Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat

Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat
Theatrical movie poster
Directed by	Wenn V. Deramas
Produced by	Tess V. Fuentes Malou Santos
Written by	Mel Mendoza Del Rosario Wenn Deramas Kriz Gazmen
Starring	Ai-Ai de las Alas Eugene Domingo Shaina Magdayao
Music by	Jessie Lasaten
Cinematography	Sherman So
Edited by	Marya Ignacio
Production company	Star Cinema
Distributed by	Star Cinema
Release date	December 25, 2008 (2008-12-25)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Philippines
Language	Tagalog
Budget	₱22 million
Box office	₱229.96 million

Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat (lit: "The Only Mother To You All") is a 2008 Filipino comedy film starring Ai-Ai de las Alas and Eugene Domingo. It is the sequel to a 2003 comedy film Ang Tanging Ina. It was released on December 25, 2008 as Star Cinema's official entry to the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival.^[1] The film grossed a total of PHP 204 million and it used to be the all time box office hit in the Philippines until Star Cinema's You Changed My Life beat it. As of April 2009, it grossed ₱229.96 million pesos.^[2] Ai-Ai de las Alas reprises her role Ina Montecilio. It also stars Eugene Domingo as Rowena, Carlo Aquino as Tri, Alwyn Uytingco as Pip, Shaina Magdayao as Seven, Serena Dalrymple as Cate, Jiro Manio as Shammy and Yuuki Kadooka as Ten-Ten.^[3][4]

Synopsis

With the one, big, happy family that she has, any woman would admire Ina Montecillo (de las Alas) as the embodiment of a perfect mother. But after more than thiry years of doing everything for her family, she realises she has not done anything for herself. Ina then embarks on a journey of finding her self-worth that eventually lands her to ruling as President of the Philippines.

Ina revolutionises Philippine politics by departing from the traditional image of stoic and uptight leader, and introducing her own style of leadership as a hilarious and caring mother. She gains the trust and support of the Filipino people, but her popularity and immersion in politics changes her, earning her children's disdain. In the end, Ina has to make the hardest decision of her life: whether to continue as "mother of the nation" or return to being the mother of her own children.^[5]

Plot

The film begins with Ina Montecillo (de las Alas) at the funeral of her fourth husband, Eddie (Padilla). She and her best friend Rowena (Domingo) then work as a stunt doubles for a film directed by her former employer, Bruno. Four of her children are Overseas Filipinos: her eldest, Juan (Agustin), migrated to New Zealand with his girlfriend, Jenny (Abad). Tudis (Valdez) settled in Canada, where she meets her future husband, a house painter, who in Ang Tanging Ina Mo (Last Na 'To) is Troy (Rafael Rosell). Portia/Por (Evangelista) left for India after her breakup with Jeffrey (Prats), and there she joined GMA (Global Missionaries of Asia). Six to (Acueza) migrated to United Kingdom to work as a nurse.

Of her eight remaining children, Tri ( Aquino), is a law student by day and a call centre supervisor at night. Pip (Uytingco), her out gay son still pursues his dream; queuing for what he thought were auditions for PBB, a soldier gave him a bag of rice from what was actually a rolling store called Pila ng Bigasang Bayan. Seven (Magdayao), is the one in charge of her younger sibling and doing household chores. Cate (Dalrymple) has a dignity to stop everything. Shammy (Manio) is doing something bad instead of studying, but he can be a businessman. Her deaf-mute son Ten-ten (Kadooka) is very quiet while her twin daughters Connie and Sweet (Bianca and Janelle Calma) are quite naughty. Ina had her eatery business, which became bankrupt because of Rowena.

On the night of her 46th birthday, she prepared a surprise for her children, but none of them remembered. She decided to study in a university as a working student, taking on a series of odd jobs. Her first stint was as a waitress, but she was fired after removing her uniform in front of patrons due to the heat. She next decided to work in an ice plant, but she resigned after Rowena visited her. After that, she continued her studies.

Rowena and Ina went to Malacañan Palace to seek employment. They refused the positions of governess to the Presidential children (thinking it meant governor) and chambermaid (thinking it meant a selector of chandeliers), they got jobs as maids. They catch a glimpse of President Hillary Dafalong (Díaz), and they scrambled to greet her but were stopped by the Presidential Security Group. They tried and failed to speak with her several times until Ina eavesdropped on Vice-President Bill Bilyones (Durano) discussing a plot to assassinate President Dafalong. At a public function, Ina and Rowena tried to inform the President of the plan but failed because of the absent-mindedness of the crowd, and President Dafalong is killed. As a result of the sudden death of President Dafalong, Ina is forced to blow the whistle on Vice-President Bilyones, who immediately calls for a snap election in which he loses to Ina by a landslide.

While settling into her new role as President Montecillo, Ina's relations with her family become increasingly strained. Her twins, Sweet and Connie, are then kidnapped by terrorists after the girls thought they could ease things by leaving the Palace. They eventually retrieve the girls and subdue the terrorists, and Ina then decides to resign after realising the value of her family. Ina hands over the reins of power to her Vice-President, Ren Constantino (Picache) who accedes as the new President of the Philippines.

