Nanding (Rogelio dela Rosa) is a fisherman/farmer who also happens to possess a fine singing voice. Never without his guitar either he's singing in church with the local choir or at the village store owned by Kapitan Bestre (Jose Cris Soto). Bestre's store also happens to be the only source of news, gossip, local or otherwise. And the barrio is astir with the return of Marina (Mila del Sol) the daughter of the despotic Cabesang Berong (Engracio Ibarra), the town's richest resident. A flashback reveals that Marina and Nanding were childhood friends, a situation Marina's father never approved of Nanding being a fisherman's son. Berong's wife, Doray (Rosa Mia), on the other hand was a saintly woman loved and respected as much as her husband was despised. Marina and Nanding renew their old friendship and the friendship inevitably turns into love. Berong tries his best to destroy the relationship but Marina defies her father and moves into the village store to be close to Nanding.