By KYNESHA ROBLES
The first night of our family weekend trip in Laguna coincided with the release of Mga Kwentong “Epik: Maria Makiling” on Netflix. Our house for the weekend sat near the foot of Mount Makiling, so my siblings and I hunkered down in our bedroom with my laptop and binged through the Filipino fantasy show. Our bedroom window was open to a view of coconut trees, and we teased each other about who we’d sacrifice first lest an aswang crawled through it, as it did in the first episode.
In the six-episode original series produced by Epik Studios, Maria Makiling’s story gets a retelling. A young woman, voiced by Ryza Cenon, embarks on an adventure in search of her adoptive mother’s past and finds out she is Maria Makiling herself. In Filipino folklore, Maria Makiling is the goddess of Mount Makiling in Laguna, sent by Bathala to protect and prosper its bounty. The show also incorporates other Filipino folklore characters into the story, such as aswang, nuno, maligno, lewenri, Pedro Penduko, Bernardo Carpio, and more.
Alternating between animated motion comic and live-action storytelling, the show is narrated by Bodjie Pascua. Kuya Bodjie, as he is more fondly known, also hosted other educational children’s programs in his storied acting career, including Batibot and Epol Apple. The show is reminiscent of Filipino afternoon cartoons, in part to Kuya Bodjie’s warm presence on the screen.
In a behind-the-scenes post shared by Epik Studios on Facebook, the series was filmed and produced in the midst of strict COVID lockdowns and protocols, when uncertainty gripped the creative and media industry. The studio now celebrates the series as part of Netflix’s Trending Now list.
Many Filipinos, including my siblings and I, are excited to see and advocate for more mythological and folkloric retellings in popular media. Epik Studios’ “Maria Makiling” has rekindled interest in Filipino folklore and has received glowing reviews online.
“Mga Kwentong Epik: Maria Makiling” is now streaming on Netflix.