On her 47th birthday, Ina wakes up and thinks that her family forgot again. They fete her with a surprise party to also compensate for forgetting her 46th birthday. As the closing credits roll, now-President Constantino roams around her office in the Palace, looking at the official portraits of past presidents. The last portrait shows Ina as President Montecillo, surrounded by her entire family.

Cast

• Ina Montecillo (Ai-Ai de las Alas): Ina is the mother of Juan, Tudis, Tri, Por, Pip, Six, Seven, Cate, Shammy, Ten-ten, Connie, and Sweet. She is Rowena's best friend. She loves her children very much, even working several jobs to support them including being a maid in the Palace. She accedes as the sixteenth President of the Philippines after uncovering Vice-President Billiones' role in the murder of President Dafalong and defeating him in the ensuing snap election. As she faces several problems with the Philippine economy, she her family's relationships also begin to erode. In the end, she resigns the presidency, and returns to caring for her family.
• Rowena (Eugene Domingo): Rowena is Ina's best friend. She is very supportive of her, and will do anything to make Ina happy. She was also appointed by Ina as Senate President.
• Dimitri "Tri" Montecillo (Carlo Aquino): Tri is Ina's third child. He is a university student reading law. Angry that his mother refuses to let him assist her in policy and decree implementation, he joins the opposition wing of the government. In the end, Ina forgives him as he severs his ties with the opposition.
• Tirso "Pip" Montecillo (Alwyn Uytingco): Pip is Ina's fifth child. Openly homosexual, Pip is in love with a fellow film actor, with whom he is videotaped flirting with in a cinema; the video is later leaked and causes a scandal. Later on, he discovers that a frustrated Tri had joined the opposition against their mother's government. In the end, Ina forgives him for the video scandal.
• Severina "Seven" Montecillo (Shaina Magdayao): Seven is Ina's seventh child. An intelligent girl, she is viewed as "the responsible child", replacing her older sister Tudis' role in the family and Por's role as Jeffrey's girlfriend. When her mother discovers their relationship, she initially separates them, only allowing them to reunite at the end of the film.
• Catherine "Cate" Montecillo (Serena Dalrymple): Cate is Ina's eight child. She is now girly and obedient, unlike her tomboyish, rough role in the original film. She also tends to have many habits that need changing, but, according to Ina, there are too many.
• Samuel "Shammy" Montecillo (Jiro Manio): Shammy is Ina's ninth child. He is very friendly, but very boastful of his mother's prestige and their life in the Palace. He accidentally sets up an illegal gambling business in his school (College Tele-Karera Enterprise or CTE, a parody of the real-life ZTE-NBN scandal that rocked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government in 2007) after his friends tell him to let him sign it for his mother. In the end Ina forgives him, and he dissolves the business after his expulsion from school.
• Martin "Ten-Ten" Montecillo (Yuuki Kadooka): Ten-Ten is Ina's tenth child. He was born deaf-mute, but is very proficient in sign language. It was he who encouraged his mother to become President, and provided her moral support throughout the story.
• Connie & Sweet Montecillo (Bianca & Janella Calma): Connie & Sweet are Ina's eleventh and twelfth children. They are twins, and are normally naughty, but very kind to Ina. When they realised their mother laden with problems, they decided to run away and are kidnapped by terrorists, who demand that the Presidential family pay a ransom in exchange for their release. In the end, they were saved by Ina, who delivered a nationwide television broadcast to appeal to the kidnappers' mothers.
• President Hillary Dafalong (Gloria Díaz): The fifteenth President of the Philippines, she is very kind and helpful, especially to Ina. She remains distrustful of Vice-President Billiones, who engineers her assassination while she was delivering a public address.
• Vice-President Bill Billiones (DJ Durano): Bill is the fifteenth Vice-President of the Philippines, and a member of the opposition. He is the mastermind behind President Dafalong's death, and is later arrested for murder.
• Jeffrey (John Prats): Jeffrey was Por's boyfriend. After breaking up with her, he begins to court her younger sister, Seven. As Ina continues to break them up, Seven becomes more interested with their relationship. In the end, they end up dating.
• Ren Constantino (Cherry Pie Picache): Ren is Ina's strict yet kindly college teacher who later helps Ina's presidential campaign. Later on, Ina selects appoints her as the sixteenth Vice-President; at the film's end, Ren succeeds Ina as the seventeenth President after the latter resigns.

Sequel

In 2010, the Star Cinema once again brought the third and the last installment of Ang Tanging Ina film series starring Ai-Ai de las Alas, Eugene Domingo, Marvin Agustin, Nikki Valdez and several others including Jon Avila and Rafael Rosell who are the new cast. The film tells the life of Ina after she quit her position as the President of the Philippines without knowing that she is suffering from brain tumor and very afraid to tell it to her children.

Awards

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References

External links

• Official website
• Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat on IMDb