Mano Po (Chinese: 吻手; pinyin: Wěn shǒu; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bún siú; lit. 'Hand Please') is Regal Entertainment's entry for the 2002 Metro Manila Film Festival. The film focuses on the lives of the Chinese Filipino community. Mano Po stars an all-star cast headed by Maricel Soriano, Richard Gomez, Kris Aquino and Ara Mina. Eddie Garcia and Boots Anson-Roa play the patriarch and matriarch of the Go clan respectively.
The film won the most major awards in the film-awarding bodies, including 12 awards in the 28th Manila Film Festival in 2002. It was named Best Picture, Best Actor (for Eddie Garcia), Best Actress (for Ara Mina), Best Supporting Actress (for Kris Aquino) and Best Director (for Joel Lamangan). Mano Po was among the top-grossing films in time for the Metro Manila Filmfest.
The film's success was followed by another episode, Mano Po 2: My Home and a spin-off, Bahay Kubo: A Pinoy Mano Po! that was released in 2007. The film was the first entry into what would become a franchise.
Don Luis Go (Eddie Garcia) is a Chinese immigrant who married a Filipino wife, Elisa (Boots Anson-Roa). In 1949, the young Luis (Cogie Domingo) brought Elisa (Maxene Magalona) to China. There Elisa suffered discrimination from Luis' parents. When she decided to go back to the Philippines, Luis joined her. Luis became cook and Elisa a laundrywoman. Their hardwork paid off and they became one of the most prominent Chinese businessmen.
