Push Admin

15 unforgettable teleserye kontrabidas that we loved to hate through the years

Article (news)

Mary Ann Bardinas

Whether we like it or not, antagonists are important ingredients in order to create great narratives. As much as we want to see the characters of our favorite actors to only have a pleasant journey until the end of a series or a movie, we all know that it’s definitely impossible because as a reflection of what happens in real life, these must be realistic and inspire viewers to confront and conquer challenges in life whether those are circumstances or persons.And throughout the decades that we’ve been watching Kapamilya teleseryes, we have surely met several personalities who, despite being fictional, made our blood boil and got us disgruntled because of what they did to the protagonists and/or their allies. Let us look back on some of the unforgettable kontrabida moments on television in this edition of Kapamilya Timelist!Let’s start off with one of the most iconic antagonists in the local entertainment scene – Clara del Valle of the classic ‘90s soap opera Mara Clara impeccably portrayed by Gladys Reyes. It served as her first-ever project with Judy Ann Santos, who played her onscreen rival Mara, as well as her first-ever big break that immediately cemented her reputation as one of the finest kontrabidas in the local landscape. Even though it was already proven through the ever-controversial diary that the real Del Valle is Mara and not her, Clara remained mean towards her and did everything in order to expel her from their family.Taking on villainess roles in quite a few projects throughout her acting career, Princess Punzalan was stereotyped as one of the greatest onscreen kontrabidas that Philippine showbiz has ever had. And her most memorable portrayal would be of the wicked Selina Pereira-Matias in the hit ‘90s drama Mula Sa Puso. Of course, who would forget that scene wherein she maniacally laughed while watching a bus being engulfed by fire, assuming that her niece Via (Claudine Barretto), who she wanted to kill, was onboard?Another unforgettable anti-hero in a Kapamilya teleserye is Claudia Buenavista, remarkably portrayed by Jean Garcia in the original <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/pangakosayo" target="_blank">Pangako Sa ‘Yo</a> that ran from 2000 to 2002. Those who were able to catch it could absolutely recall that Claudia is the archenemy of the equally-popular character Amor Powers, played by Eula Valdez. Being the insecure that she was, Claudia did everything in order to take her husband Eduardo (Tonton Gutierrez) away from Amor since they used to share a romantic past. The same with their son Angelo (Jericho Rosales), whose relationship with Yna (Kristine Hermosa) she highly objected since they came from different levels in the society.With how she had consistently slayed every role given to her, most especially the baddie ones, the late Cherie Gil was dubbed as “La Primera Contravida.” She had played numerous characters in the years that she was in showbiz, with the corrupt and condescending Philomena “Menang” Medel in <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/articles-photos/86032118-throwback-gulong-ng-palad-2006-14075" target="_blank">Gulong ng Palad</a> being one of her most notable performances. While viewers expected for her to have a character development after all the hard-hitting circumstances that she and her unico hijo Carding (TJ Trinidad) got into, yet she still chose to be wicked and egotistic.From winning our hearts as an adorable and talented young star, Angelica Panganiban went on to astound us when she took on the mature and antagonist role of Scarlet Dela Rhea-Castillejos in the 2008 series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/articles-photos/throwback-iisa-pa-lamang-2008-14983" target="_blank">Iisa Pa Lamang</a>. Aside from altering her look to suit the personality of her character, Angelica also wowed us with her compelling performance and intense showdowns with Claudine Barretto, who played Catherine Ramirez, the ex of her husband Miguel (Diether Ocampo) and wife of her later father Martin (Bembol Roco). It was in this series wherein she uttered the iconic “gold digger in red” and “jail bird in orange” that still resonate until present.Apart from being a seasoned dancer and TV host, but Jhong Hilario is also a magnificent actor. He had his acting debut in 1996 and has already starred in a slew of series and movies, being widely known for his kontrabida roles. Among his most notable performances was in the 2010 remake of <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/articles-photos/140080317-throwback-mara-clara-2010-14805" target="_blank">Mara Clara</a>, wherein he infuriated viewers as the cruel Gary David. While he’d always been nice to his biological child Clara (Julia Montes), it’s totally a different story with his adoptive daughter Mara (Kathryn Bernardo), who he mercilessly abused despite doing nothing wrong.From playing supporting roles in her early projects, Bangs Garcia went on to impress us with her portrayal of mature characters in the latter part of her acting career. And one of her noteworthy performances was in the afternoon soap opera Kung Ako’y Iiwan Mo, wherein she played Mia Pedroso, the ex-girlfriend-turned-mistress of Paul Raymundo (Jake Cuenca). Instead of showing remorse for destroying his marriage with his wife Sarah (Shaina Magdayao), Mia still had the audacity to fight Sarah in order for her and Paul to continue their illicit affair.