A week before Christmas, the suspense, thrill, and emotions were still high in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” as we’d witnessed a series of confrontations that our mighty primetime hero, Tanggol (Coco Martin) had to face as he went back to Quiapo to attend the wake of his beloved Lolo Noy (Lou Veloso).

Chairman (Rey Campanilla) rebuked Rigor (John Estrada) anew for the mistake he had committed that resulted in the tragic death of Noy and the fatal injuries that Marites (Cherry Pie Picache) and Tindeng (Charo Santos) sustained after being stabbed by the deranged Lena (Mercedes Cabral). Rigor expressed his regret over the consequences of his decisions and whispered a sincere apology to Noy for being the collateral damage of his grave transgression. 

Tanggol then learned from Aling Myrna (Myrna Castillo), the mother of Enteng (Jojit Lorenzo), through an unexpected phone call about the passing of his Lolo Noy. The news completely devastated him and shocked his friends, and they all immediately departed to Quiapo to visit his family. Before they left, Divina (Rosanna Roces) reminded Tanggol to be extra careful with his actions in order to not endanger their group and their businesses. 

Santino (Ronwaldo Martin) found out that the money he hid inside the cabinets of their billiard table were missing. As he asked their neighbor Geline (Geline Garcia) about it, she told him that she noticed the other day that Ghercie (Ghercie Soriano) and Happy (Happy Marcial) were cladded in brand-new clothes. He caught them at a nearby gambling den and violently confronted them for stealing his hard-earned money, which both of them admitted. 

Ghercie and Happy were compelled to return the remaining money to Santino as he brandished his gun at them. Annika (Dexie Diaz) got dismayed by how Santino handled the situation, so he reprimanded him for having a gun and firing it to his friends. As she turned her back at him, Santino couldn’t help but be distraught and feel sorry for himself that the people he thought would be his allies had already abandoned him. 

Looking into the lifeless body of Noy inside the casket, Tanggol wept as he recounted some of the fondest moments he had with Noy and apologized to him for not being able to protect him from harm. In his emotional conversation with Santino, he found out that it wasn’t only Noy who was the casualty but also Tindeng and Marites who are currently in the hospital with Roda (Joel Lamangan).  

An intense confrontation then ensued in the supposed solemn occasion as Rigor suddenly showed up in front of them and lashed out at Tanggol for being there when he wasn’t welcome anymore. Tanggol retaliated and Santino came in to defense, which absolutely riled up Rigor and triggered him to throw punches at them. The two attempted to gang up at him but to no avail as Rigor pulled out his service firearm and aimed it at them. 

Following the skirmish of the Dimaguibas, Chairman immediately came to their house with his tanods to stop them and reprimanded Rigor and Tanggol. As Tanggol refused to leave, Geline suggested for Noy to be transferred to another place to avoid further commotion, which Chairman heeded and allowed the wake to be held at the barangay hall.

Tanggol and Santino got into a scorching spat as the latter expressed his disappointment on the former for abandoning them and not taking him and their mother away from their chaotic home. Santino returned the money Tanggol was giving him and told him that it’s really him who they’ve needed more than his wealth.

Mando (Allan Paule) then paid a visit at Noy’s wake, in which he had the chance to engage in a poignant conversation with his godson, Tanggol, about his strained relationship with his family, especially with Rigor. As Tanggol opened up about his resentment towards his family and decision to stay away from them for good, Mando advised him to strive to become a better person first—just like what his parents perhaps want him to be—before he could be of service to other people.

After waiting for so long, Marsing (Pen Medina) and Nita (Susan Africa) finally had the opportunity to confront Tanggol about the whereabouts of their daughter, Mokang (Lovi Poe), who they haven’t seen for a long time and was last known to be with him. the 

Meanwhile, as their way of fulfilling their part of their deal with their “new friends”—the group of Tanggol—Augustus (Julio Diaz) instructed Colonel Suarez (King Gutierrez) to wipe out all records of the recent checkpoint encounter between the cops and the friends of Tanggol.

Afraid that they would encounter a problem or they would not come out alive, Divina sought assistance from Augustus and Col. Suarez in transacting with their drug clients, which they accepted in exchange of their whopping share in their deal. As Divina instructed them on what to do, the two high-ranking officers objected and told her and her right-hands that they also wanted to get involved with the transaction. 

Augustus and Col. Suarez proved themselves useful when Divina and her team was double-crossed by a potential client and quite worthy of taking half of the payment. As Peng (Long Mejia) and Raul (Raymond Ronquillo) expressed their dismay, Divina advised them to just let it pass for now since they highly need their protection and she firmly believes that they’re still able to recover their losses someday. She assured them that once they’ve amassed a big fortune, they’ll get rid of Augustus and Col. Suarez and replace them.

On the other hand, an unexpected shootout transpired at the Montenegro mansion, which resulted in David (McCoy de Leon) getting shot and an altercation between Ramon (Christopher de Leon) and Olga (Irma Adlawan) as they drove away from the scene. 

Will Tanggol and the rest of the “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” have a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”? Let’s all find out by not missing an episode, weeknights at 8PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.