MANILA — Two major characters in “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” who have been part of the iconic series since 2016, met their deaths in another record-breaking episode that aired Thursday.

In “Buwis Buhay,” Teddy (Joel Torre) and Virgie (Shamaine Buencamino) were caught in the crossfire between Cardo’s (Coco Martin) Task Force Agila and Renato’s (John Arcilla) forces.

As Cardo and his group attempted to flee the skirmish, Virgie fell behind and was shot dead, with a grief-stricken Teddy running back to his wife and refusing to leave.

Enraged and with no regard for his safety, Teddy fired back at the waves of gunmen, ultimately getting killed, too, falling just beside Virgie’s body.

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Both parents of Alyana (Yassi Pressman) had been at odds with their son-in-law Cardo, as they had blamed him for their daughter’s death. They were able to reconcile just before Renato tracked Task Force Agila’s hideout, when they learned the truth about Alyana once being held captive by Lito (Richard Gutierrez), whom they had trusted over Cardo.

Witnessing the deaths of both Teddy and Virgie, a devastated Cardo had no choice but to stand back, as the rain of bullets forced him and Task Force Agila to leave their allies’ bodies.

Carrying over the past week’s record-breaking streak, “Buwis Buhay” marked yet another all-time high viewership for “Ang Probinsyano” on Kapamilya Online Live for an eighth, straight night (not counting weekends).

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On YouTube alone, the concurrent live viewers of “Buwis Buhay” reached 154,039, according to a tally from producer Dreamscape Entertainment.

Here’s how that number compares to the previous eight episodes:

• June 3, Thursday: 154,039
• June 2, Wednesday: 145,813
• June 1, Tuesday: 137,732
• May 31, Monday: 128,817
• May 28, Friday: 126,897
• May 27, Thursday: 125,645
• May 26, Wednesday: 120,390
• May 25, Tuesday: 120,256

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

“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.

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, 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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