The award-winning actress drops her stage name Pokwang for her latest hard-hitting film role.
Marietta Subong has done comedy with some of the country’s biggest names, but there’s one comedian she has yet to work with—and she already knows what kind of project she wants them to do.
“Para ang gusto ko maka-one-on-one sa serious naman. Well, kami ni Vice Ganda,” Marietta said during a press conference for “2 Valid IDs.”
Then she had a message for her fellow comedian: “Hoy! Vice, hindi pa tayo nagtratrabaho, ‘nak!”
“Gusto ko drama na may action. Wow!”
Marietta has already shared the screen with several comedians and actresses she admires. She has done several movies with Eugene Domingo, whom she considers one of her idols, and two films with Vic Sotto.
Still on her wish list are Maricel Soriano and Sharon Cuneta.
“‘Yan ang mga gusto ko talaga. Sayang na si Ate Guy,” she said, referring to the late Nora Aunor. “Nakasama ko lang siya sa isang event. Sayang, ‘di kami nabigyan ng pagkakataon ni Ate Guy.”
It’s a side of Marietta audiences see in “2 Valid IDs,” where she plays Sylvia Ramos, a 59-year-old farmer who gets caught in a bureaucratic nightmare when she needs to claim money for her husband’s medical treatment but does not have the required identification documents.
The role earned Marietta the Best Actress award at the 2026 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, where she shared the honor with Ruiz for “Status: Rejected.”
Sylvia’s struggles are not completely unfamiliar, Marietta said, recalling the process of getting a passport before she became an overseas Filipino worker.
“Bago ako naging OFW, kukuha ng passport, di ba? So haba ng pila, haba ng ganito,” she said.
That connection may also explain why she is credited as Marietta Subong, not Pokwang.
“Kasi sabi nga nila, ‘pag Marietta ang ginamit, seryoso na,” she said. “And lahat ng pinagdaanan ni Sylvia rito, seryoso. Kaya Marietta ang ginamit ko dito.”
“Bakit kapag Marietta na, award-winning na. Di ba? Totoo naman ‘yan.”
She previously won Best Actress for “Oda Sa Wala” under her real name.
But Pokwang isn’t going anywhere. “Depende po kung ano po ang gusto ng productions. Kung gusto nilang Marietta, Marietta. Kung gusto nilang Pokwang, Pokwang,” she said.
For “2 Valid IDs,” however, Marietta wanted audiences to see Sylvia, not Pokwang. She changed her mannerisms and nuances for the role so that Sylvia, not Pokwang, would come through.
One scene she wants audiences to watch is her rooftop sequence with Joey Marquez.
“Abangan n’yo. Ang sakit-sakit no’n.”
And if the film teaches audiences anything about getting two valid IDs, Marietta has one immediate tip: bring patience.
“Unang-una dapat, dapat may baon kang pasensya,” she said. “Minsan, mayroon ka nang ganitong ID, pagpunta mo doon, sasabihin sa’yo, ‘Ay, hindi ‘yan ang kailangan!’ So sinayang mo lang yung pila mo doon, ‘di ba?”
Marietta also hopes the film makes viewers question why the process has to be so difficult.
“Sana mapagaan na po ‘yong paraan kung paano tayo kumukuha ng IDs,” she said.
“Sana mapanood ng mga nasa government ‘to,” she added.
After its Cinemalaya run, Marietta is ready for Sylvia’s story to reach a wider audience.
“2 Valid IDs” opens nationwide on October 14, 2026.
READ:
Pokwang stars in back-to-back film, theater roles this August
Top Dagohoy
July 19, 2026
Pokwang makes bold theater debut in dark musical ‘Tulog Na’
Jude Cartalaba
July 17, 2026
Pokwang breaks down after ‘Tulog Na’ performance, recalls son she lost to brain tumor
Kenneth M. del Rosario
August 9, 2026
