Two Filipino teleseryes or sinetron as it is more populary known in Indonesia have captured the hearts of Indonesian viewers anew with the release of Pangako Sa ‘Yo (Janjiku) and On the Wings of Love.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau, drama series or cultural content are among the emerging exports of the Philippines under the creative services.
Dubbed in Bahasa Indonesia, the two shows telecast on Indonesia’s MNCTV, have managed to receive high ratings in its time slots. Pangako Sa ‘Yo posted a rating of 16% among females and mom with kids between the ages of 25-29, while On the Wings of Love pulled a 16.8% rating among females between the ages of 15-19 and 13.3% among females 25-29 years old.
Pangako Sa ‘Yo, an immensely popular Filipino drama series which starred Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa had a successful run in several ASEAN countries ten years ago. Its first remake starring Jodi Sta. Maria, Angelica Panganiban, Ian Veneracion and young actors Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, is starting to have a strong following in Indonesia dominating MNCTV’s primetime sinetron programs.
More popular among teenagers is the light drama-comedy series “On the Wings of Love” starring James Reid and Nadine Lustre. The sinetron has inspired a Jadine Community of mostly senior high school students numbering about 100. There is also Jadine Indonesia Facebook with 1,737 followers and Jadine Indonesia Instagram with 596 followers.
Filipino teleseryes were a big hit in Indonesia several years ago with the airing of Pinoy seryes such as Marina, Mara Clara and Anna Luna. More recently, the longest running noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! had a successful run in Indonesia from 2012 to 2016.
According to Philippine Commercial Attaché to Indonesia Alma Argayoso, the teleseryes shown this time have the potential to become even more popular than the previous seryes because the shows are aired on primetime TV unlike before when they were given midnight time slots.
“There’s a renewed appreciation and interest in our telenovelas. I am optimistic of this latest development and looks forward to seeing more teleseryes in Indonesia. I am also excited on the possibility of cross-promotion such as in food and tourism. This early, I was asked where they could find Amor Powers’ pinalayok dish, which was shown in the pilot episode,” Argayoso added.
Aside from the shows’ unique storyline, Indonesians are also attracted to mestizo-looking actors and actresses such as Ian Veneracion which they described as ganteng (handsome) and James Reid as luco (cute). The actresses are also manis (sweet) referring to Nadine Lustre’s character in On the Wings of Love, Argayoso further said.
According to Argayoso, MNCTV is considering several more Filipino sinetrons to sustain the momentum and interest of Indonesian viewers. They hope to release the new teleseryes immediately after the two shows end in early 2017.