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WATCH: Cagayan’s Buntun Bridge before Ulysses in drama series ‘Loving Emily’

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Miguel Dumaual, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/life/11/18/20200818-loving-emily.jpg"/><figcaption>‘Loving Emily’ features numerous destinations in Cagayan, including Buntun Bridge. In the iWant TFC original series, Iza Calzado portrays a family woman who falls in love with a younger man. <em>iWant TFC</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — After a year-long delay, the Cagayan-set drama series “Loving Emily” has finally debuted, notably amid widescale devastation in the province — a fortuitous timing which its director and lead star hope will bring a positive reminder to those displaced the deluge.</p><p>The iWant TFC original series, directed by Tuguegarao-born Gerardo Calagui, stars Iza Calzado as the title character, a family woman, whose journey of self-love leads her to an affair with a much younger man, portrayed by Jameson Blake.</p><p>&quot;It’s a personal film for me,” Calagui told ABS-CBN News. “My ideas and notions of love first happened in Cagayan, when I was much younger than I am now. Tuguegarao was my starting point. And when we talk about love, it’s always about the starting point for me.”</p><p>Emily’s love story is told through 7 episodes, which feature numerous Cagayan destinations, including Buntun Bridge. In the series’ trailer, Emily and her lover, Vince, are seen crossing the bridge on a motorcycle.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p7qNa_tnmts?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>That idyllic depiction of the bridge is a stark contrast to its images seen in the news in the past week, as Typhoon Ulysses caused the Cagayan River to swell and almost reach the structure.</p><p>The sight of Buntun Bridge nearly submerged, to Cagayan officials, was enough to call the flooding the worst in the province’s history.</p><p>Cagayan has since been placed under a state of calamity. At least 9 people have died due to the unprecedented floods, while 13,2018 families or 47,081 were affected.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1W9BvBPj_3A?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>“It’s a song we offer to Cagayanos who are really undergoing so much suffering at the moment, because of lost loved ones and damaged homes,” Calagui said.</p><p>“This one goes out to all of my fellow Cagayanos. It’s very heartbreaking really. This is being released at a time when Cagayan is going through so much. We offer it as a song to them, as our way of expressing our sympathies and reaching out to them.”</p><p>The November 18 premiere of “Loving Emily” comes over a year after it started filming in Tuguegarao City in May 2019. It was due for additional shoots early this year, but the coronavirus lockdown derailed the production. A revision in the story allowed previously filmed footage to be presented as a complete series, according to Calagaui.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5XPezRmAkeY?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Calzado, who recalled once asking if the series would still come out, agreed that the coincidence of its release may be a way of sharing hope to those affected by the recent calamity.</p><p>“Ang tagal naming hinintay ito, e,” Calzado said, noting the series was originally due to premiere in August. “And then this is happening, just when Ulysses happened. It is God’s timing. He knows when. We probably didn’t understand the bigger picture that perhaps this would make [viewers see], ‘Oh my God, ito pala ang hitsura ng Cagayan, ang ganda.’”</p><p>“Ngayon, meron siyang added layer. Ang Diyos talaga ang pinakamagaling mag-schedule. Siya talaga ang nakakaalam ng lahat. Everything is beyond our control. Siya ang may last say. Siya ang may alam ng tunay na dahilan.”</p><p>Beyond “Loving Emily’s” scenic depictions of Cagayan, Calzado said she hopes the series will be a reminder of home to those displaced by the floods, and a chance for rebuilding.</p><p>“Nawa’y maalala nila na meron pa silang mababalikan,” she said.</p>

WATCH: Cagayan’s Buntun Bridge before Ulysses in drama series ‘Loving Emily’

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WATCH: Cagayan’s Buntun Bridge before Ulysses in drama series ‘Loving Emily’

Miguel Dumaual,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 18, 2020 06:04 PM PHT

|

Updated Nov 19, 2020 12:58 PM PHT

Read More:

iWant TFC

Loving Emily

Iza Calzado

Gerardo Calagui

Jameson Blake

Ulysses

Cagayan

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