FPJ’s Batang Quiapo: Tanggol enters into a deal with Pacheco, Rigor filled with remorse about his mistakes

It was indeed a shocking and quite astonishing week (December 9 to December 13) for avid viewers of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” as we got to witness some of the scenes that we’d probably been looking forward to as we followed its continuously unfolding and expanding narrative for more than a year already.

The previous week commenced with Rigor (John Estrada) swiftly coming to the rescue for his wife, Marites (Cherry Pie Picache), after shooting his deranged mistress, Lena (Mercedes Cabral), to her death as she attempted to stab her once more. He was able to immediately rush her and his mother-in-law, Tindeng (Charo Santos) to the hospital with the assistance of their dutiful Barangay Chairman and his tanods. 

As he and his colleague-slash-best friend Mando (Allan Paule) waited outside the operating room while Tindeng and Marites were being treated, they had a little quarrel as Mando reminded Rigor that it was him who must be blamed for what happened, which indeed piqued the latter. Once the two women’s condition were already stable and they were both transferred to a private room, the two cops immediately checked on them and pacified her fears of Lena getting back at them by informing them that he already shot Lena to death. 

However, instead of getting impressed by what he did and seeing how remorseful he is for all his shortcomings and mistakes to their family, both Tindeng and Marites conveyed their disdain against him. Tindeng swore that she would never be able to forgive him for the demise of his cherished best friend Noy (Lou Veloso), while Marites pushed him away and told him that she wouldn’t want to see him anymore.

 While we’ve been waiting for this moment when Rigor would finally come into his senses and accept that it was him who’s the root cause of all the problems and misfortunes of their family, it seemed to be already too late since the damage had been done and lives were lost. So, many viewers would certainly agree that Rigor deserves to be not forgiven by his family, most especially by Marites, who finally decided to let him go.

 And speaking of Marites, many were surely delighted that our petitions for her to stop being a martyr towards Rigor were finally heard! She has already mustered the courage not just to fight back at him and defend herself, but to also let him go. We’re hoping that she will not let herself be gaslighted by him again.

On the other hand, we continue to admire Mando for being such a great friend to Rigor, who’s not afraid to lecture him and give him “real talks” every time he needs some reminding or reprimanding. Rigor may often not listen to him, yet Mando has still remained by his side to console and accompany him unconditionally. May we all be able to find that kind of friendship!

 Meanwhile, at the Caballero mansion, Olga (Irma Adlawan) finally set her deadly plan in motion to wipe out the entire Montenegro family, beginning with her attempt to kill the ever-domineering patriarch, Don Julio (Tommy Abuel), by forcing him to drink poison. As we all know, she has been harboring animosity against her adoptive father and brother Ramon (Christopher de Leon) for all the belittlement and unfair treatment she experienced from them, which resulted in the tragic demise of her children Gregg (RK Bagatsing) and Samantha (Ivana Alawi).

Veteran actress Irma Adlawan’s compelling performance indeed made us feel the wrath of a scorned woman who has been undervalued by the people she thought was her family all because they see her as weak and worthless. Besides, we also witnessed the fury of a mom who lost her two beloved children due to her loyalty with her “family” and hasn’t attained justice for them.

 Olga quite succeeded as Don Julio fell into critical condition after the poison damaged his internal organs and only a miracle could save him as per the doctor’s update to Ramon. Thus, he ordered David (McCoy de Leon), a.k.a. his fake son Hesus, to find out who the real culprit was, although he’s already certain that it was none other than Olga.  

During their conversation, David absolutely got concerned upon learning from Olga that Marites and Ramon have been meeting in secret and coerced her to devise a new plan for them to be not exposed. As Olga aims to completely eliminate the Montenegros as her way of exacting vengeance on them, David couldn’t help but be worried that she would betray him in the end. Thus, she assured him that it won’t happen since she was already fine getting her revenge on them for everything that they did to her.

Aside from the secret rendezvous of Marites and Ramon, David also found out that Atty. Vera Saldivar (Maika Rivera), the sultry lawyer of the Caballeros, is actually an ally of Olga. This caused a little altercation between Olga and David as the latter feared that their conspiracy with Atty. Vera in altering the last will and testament of Don Julio to transfer all the Montenegro assets under his name might get compromised. But she guaranteed him that Atty. Vera would never betray them, especially her, since she owes Olga her life and she’s been repaying her with her service.

Unfortunately for David, Olga’s assurance to him was all lip service as it was revealed during her conversation with her trusted right-hand Dindo (Rod Navarro Jr.) that she’s just using David at present in obtaining the wealth of both the Caballero and Montenegro and eventually killing him.

Meanwhile, after winning in the game the day before, the debauch PLTCOL Manuel Suarez (King Gutierrez) returned to the gambling den now owned by Tanggol (Coco Martin). They initially assumed that Sebyo (Rolando Inocencio) and Conchita (Mae Paner) set them up and betrayed them, which the two denied, telling them that the police officer only went back to play.

Since their coffers were cleared out by Col. Suarez, Tanggol decided that he would be the one to play against him and leveraged the “Star of Venus” as a bargaining chip. Col. Suarez was able to recognize him as the son of his subordinate PCpl. Rigor Dimaguiba (John Estrada) and got more eager to play upon learning that Tanggol would put the coveted gem as wager.

 Before they started, the two had set their conditions once either of them would win. Col. Suarez wanted to take possession of the “Star of Venus” and bring Tanggol to jail, while Tanggol only wanted to take all his money and demanded him to never come back again at the gambling den. Both of them agreed to one another’s conditions, with Col. Suarez added that he wouldn’t also tell Rigor that he had already found Tanggol.

As Col. Suarez apparently couldn’t accept that he lost in their intense card game, he lost his temper and almost snatched the prized gem from Tanggol. But the latter and his comrades were quick enough to act on his sneaky move and aimed their guns at him and his platoon. So, Col. Suarez thought of offering them a deal—for PMGen Augustus Pacheco (Julio Diaz) to become the protector of their gambling den—which divided the group of Tanggol. 

Not everyone was in favor of Suarez and Pacheco’s demand for them to be part of their business and be given 50% of their total earnings every month in exchange of their “protection,” especially when the two cunning cops learned that they have other ventures, namely, car dealing and manufacturing and selling of drugs. Since they were already exposed, Tanggol was left with no choice but to agree with the demands of Suarez and Pacheco, as prodded by his business partner, Divina (Rosanna Roces). She and her right-hands simply advised him to look at the advantage of their partnership with them and not on what they’re going to lose.

Those who have been following the journey of Primo (Lito Lapid) and his group were surely delighted when they once again made an appearance. After deciding to cut their ties with Tanggol and his crew, the group now faces scarcity of funds, which made them decide to sell all the jewelries they seized from Mr. Alvarez to Primo’s friend Teo. As Ben (Mark Lapid) expressed regret about their decision of departing from Tanggol’s group, his comrades implied that they would never let their integrity be tainted by getting involved again in wrongful acts.

Are you excited as us to see what is going to happen next in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo”? Well, you better not miss an episode weeknights at 8PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, and TV5!