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5 veteran actors who astounded in playing kontrabida roles in teleseryes 

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Mary Ann Bardinas

<p>As teleseryes are said to reflect reality, any narrative wouldn’t be complete without the main protagonists going through hard-hitting troubles and tribulations often inflicted by the antagonists. And through the years that ABS-CBN has been offering us quality and remarkable teleseryes, we’ve surely encountered noteworthy villains that arguably made our blood boil and our heads fume because of how compelling the portrayals of the actors behind them are.</p><p>In this special Kapamilya feature, let us look back on the riveting <em>kontrabida</em> moments in teleseryes of the veteran thespians that we listed here!</p><div> </div><p><strong>Gladys Reyes</strong>, <em>Mara Clara</em> (1992-1997)</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jwsDvrBiAek?si=Yi6MXdAu13t1TK80" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p>Let us start off with Gladys, who rose to fame as the bratty and cruel main villainess Clara in the classic soap opera <strong>Mara Clara</strong>, and has been stereotyped as one of the most hated antagonists in Philippine showbiz since then. It was her first-ever foray into teleseryes, and she immediately impressed viewers with her performance as Clara.</p><p>As we all know, she was switched at birth with Mara (Judy Ann Santos), whose life she turned a living hell when she began to live with them after being hired by Clara’s adoptive parents – the Del Valle couple – to become their servant and even agreeing to support her education. Clara’s hatred towards her further escalated after it was discovered that Mara was indeed the real daughter and not her.</p><p>Although the Del Valle couple allowed her to continue living with them, it still didn’t sit well with Clara and she did everything to kick Mara out of their lives, to the point that she put her life on the line during their intense altercation.</p><div> </div><p><strong>Cherie Gil</strong>, <em>Gulong ng Palad</em> (2006)</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qjKAkdpVEYY?si=j2KEIW-MYYRyW7LM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p>With how she had consistently slayed every role given to her, Cherie would remain one of the finest <em>primera kontrabida </em>the local entertainment scene ever had. She may be gone already, but her legacy as an actress continues to live on through the projects she did, such as the classic TV series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/articles-photos/86032118-throwback-gulong-ng-palad-2006-14075"><strong><u>Gulong ng Palad.</u></strong></a></p><p>Playing the role of Menang Medel, the widow of a town mayor, she was the villainess in the love story of her <em>unico hijo</em> Carding (TJ Trinidad) with his childhood best friend and sweetheart Luisa (Kristine Hermosa) as she highly objected to their relationship since she came from a poor family. Thus, she did everything to pull them apart each other even after the two got married. Menang made the life of her daughter-in-law, a living hell by controlling all her actions and making her look bad in front of people, especially Carding.</p><p>Eventually, their worlds switched places as the Medels lost their fortune, while Luisa was able to give her family a better life after she decided to reconcile with them when her marriage with Carding went on the rocks. But despite their plight, Menang had remained arrogant, disrespectful, and wasteful, which made it difficult for them to bounce back.</p><div> </div><p><strong>Angel Aquino</strong>, Apoy sa Dagat (2013)</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QF_kXlHP13w?si=YbOXi60qwK5douS-" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p>While her roles in her recent projects were admirable, there were instances when Angel became a hated figure onscreen. One of those was when she portrayed Adriana Lamayre in <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/articles-photos/79101817-throwback-apoy-sa-dagat-2013-13740"><strong><u>Apoy Sa Dagat</u></strong></a>, the overbearing older sister of Diether Ocampo’s Anton Lamayre who fell in love with Rebecca (Angelica Panganiban).</p><p>Wanting to keep her younger brother under her wing, Adrianna did everything she could in order to control him. Apparently, she and Rebecca had an ongoing rift after the latter found out that she created a dummy corporation and embezzled money just to cover up the bankruptcy of their family’s company. Since she would be brought to jail once their business partners discovered it, Adrianna pleaded Anton to help her get through this trouble and not let her be incarcerated.</p><p>Even though it was infuriating, Adrianna managed to earn the affection and compassion of Anton by using the “sibling card” and beseeched him not to tell anyone about it.</p><div> </div><p><strong>Aiko Melendez</strong>, <em>Wildflower</em> (2017-2018)</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EoYz52zXuZM?si=NaryRubfeOpfAbfT" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p><a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/wildflower"><strong><u>Wildflower</u></strong></a> is undoubtedly among the most remarkable teleseryes ever produced by ABS-CBN. And there are actually a lot of things to love about it, such as the compelling portrayals of its powerhouse cast that includes Aiko, who played the role of the domineering mom and submissive daughter Emilia Ardiente Torillo.</p><p>Being the protective mom that she is, Emilia wanted to protect her precious son Mayor Arnaldo Ardiente Torillo (RK Bagatsing) from anything or anyone that could derail him. However, she wasn’t able to do so when Ivy Aguas (Maja Salvador) arrived into their lives and got Arnaldo smitten by her charms. Thus, she did everything to break them apart just at the beginning of their relationship.</p><p>But unfortunately for her, Ivy was equally as <em>palaban </em>as her and they often got into intense altercations everytime their paths crossed, such as in this scene wherein they had a sweet yet ferocious cake fight.</p><div> </div><p><strong>John Arcilla</strong>, <em>Dirty Linen</em> (2023)</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LxDJTywBEGQ?si=j2zJzbU3EWR_B8jn" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p>The only thorn among the roses in this roster, John has played a number of <em>kontrabida</em> roles throughout his decades-long career in TV and movies, and one of those is the vicious Carlos Fiero in the controversial series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/dirtylinen"><strong><u>Dirty Linen</u></strong><u>.</u></a></p><p>While he displayed an image of a morally upright man whenever he’s in front of the public, Carlos was actually a despicable person as he committed a number of crimes that cost the lives of many people. From raping their family nanny Olivia (Dolly de Leon) and having her pregnant, to mercilessly killing everyone who would mess with their family. Just like what he did to Max (Christian Bables), who he hit with a wrench on his head until he lost consciousness.</p>

Meet the five veteran actors who really astounded us with their teleserye portrayals of remarkable kontrabida roles through the years in this feature!