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A History of the Philippine Soap Opera—from Radio to Teleseryes [a long thread, Part 1]
6 years ago, when I started studying the Teleserye, I made it clear to myself why the form needed to be studied historically. History will imbue it with cultural value. The opinion still holds. I find it useful in my continuing argument against its being maligned in discourse.
Our (American) miseducation, to borrow from Renato Constantino (1959), led us to believe that most of our cultural practices are inferior to what the West created. The valorization of the English language in society worsened this.
These require a sustained critical exorcism. My writing of a history of the Teleserye participates in this project of revaluing Filipino culture, which began in what Vicente Rafael calls “the long 1970s.”
Radio historian Elizabeth Enriquez (2008) reports that early forms of soap operas began to air on radio in 1938. The form continues to be patronized up to this moment, because many people still rely on radio as a medium of communication and information.
It must be noted that the form has long been discontinued in many contexts in the West, after it had successfully transitioned to TV around the 1950s to 1960s.
The soap opera transitioned to Pinoy TV in 1962 through writer-director Jose Miranda Cruz's suspense-thriller Hiwaga sa Bahay na Bato of ABS-CBN. Most of the early TV soaps were adaptations of radio drama material.
Arguably, the most successful is Lina Flor’s Gulong ng Palad, the 1949 radio rich boy-poor girl family drama hit. It was adapted into the tube in 1977 by Flor’s sister Loida Flores-Viriña.
If we do the math, the soap opera has been in existence in the country for 82 years. TV soap operas are comparatively young at 58. Despite this, longevity on air alone compels for a critical, extensive, and historical study.
The soap opera in the Philippines evolved in four periods, with the last, a continuously unfolding phase: Institution of Tradition and Convention (1938-1962); Period of TV Transition (1962-1986); Period of Competition (1986-2000); and Period of Transformation (2000-).
The Institution of Tradition and Convention ranges from the rise of the early forms of radio soap, introduced and perpetrated by the Americans, until its adaptation into TV. Dramas here were shaped both by local narrative and dramatic traditions as well as Hollywood.
Most lasted very long. Gulong ng Palad ran from 1949 to 1956.
Notable soaps, aside from Gulong ng Palad: Kuwentong Kapitbahay, considered the very first radio soap opera; Kuwentong Kutsero, a socio-political satire co-produced by Horacio de la Costa and written by Epifanio Matute; the domestic drama Ilaw ng Tahanan by Liwayway Arceo;...
The drama anthology Aklat ng Pag-ibig by Genoveva Matute; and the metrical romance-inspired Principe Amante by Clodualdo del Mundo Sr. These soaps were very successful, and were consequently turned into blockbuster films.
Take note that the writers were sterling names in Philippine Literature. This supports my argument that indeed, the form was literary and culturally rooted, nurtured by the best writers during its inception. Because of them, the soap opera fully blossomed after the war.
The Period of Transition begins from the form’s transition to TV until the Marcoses were kicked out of office in 1986. Marcos is very important to mention here as he was instrumental in the stunting of the growth of the soap opera between 1972 and 1986.
The soap could have evolved exponentially, had Marcos not controlled TV for his own purposes. Censorship and cronyism brought decline to TV, which initially began to flourish in the 1950s because of growing investment and competition.
In spite of this, the period still bred notable soaps: Hiwaga sa Bahay na Bato; the didactic drama Santa Zita and Mary Rose; Gulong ng Palad and many others adapted from radio; Anna Liza and Flordeluna, which popularized the Julie Vega and Janice de Belen rivalry;...
Jose Miranda Cruz’s Yagit; and the TAPE series Heredero, which catapulted the soap writing career of Gina Marissa Tagasa. Many of these were taped using a single camera set up, and within the confines of a studio. Watch this clip of Anna Liza.
The Period of Competition begins after Edsa Revolution. The democratization of broadcasting opened the market once again, animated by the spirit of a changing world and economic globalization.
From a long hiatus since its Martial Law shutdown, ABS-CBN resurrected and staged an all-out war against GMA Network. The competition intensified. The “duopoly” set the directions for Philippine broadcasting and the networks' diversification of interests.
A highlight of this period is the “Latin American fever” from 1996 onwards. Mexican telenovela Marimar, first offered to the duopoly but was ignored and which RPN bought along with other Spanish language series, overran newscast TV Patrol in the ratings game.
This led to the steady migration of soaps to primetime, from the conventional late afternoon block.
To its credit, GMA started this trend a year earlier, through Viva Films-produced Villa Quintana, a Romeo and Juliet story. It steadily took a lot of viewers away from TV Patrol every night.
When ABS-CBN had to finally contend with Marimar, it tapped its afternoon Judy Ann Santos soap Mara Clara. For a long while, it will be the face of TV soap operas—complex and long winding.