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" target="_blank">Apoy Sa Dagat</a>, the overbearing older sister of Diether Ocampo’s Anton Lamayre, whose relationship with Rebecca (Angelica Panganiban) she highly objected. She might have some misconducts, but she managed to get away from those as she was able to manipulate Anton by using the “sibling card.”Starting out as a teen star in the early 2000s, Denise went on to become one of the most versatile actresses of her generation. She topbilled a string of projects throughout her career and didn’t fail to amaze us in each. Among her notable portrayals was in the afternoon drama <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/thebetterhalf" target="_blank">The Better Half</a>, wherein she astounded viewers as Bianca Buenaflor, the main antagonist who was completely obsessed with the character Carlo Aquino, Marco. And her obsession and madness led her to not just build an intricate lie about his life when he suffered amnesia, but in relentlessly endangering the lives of his real wife Camille (Shaina Magdayao) and her loved ones.<a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/wildflower" target="_blank">Wildflower</a> (2017-2018) 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 ensemble that include Aiko Melendez, who played the role of the domineering mom and submissive daughter Emilia Ardiente-Torillo. And when her firstborn Arnaldo (RK Bagatsing) fell madly in love with the deceitful Ivy Aguas (Maja Salvador), she failed to stop their relationship and found herself consistently quarreling with her.Around three years into his showbiz career, Arjo Atayde managed to land a significant role in the long-running ABS-CBN series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/angprobinsyano" target="_blank">FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano</a> – one of his biggest breaks in showbiz. He was tapped to play the corrupt Police C/Insp. Joaquin S. Tuazon, who appeared in the first book that ran from 2015 to 2017, and was the first archenemy of the titular character Ricardo Dalisay (Coco Martin). Towards the end of Season 2, Cardo was able to kill him after he kidnapped his wife Alyana (Yassi Pressman) during their wedding.In 2018, Dimples Romana was given the opportunity to showcase a facet of her that we had not seen yet, by entrusting to her the now-iconic character of Daniela Mondragon-Bartolome, the main antagonist in the highly successful series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/kadenangginto" target="_blank">Kadenang Ginto</a>. As we all know, she is the greatest nemesis of Romina (Beauty Gonzalez), who was the new wife of her father, Robert (Albert Martinez) and the ex-girlfriend of her husband Carlos (Adrian Alandy). Being the common denominator of the most important men in her life, Daniela had nothing but hatred towards Romina as she saw her as a threat not just to her relationships with Robert and Carlos, but to her being the rightful heiress of the Mondragon empire.After being abhorred in the 2018 series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/halik" target="_blank">Halik</a> as the philandering wife and mistress, Yam went on to make Kapamilya audiences feel the same about her when she took on the role of Dana in the 2020 series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/lovethywoman" target="_blank">Love Thy Woman</a>. While we could get where she’s coming from as she had to live her whole life having to share almost everything she had with her half-sister Jia (Kim Chiu), we found it annoying everytime she would mistreat her and would hurl disparaging words or accusations against her.As one of the most sought-after leading men in the local entertainment scene, Paulo Avelino has gotten us smitten by his charms and portrayals both on TV and in movies. While he’s usually the knight-in-shining-armor, he showed us a different side of him in the Filipino adaptation of the Korean series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/foe2022" target="_blank">Flower of Evil</a> as he played the anti-hero, Jacob del Rosario. He was so relentless in murdering people that would come his way, including Daniel (Piolo Pascual), who eventually assumed his identity.Last, but definitely not the least, is John Arcilla, who has played a number of kontrabida roles throughout his decades-long career in TV and movies. One of those is the vicious Carlos Fiero in the controversial series <a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/dirtylinen" target="_blank">Dirty Linen</a>. Contrary the kind and warm person that he radiated in the outside, 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.

Let us look back on some of the unforgettable kontrabida moments in ABS-CBN teleseryes in this edition of Kapamilya Timelist!