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May Nagmamahal Sa'yo
May Nagmamahal Sa'yo
Directed by	Marilou Diaz-Abaya
Screenplay by	Ricky Lee; Shaira Mella Salvador;
Produced by	Charo Santos-Concio; Lily Y. Monteverde; Malou N. Santos;
Starring	Lorna Tolentino; Ariel Rivera; Stefano Mori;
Cinematography	Eduardo Jacinto
Edited by	Jess Navarro
Music by	Nonong Buencamino
Production; company	Star Cinema
Distributed by	Star Cinema
Release date	25 January 1996;
Running time	121 minutes
Country	Philippines
Language	Filipino

May Nagmamahal Sa'yo, internationally released as Madonna and Child,^[a] is a 1996 Philippine drama film directed by Marilou Diaz-Abaya from a screenplay written by Ricky Lee and Shaira Mella Salvador. Starring Lorna Tolentino, Ariel Rivera, and Stefano Mori in his first lead role, the film revolves around a woman who returned from working overseas and began to search for her missing son whom she gave up for adoption at the orphanage years earlier. It also stars Claudine Barretto, Gina Pareño, Renato del Prado, Jaclyn Jose, Tom Taus Jr., Emman Abeleda, Rolando Tinio, Archie Adamos, and Lilia Cuntapay.

Produced and released by Star Cinema, the film was theatrically released in the Philippines on 25 January 1996. It was later screened in film festivals and retrospective events worldwide, including in Hong Kong on 27 March 1996, as part of the 20th Hong Kong International Film Festival, in Japan on 15 September 1996, as one of the exhibited Filipino films for the 6th Fukuoka International Film Festival, and in Germany on 26 June 1999, as part of the tribute to the director at the Munich International Film Festival.^[a]

Plot

Saint John the Evangelist Parish Church, located in Tanauan, Batangas, served as the place where Louella gave up Leonard.

In 1988, Louella Sevilla, a woman living in the town of Talisay, Batangas, gave up her son to the care of Father Nicandro at the orphanage to work overseas as a domestic helper. Seven years after she served there in Hong Kong, she returned to her hometown, only to be welcomed by her stepfather Boy and younger sister Janine but ignored by her mother Rosing because she threw Louella out when she found that Louella was impregnated and later, dumped by a traveling businessman. While fetching Janine from school, she reunites with Nestor, the town's policeman. The following day, Louella returns to the same place where she gave Leonard up for adoption but Father Cortez, the current parish priest, does not know about them. Manang Ofel, one of Father Nicandro's assistants before his death, informs her that Leonard and the other children were transferred to Hospicio de San Agustin in Pasig.

The search for her son begins with Louella going to Pasig, only to discover that the orphanage was demolished. Nestor, who later joins her search, tells Louella that the orphans, including Leonard, were transferred to other orphanages including the two mentioned from the information he gathered. In an unnamed orphanage located in Lipa, the two discover that the children in the said facility have disabilities, which Leonard didn't have when he was born. One morning, she received a letter from an employment agency that she was assigned to work again in Hong Kong. The search continues when they visit Hospicio de San Cristobal in Tagaytay and there, Louella meets a boy named Conrad who is humming the same melody as the one she did for her missing son. Louella and Conrad share a bond, like a mother and a child. When Louella is about to adopt Conrad, Sister Lourdes says that Conrad is not her biological son. Conrad's biological mother died when he was just 2 years old due to an epidemic caused by the volcanic mudflow. He was discovered by a group of nuns in the streets. He, along with Louella's son Leonard was among the children transferred from the Hospicio De San Agustin. The two became friends until Leonard was adopted. Louella told Conrad the truth, which made him angry. Nestor started to investigate about Leonard. He went to Sylvia Alejandro, his adoptive mother, but she said that he was no longer with them. She also told him that her housemaid Editha went out with Leonard, and lived somewhere in Tondo, Manila. He then saw Louella, who was about to go back to Hong Kong. He said that he would agree to stay in Manila with her if she would help him find Leonard.

