Carmina begins to doubt her future with poor Gabriel when another suitor dazzles her with expensive gifts. Overhearing Carmina's sentiments, Gabriel is heartbroken and goes away to return a wealthy man to prove his worthiness to Carmina.
When asked for her real name, the feisty woman in a rural whorehouse would quip, "Ligaya. It means joy. And that's what I sell." Yet the small-town prostitute is not resigned that she would be in the flesh trade forever. She still harbors the dream of getting out of the job someday. She saves money and fancies that someone would come and marry her as if she were clean and never been a whore. That becomes almost a reality when a hardworking farmer enters her life. Under some problematic circumstances, her chances get blown away-but not exactly of her sole doing.
In a quiet, rural Filipino village, sibling rivalry continues through adulthood for two sisters and finally tears their family apart.
It is the time of El Niño, a season ruled by superstition and fear. The rain is long in coming, the ground has cracked up dry. The ricestalks are thin and sickly. Villagers go hungry. And a boy dies from a snakebite. The adults splinter. Some pray. Others join a cult to appease earth spirits and wait for the ada, the ricefield spirit goddess of bountiful harvest who dances naked on moonlit nights and signals the need for a virgin’s sacrifice. There are fence sitters, equally pro-church and pro-cult. A landlord’s steward enforces his master’s usury on hapless farmers. A self-righteous priest says rain must first be deserved. Two young women fight for the right to do with their bodies as they please. A bastard boy and a blind girl come of age. Yesterday, they were children.
A grandfather is on the brink of bankruptcy and brings his grandchildren back to the community that made nd shaped him, only to find that the place is no longer the same.
Twelve-year-old Lily lives with her father, who has been suspended from the police force, and her stepmother. Her parents sell Lily's aging dog to Mr. Teban for dog meat. Lily convinces Mr. Teban to return her dog, and the she begins a friendship with the dog meat seller, much to the disgust of her friends and family. Mr. Teban becomes her surrogate father, and supports Lily against her abusive father and ineffectual stepmother.
Adela is the sheltered daughter of successful Dr. Maximo Sevilla. She has spent her life crocheting alone in the big house, and disappointed her father for failing to qualify for a career in law or medicine, and for lacking the confidence of her departed mother. Adela vainly struggles to cultivate elegance, until she meets and falls for the charms of striking David Javier.
Elsie has a mistress named Alice. Tito has a mistress named Susan. Tito and Elsie are married to each other and expecting a baby!
Selya is disappointed with Bobby who only wants sex but no real relationship nor marriage. So she leaves and decides to marry the gay Ramon who, she is convinced, is definitely different.
A bereaved wife searchs for her lost husband, only to be found with no memory of her and a new woman in his life
The film is based on the true story of a maid who was either seduced or raped and made pregnant by her Chinese employer; the baby was either killed by the employer's wife or by her own hand, depending on who you talk to.
Anna met Gerry under circumstances related to a mysterious death close to both. Both fell in love immediately, but not without the inconvenience of another plotting and sinister deals of Anna's step-father and his new partner.
A story of a married couple brought together by the ilness of their child.
