The Concept Behind the Ploning Adin Ka Ren Music Video

“Ploning Adin Ka Ren” is a song of searching and longing, thus, the story in the Ploning Adin Ka Ren Music Video rests on a guy (JR Payuyo) searching for his long lost lover PLONING. The twist in the music video comes from the elements mixed in the story.

Drawn by Jason Laxamana during an online conversation (through ym) with Bulyaw Mariguen and Matinlo productions

The music video starts with JR waking up and realizing that the love of his life is gone (Ploning). JR then searches for Ploning (played by Febbie Sabbalucca) and encounters different sets of people with different backgrounds, all giving him diverse reactions. JR first encountered a teacher and her students, then two little kids, then who we call the religious figures group (composed of a nun, a Tagbanua priestess, and a muslim woman), then two musicians (one folk, one pop), then the alakayo, then two guys playing chess, then the corporate group, then finally a child with a doll pointing him to the right direction where he can find Ploning.

Most of the characters in the story are chosen due to their symbolic value to the experiences of the band in promoting their music and their symbolic value to Palawan's culture. Cuyono rock music is something new to the young students of Palawan, to the musicians (both folk and pop) in Palawan, to normal people playing chess or doing just about anything. The band's music is experimental and this initiative to promote such music is the first in Palawan.

The Alakayo is already a trademark of the Cuyono culture and the Tagbanuas (performing at the second chorus of the music video) who are one of the oldest indigenous groups in the Philippines are mostly found in Palawan. Palawan is also very diverse in its cultural composition, thus, we acknowledged the presence of Muslims, Christians, Tagbanuas in the music video. The private sector represented by the corporate people, religious figures and students are also basic components of contemporary Philippine and Palawan society.

A major twist in the music video is the use of a river as the location for the shoot. The music video was really conceptualized to be shot on a body of water primarily because of the close ties of the Cuyonons with water. Also apparent from the music video are the submerged guitar wires representing music that is powered by the river.

A final twist is added to the music video when the Ploning that JR finds turns out to be different from the Ploning he knows. Ploning has changed from being a woman of tradition to being a woman influenced by modernity which represents a lot of young Cuyonons nowadays.

The blank expression on the face of JR on the last few frames of the music video intends to give the audience the freedom to guess what is going on in the mind of JR. Was he disappointed with the Ploning he saw? It depends.

The video is shot at Balsahan, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan managed by the Iwahig Prison and Penal Colony and produced by Matinlo and Kamaru productions.