In the slums of Metro Manila, the two met Editha, who took care of Leonard. She told them that Leonard was dead a year ago. She also recalled that Leonard suffered physical abuse at the hands of Sylvia who treated him like a slave. She would often lock Leonard and let him starve. Because of this, Editha decides to save him and then, escape together. Leonard would become a happy and cheerful kid. Nonetheless, he would often run away whenever there was a visitor, fearing that Sylvia would take him back. One night, he was brought back to her and died due to pneumonia. Louella and Nestor returned to the orphanage to adopt Leonard. Unfortunately, Sister Lourdes told them that they ran away, but one of the kids told them where they were. Conrad went to a group of reef hunters, but the leader didn't want them to see him. They went to him and told him that he could be with him but Conrad said that he would only go with his mother. Louella told him that his mother was dead, and Leonard was dead too. She also said that being a parent doesn't run from the blood.

Louella was about to leave for Hong Kong when she heard a sound of harmonica. She saw Conrad and Louella is now happy to have a son.

Cast

Lorna Tolentino and Ariel Rivera (both pictured in 2023) respectively played the roles of Louella and Nestor. Tolentino previously collaborated with Abaya in Moral (1982) and Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo (1993).

Lorna Tolentino as Louella Sevilla, the mother of Leonard who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong
Ariel Rivera as Nestor, a policeman and Louella's suitor
Stefano Mori as Conrad, a rebellious boy at the orphanage
- Kaiser German Gonzales as 2-year-old Conrad
- Robert Norton as 5-year-old Conrad
Tom Taus Jr. as Leonard Sevilla, Louella's son from a traveling businessman
- Angelo Lourds Silverio as 8-month-old Leonard
- Janjiro Hernandez as 2-year-old Leonard
- Emman Abeleda as 5-year-old Leonard
Claudine Barretto as Janine, Louella's high school-aged younger sister
Renato del Prado as Boy, Janine's father and Louella's stepfather
Gina Pareño as Rosing, Louella and Janine's mother
Rolando Tinio as Father Nicandro, the church's parish priest when Louella gave up Leonard at their orphanage
Jaclyn Jose as Editha, a woman in Manila who wholeheartedly adopted Leonard after she witnessed her employer abusing him
Archie Adamos as Father Cortez, the church's current parish priest
Lilia Cuntapay as Manang Ofel, one of the elderly church volunteers who was Father Nicandro's assistant
Vangie Labalan as Sister Lourdes, the nun who is the head of Hospicio de San Cristobal
Cris Daluz as Gusting, a man in the neighborhood whose wife furiously threatened him with a machete
Mae Ann Adonis as Melencia, Gusting's wife who threatens her husband with a machete
Cita Astals as Mrs. Alejandro, Leonard's abusive adoptive mother and Editha's employer
Gamaliel Viray as Mr. De Villa
Alma Lerma as Mrs. De Villa
Michael Macasio as Dindo
Romy Romulo as Nestor's fellow policeman
Jim Pebangco as Foreman
Ani Pearl Alonzo as Betchay
Benjamin Valdes as Stephen, the child whom Louella took care of as a domestic helper before his family relocated to Canada
William Ng and Catbeth Tan as Stephen's parents

Production

Ricky Lee (pictured in 2018) co-wrote the screenplay with Shaira Mella Salvador.

For director Marilou Diaz-Abaya, May Nagmamahal Sa'yo is the third film she directed for ABS-CBN's film production arm, Star Cinema, following Ang Ika-11 na Utos: Mahalin Mo ang Asawa Mo, which was co-produced with Regal Films, in 1994 and Kapag May Katwiran... Ipaglaban Mo!: The Movie, which became a box-office success, in 1995. Because of the latter's success, Abaya accepted another project offered by the studio and teamed up again with Ricky Lee, her longtime screenwriting collaborator, who co-wrote the screenplay with fellow screenwriter Shaira Mella Salvador. In contrast to her previous films that deal with and depict women who were oppressed and victimized, May Nagmamahal Sa'yo depicts the life and motherhood of Louella, played by Lorna Tolentino, as well as talking about the topic of adoption.^[5]

According to Lorna Tolentino, she was offered the role of Louella in the project but was hesitant to accept because she was moved by the first time reading the script, which relates to her being a mother. Ultimately, she accepted the offer because her husband, Rudy Fernandez, also moved from reading the same material.^[6]

Reception

Critical reception

Noel Vera, writing for The Manila Chronicle in 1996, described the film as "enthralling" and gave praise to all aspects featured throughout the work, particularly the acting performances of the cast including Lorna Tolentino, Jaclyn Jose, Gina Pareño, and Stefano Mori, Ricky Lee and Shaira Mella Salvador's screenplay, and the direction done by Marilou Diaz-Abaya.^[7]