MANILA — A plot twist involving the hated character of Michael de Mesa in “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” shown in its Thursday episode, pushed the ABS-CBN action drama to a third consecutive night of breaking its own viewership record online.

For the past three months, de Mesa’s character, Ramil, was depicted to have sided with Lito (Richard Gutierrez), betraying his long friendship with Cardo (Coco Martin) and Task Force Agila.

De Mesa’s portrayal of the traitorous “Manager” was apparently so effective that, in March, the screen veteran received a threat from a loyal viewer of “Ang Probinsyano.”

That avid fan would be relieved with the revelations of Thursday’s “Hudas” episode, including Ramil’s last conversation with Cardo before he appeared to turn his back on their group.

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Ramil’s switch of loyalty was a ploy all along, to help Cardo uncover the truth about Task Force Agila’s ambush, which resulted in Alyana’s (Yassi Pressman) death.

Cardo had long suspected that Lito had something to do with Black Ops managing to locate them. Having won Lito’s trust, Ramil finally confirmed Cardo’s suspicions, and further, that Lito has been conniving with Cardo’s nemesis, Renato (John Arcilla).

Upon learning that Renato, with Lito’s help, has tracked Cardo’s group yet again, a bloodied Ramil warned Task Force Agila of an impending raid.

Alyana’s parents, Teddy (Joel Torre) and Virgie (Shamaine Buencamino), who have long blamed Cardo for their daughter’s death, also learned from Ramil that Lito had kept Alyana captive and attempted to rape her. Once fiercely supportive of Lito, even at Cardo’s expense, the two now tearfully apologized to their son-in-law, with the latter vowing to avenge Alyana’s death.

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The pivotal episode proved to be a hit with Filipino audiences online, as “Ang Probinsyano” reached — for a third consecutive night — a new all-time high viewership on Kapamilya Online Live, the free livestreaming of ABS-CBN programs on YouTube and Facebook.

On YouTube alone, the concurrent live viewers of “Hudas” (May 27) peaked at 125,645 — surpassing the numbers set by the two previous episodes “Unahan” (May 26), with 120,390; and “Sisihan” (May 25), with 120,256.

With the latest tally, “Ang Probinsyano” has now broken its live viewership record on YouTube six times in the past month alone. Previous record-setters were the episodes aired on May 10, May 11, and May 18.

Maraming salamat, mga Ka Probinsyano sa panonood ng #FPJAP5Hudas sa Kapamilya Online Live sa Youtube! Huwag kayong bibitiw sa #FPJsAngProbinsyano gabi gabi dahil paparating na ang mga maaaksyong eksena! pic.twitter.com/iwDG0ApStX

— Dreamscape Entertainment (@DreamscapePH) May 27, 2021

“Ang Probinsyano,” which had been the consistent No. 1 TV show in the Philippines since its 2015 debut, migrated fully to digital in July 2020, after a congressional panel voted to reject the ABS-CBN’s bid for a fresh broadcast franchise.

Cardo would go on to mark numerous milestones in terms of concurrent viewership online — or those watching its live stream at the same time — from 56,000 for its digital debut, to 80,000 on YouTube alone in January 2021.

• From TV’s No. 1 to digital hit, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ poised to continue, assures Coco Martin

Its Kapamilya Online Live audience would steadily grow in the following months. Notably, starting in March 2021, “Ang Probinsyano” would regularly breach the 100,000 mark — now its average, proving its enduring popularity among Filipinos.

Aside from Kapamilya Online Live, “Ang Probinsyano” is accessible via Kapamilya Channel, A2Z Channel 11, TV5, CineMo, iWant TFC, TFC, WeTV, and iflix.

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