Over the previous weeks, we didn’t just witness nail-biting, action-packed scenes in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” that resulted in the demise of some of its characters, two of them being Madonna and Olivia Guerrero, respectively portrayed by Kim Domingo and Chanda Romero.
But, as we all know, everything in life has its trade-offs, which means whenever something is lost or subtracted, something else is gained or added. And this speaks true in this long-running action-drama series, as we’d already seen a lot of actors come and go throughout its more than two-year run.
As our main hero, Tanggol (Coco Martin), is hinted to enter a new chapter in his life on the third year of the teleserye, a bunch of new actors were welcomed, as seen in the montage uploaded by CCM Film Production showing some of the happenings during the story conference they had organized last August. And the first set of fresh faces were already introduced in the first half of September—Aljur Abrenica, Maris Racal, and Via Antonio.
Aljur made his entrance on the September 3 episode, wherein his character, P/Lt. Hector Victorino, was unveiled to be the officer-in-charge of the Quiapo police station, in which Rigor (John Estrada) is a part of.
While it’s still uncertain what his role will be in the life of Tanggol, but what we are sure of is that he’s going to be a thorn in the side of Rigor, based on their initial interactions. Besides, he even tried to take away their operation against the Montenegros, which was personally assigned by outgoing Manila mayor Roberto Guerrero to the latter.
This actually serves as Aljur’s first regular teleserye stint on ABS-CBN following his cameo appearance in the pilot episode of a now-defunct Kapamilya action series and reunion with Coco, whom he first and last worked with in “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.” Thus, he couldn’t be more grateful to him for this opportunity, which for him already feels like a huge achievement.
He may always appear serious and tough onscreen, yet Aljur proves that he’s also game to take on trending social media content, as seen in this new character reel posted by CCM Film Productions on their official Instagram account. He can be seen striking several handsome and astig poses to the camera while Paul N Ballin’s “POGI” plays in the background.
And two weeks later, it was Maris who delighted us with her ingress in the September 15 episode alongside character actress Via. They were introduced as Patrolwoman Paula “Ponggay” Garcia and Patrolwoman Chona Vasquez, respectively, who immediately got into action right on their first day of service. Fresh out of the academy, they appeared to be morally upright and have high hopes of serving the public, especially those who cannot fight for themselves, with utmost honesty and sincerity.
Despite being neophytes, P/Lt. Victorino and Corporal Dimaguiba didn’t hesitate to immediately put Ponggay and Chona’s competence to the test by including them in the Quiapo police’s operation against the Montenegros. Besides, Ponggay was even entrusted to lead one of the units during the attack—and she impressively did an impressive job.
While she already had experience in doing action in the previous series she had starred in, Maris confessed about still feeling jitters during her first scene with lead actor and director Coco in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” which was already an extreme action one.
READ: Maris admits feeling jitters in extreme action scenes with Coco in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo”
But before they completely got into action, Maris and Via amused us in this IG reel posted by CCM Film Production, wherein they’re seen being sassy and astig, as well as delivering major bestie vibes. For sure, they’re going to be one of our favorite duos on primetime!
Prior to this, Maris also posted a reel on her personal IG account, wherein she mesmerized her followers with how exquisitely awesome she is as her newest character, Patrolwoman Paula Garcia. Using Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” as the background song, she turned one part of the Montenegro mansion into an instant runway as she strutted in her police uniform while holding a gun and twirling a pair of handcuffs.
Do you wonder, as we do, about the roles that the characters of Maris, Aljur, and Via are going to play in the life of Tanggol? Well, let us all find out by not missing an episode of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights at 8 PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), A2Z, TV5 and iWant.