by making the main protagonists hail from working class backgrounds and share the same dream of providing a better life for their families back in the Philippines.

Their paths crossed in the US when Tita Jack (Cherry Pie Picache) the mom of Leah’s ex-boyfriend Jigs (Albie Casiño), suggested that Leah can marry Clark, her nephew who is a US citizen, so Leah can secure a green card.

Clark, on the other hand, agreed to marry Leah in exchange for a big sum of money so he can pay his debt. But Clark and Leah’s pretend game as a married couple blossoms into romance as they get closer.

“James and Nadine make a very classic couple and they can play all kinds of roles because they have very minimal limitations as actors,” said Tots, who teaches literature in UST. “They can kiss onscreen and can portray more mature roles. That is probably the reason why their chemistry is so powerful.”

The Philippine STAR business journalist Zinnia dela Peña and her colleague from a different broadsheet, Maricel Burgonio, have suddenly turned back into their gushing teenage selves because of Clark and Leah.

According to Zinnia, she makes it a point to do catch-up viewing online when she misses an episode on TV.

“James and Nadine are effortlessly charming. In an industry where genuine romantic chemistry is extremely hard to come by, they undoubtedly have it. I can’t get enough of these two,” Zinnia shared.

Maricel meanwhile, admitted that On The Wings Of Love is a stress reliever and it serves as her bonding time with her daughter. She said, “The kilig moments, kissing scenes, and the romance make the teleserye a huge hit. The storyline, too, is very entertaining, there isn’t a dull moment in On the Wings of Love.

Tots, Zinnia and Maricel represent the collective avid behavior of OTWOListas that has pushed the teleserye to be a consistent top-rating program nationwide since it aired and made it the No. 1 most watched program on iWant TV for two months in a row, with a whopping 4.4M total views for October alone.

The kilig is also very evident even beyond TV screens. At the recent On The Wings Of Love mall show, OTWOListas shrieked wildly in a jam-packed Market! Market! as James and Nadine went on stage to sing their teleserye’s theme song. The shrieking further escalated when James and Nadine led the launch of otwolista.com, the official fan site for certified OTWOListas where they can see exclusive photos and videos from the well-loved teleserye.

But the limelight is not always on Clark and Leah’s love story. On The Wings Of Love sheds light on issues present in our modern times. The teleserye constantly reiterates the value of marriage through Leah’s father, Tatang Sol (Joel Torre); it presents the challenges of single parents in the characters of Tatang Sol, Tita Jack and Manang Tiffany (Bianca Manalo); and it touched on the difficulty for lesbian parents like Tita Jack to reveal to their children their true sexuality and how children like Jigs react to it.

Another reason why On The Wings Of Love has gained immense popularity among Filipinos worldwide is because it serves as a platform for people to become aware of OFW issues. A lot of our OFWs could relate to the characters and the plot.

Since it debuted, the series consistently shows the challenges Filipinos encounter abroad; their attempted solutions to secure a working visa or green card; the presence of the bayanihan spirit overseas among fellow Filipinos; the struggle to control homesickness; and the frustrations of OFWs whose relatives spend their hard-earned money on vices.

“ABS-CBN tapped the research team of ABS-CBN in North America because we want the OFW issues featured in the teleserye to be realistic,” said executive producer Arnel Nacario.

The phenomenal success of On The Wings Of Love is partly owed, too, to first-time teleserye director Antoinette Jadaone, who is fresh from her success in the Cinema One Originals hit That Thing Called Tadhana and to veteran director Jojo Saguin.

“On The Wings Of Love changed the viewing habits of people because it’s different. ABS-CBN’s decision to take the risk to follow Antoinette’s treatment has worked and now, it is addicting. People who watch it don’t deem it as a guilty pleasure, they are proud that they love the show,” said Tots.

He is right. On The Wings Of Love has become a phenomenon because it presents a real and believable story of the Filipino people — showing that a teleserye that simply aims to be relatable and authentic can fly high.