It has been 28 years since the iconic ABS-CBN series Mula sa Puso premiered on television.

Starring the popular love team of Claudine Barretto and Rico Yan with veteran actresses Jaclyn Jose and Princess Punzalan, Mula sa Puso would become one of the most unforgettable Kapamilya teleseryes and the claim to fame of the late Wenn V. Deramas as a director.

In an episode of The Rewined Podcast, Mula sa Puso writer Keiko Aquino looked back at how they started the show.

She recalls, “It was a tall order to come up with a pilot week in two weeks. E, siyempre, di ba, bagong format yun? Nag-e-experiment, nag-aaral.”

At the time, Keiko was co-writing with now-Dreamscape business unit head and creative head Rondel Lindayag, with then-consultant and late Dreamscape Entertainment head Deo Endrinal, as well as Direk Wenn participating in the brainstorming sessions.

Keiko shares, “Ang proseso namin, once a week, nagmi-meeting kami sa bahay ni Sir Deo ‘tapos kapag naglabas na si Direk Wenn ng yellow pad at saka red pentel pen—yung fine point na pentel pen—game na kami.

“So, habang lahat kami nagno-notes, dikta lang siya ng dikta. Kapag halimbawa, hindi kami mag-a-agree with what he says, sasabihin lang namin, ‘E, Direk, papaano? May loophole.’

“Kapag na-realize niyang may loophole, ‘Ah oo nga, sige.’ ‘E, Direk, papaano ba, pwede bang ganito?’ ‘Oh, sige sige.’ Tapos diretso na. So, lahat yun, sa kanya galing.

“Noong panahon na yun, 60 sequences a week lang kami. E, ngayon, minsan umaabot ng 50 sequences a day. Dati, a week yun! So, kayang kaya talaga naming mag-brainstorm ng isang episode talaga na talagang sa kanya lang lahat nanggaling.”

Mula sa Puso: A Household Name

Direk Wenn in a past interview admitted that there had been time when Mula sa Puso was lagging behind its tandem teleserye, Esperanza, headlined by Judy Ann Santos.

At the time, Keiko recalls, “ABS was number one at the time and malayo pa ang GMA, ang kalaban talaga namin, isa’t isa. Nandoon ang competition.”

But while there were these moments, viewers quickly fell in love with Mula sa Puso and its characters.

“We did not expect it to be the number one show agad agad. Alam naman namin. So slow burn, slow burn, but it just went up very quickly. Nagulat kami sa outcome, sa response of the people that it became a household name–MSP na [ang tawag].

“Tapos effective pa kasi kinuha nila yung composition ni Vehnee Saturno at napaka-powerful ng rendition ni Jude Michael, tumatak. Basta narinig mo na yung theme song, alam mo nang MSP na. So, everything just fell in the place.”

The scene that skyrocketed Mula sa Puso‘s success

Mula sa Puso was still a close second to Esperanza until Direk Wenn did the unthinkable: blow up a bus with Claudine’s character, Via, inside. The culprit: her evil aunt Selina (Princess).

For Keiko’s point of view, since Direk Wenn mostly thought of the show’s twists and turns, she did not know what was about to happen.

Keiko remembers, “Nasaan ako noon? Nasa Hawaii. Nagbabakasyon ako. Nag-leave ako so si Rondel ang taong bahay.

“So, dahil nga si Direk Wenn naman ang gumagawa ng kwento, hindi ko alam kung ano nangyayari. Basta kami ni Marcia [de Jesus, co-writer in Gimik], nagbakasyon kami. Pumunta kami sa Amerika.

“Pagdating namin sa Hawaii, merong friends na sumundo sa amin who hosted us. Tapos pagdating namin dun sa friend namin, may  party. Filipino community.

“Grabe, talagang nag-aano sila, ‘Bakit niyo pinasabog? Patay na ba si Via?’ Ako talaga, ‘Ha? Ano nangyari! Hindi ko alam.’

“Ginawa ko, tumawag ako kay Rondel, ‘Anong pinagsasabi ng mga taong pinasabog?’ Sabi niya, ‘Hahaha! Oo, si Direk Wenn nang-trip. Pinasabog yung bus na nandoon si Via!’

“Sabi ko, ‘Ha?! Ano isasagot ko? Buhay o patay?’ ‘Huwag mong sasagutin, hayaan mo silang mag-isip.'”

It was a phenomenal moment for the show that, as far as Keiko remembers, the episode even went up to 75% of household ratings.

She also recalls, “Nagtirik ng kandila yung mga tao from all over the Philippines para kay Via. Nakakatawa talaga. Talagang lahat sila, ‘Bakit niyo ginawa ito?’ Sabi ko, ‘Hindi ko alam, nagbabakasyon ako!'”

But at some point, Keiko understands why viewers “loved to hate” Selina.

She explains, ‘E, ganon naman ang kontrabida, di ba? Kasi sila ang flawed, sila ang layered, sila ang mas relatable to the people, lalo na kung pinaintindi mo bakit sila naging bad.

“Meron siyang asawang parang asong susunud-sunod, si Ysmael (Efren Reyes, Jr.), di ba? Pero meron siyang anak na si Nicole (Ana Larrucea) na yun ang bubog niya, yun ang kanyang Achilles’ Heel and she’s a mother, and mothers will relate to that.

“I think ang success namin lagi ni Direk is nasa kontrabida more than the bida. Naku, no na no na yan ngayon, sasabihin ng ABS, you have to define sino ang bida mo, sino ang kontrabida mo. Hindi pupwedeng pantay o mas angat yung kontrabida.

“Pero that time, pwede. Kaya grabe, mas household name si Selina, people just hated her that they loved it.”

For more stories about Mula sa Puso and other Claudine Barretto teleseryes, watch the full The Rewined Podcast episode of Keiko Aquino on Spotify: