POLA town in Oriental Mindoro has been one of the favorite film locations among many productions these days.
After director Neal “Buboy” Tan had employed the beautiful coastal community in his movie project (the title of which slipped my mind) last year, it was internationally renowned filmmaker Brillante Ma. Mendoza, who used the scenic and rural setting in his latest outing, “Palitan,” an independent film produced by a major mainstream company as Viva Entertainment.
Since Pola has been very accommodating to movie producers, Brillante has shot, for the moment, two films in the municipality.
One is the still untitled film project of Coco Martin and Julia Montes with Raymart Santiago which is about the brutality and partiality of a police authority in a provincial precinct and the sex film “Palitan,” Mendoza’s first work for Viva Entertainment upon his return to its fold after a long absence since he did a gay film, “Provoke,” for the company.
Ina Alegre, a former sexy actress, now mayor of Pola, has been very hospitable to show biz people not only because she was and is still part of the entertainment industry but her welcoming location shoots in her town can boost tourism and other favorable contents to her seat of power.
Ina, Jennifer Cruz in real life is wife of retired Police Major General Gilbert Cruz, who is now a permanent member of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) with the rank of Undersecretary.
Cruz has been personally assisting productions using their town as backdrop of the movies.
In Brillante’s eight-day shooting of “Palitan,” Alegre acted as a host to the creative and technical team of the Viva Entertainment and Centerstage Productions’ project.
She even had a cameo role in the movie as a godmother to the marriage of couple Maria and Al, portrayed by newcomers Jela Cuenca and Rash Flores, respectively.
Ina had two sequences in the film of an international caliber, one, when the soon-to-be-husband-and-wife paid her a visit to hand personally the wedding invitation and two, when the church matrimonial ceremony was performed.