Marina

Marina (sometimes stylized as MARiNA) is a Philippine television drama fantasy series broadcast by ABS-CBN, starring Claudine Barretto. It aired from February 23 to November 12, 2004. Synopsis Elias, a fisherman, falls in love with and marries Esther; spurning the love of Victoria, a witch. Heartbroken, the vengeful Victoria places a curse on Esther and Elias's unborn child. In the hopes that Victoria will lift the curse on his child, Elias abandons Esther for Victoria and they have a child of their own, Luna. Meanwhile, Esther raises her and Elias's daughter, Cristina, on her own. On Cristina's seventh birthday, Victoria's curse comes to fruition and Cristina is transformed into a mermaid. Elias assaults Victoria in retaliation and cripples her. He is then attacked by Dugong, a sea-witch and Victoria's cousin, and loses his sanity. To save Cristina from the superstitious fishermen, who believe mermaids to be unlucky, Esther is forced to release her daughter into the sea. There, she is taken in by the other mermaids and adopted by their queen Istah, and renamed "Marina." Though happy among the mermaids, Marina dreams of being able to walk again and reclaiming her human life. Istah gives Marina her precious necklace as payment for Dugong, who is able to restore Marina's legs. Marina becomes human again and returns to the land to reclaim everything. However, she soon discovers that she becomes a mermaid again during the full moon, only true love's first kiss can break the curse. Dugong, on the other hand, learned that the powerful necklace of Istah was a trap. Donning the necklace, she discovered that she cannot remove it, and worse, suffers the same injuries Marina does.