JEDDAH: “Ploning”, a Philippine feature film shown at the 2nd Asian Film Festival, organized by the Asian Consuls General Club, combines beauty and talent of award-winning actress Judy Ann Santos. A Taiwanese fishing vessel docks at the picturesque island of Cuyo, Palawan. Muo Sei, a fisherman, alights and starts his sunrise-to-sundown search for something or someone named Ploning. In his search, Ploning is revealed to be the island’s town belle of the year 1982 — a woman so important that because of her presence, the town barely notices the absence of rain. Despite her renowned beauty, everyone is puzzled why the 30-year-old spinster refuses to get married and still hopefully waits for her beau Tomas to come back. Tomas left for Manila when Ploning was 16 years old and there has since been no sign of his coming back. The 116-minute movie, directed by Dante Nico Garcia and produced by Panoramanila Films, was released in 2008. Earlier, a documentary on “Eco thrills preserving the green” was screened, which exemplifies Philippines as “truly a sight to behold,” where natural beauty meets progressive infrastructure. It shows that the country is more than a collection of islands, in fact, an archipelago of wonders.