After a nail-biting week (October 16 to October 20), the happenings in the previous week (October 23 to 27) of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo were relatively light and steady.
Just on the opening of the previous week’s first episode, we were surprised by the sight of familiar face that we had not seen for a long time – former professional boxer Luisito Espinosa, who plays the role of Roberto, the maintenance guy of the gym where Santino (Ronwaldo Martin) works as a janitor.
After being told that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a professional boxer, Santino accepted Lawrence’s (Paolo Gumabao) challenge for him to fight against Chito (Shernan Roy Gaite) on the ring in exchange of giving him 1,000 pesos for his training fee once he wins, Coach Gary (Levi Ignacio) reprimanded him for his disobedience. At the same time, Coach Gary is impressed by his performance and by his ability to learn quickly. He also reiterated his eagerness to train him, but he cannot do it yet.
As they couldn’t accept their loss to Santino, Lawrence and his group assaulted him. Fortunately, Roberto was there and he was able to beat them singlehandedly. But his good deed towards Santino didn’t just end there, as he also volunteered to be his trainer when Coach Gary decided Lawrence will be replaced by Santino in the upcoming Nazarene Cup due to his hand injury caused by Roberto.
It seems that David (McCoy de Leon), a.k.a. fake Tanggol, is slowly getting the favor of Ramon (Christopher de Leon) as he’s able to impress him for pretending that he’s a “man of virtue” and went on to obtain his support in all of his pursuits. Ramon even advised David on what he should do in order to make up for the lady he’s courting, as well as thanked him for spending time with him.
Ramon’s good temper suddenly vanished during his and his father Julio’s (Tommy Abuel) meeting with the Red Phoenix, when the group once again asked for another extension in order for them to pay off 150 million pesos that they owe him. His refusal to heed to their request agitated Mr. Wu (Ricardo Cepeda), which resulted to a slight altercation between their groups. Ramon threatened to cut their partnership with them, as well as to have them killed once they fail to pay him the following day.
Just when Edwin (Ping Medina) thought that they hit the jackpot through their whopping business deal with Justin, who’s actually Police Lieutenant Luis Jacobe (Victor Silayan), little he did know that he’s already putting himself and the entire Batang Tondo gang in danger. Everything was part of the plan plotted by Jacobe and his partner PEMS Mario Samonte (Jorel Ramirez) in order to finally seize them.
As soon as they got back at the maximum security prison after accomplishing their first-ever mission, Tanggol (Coco Martin) and Bubbles (Ivana Alawi) were met by Chief Espinas (Jaclyn Jose) to give them their prize. He was initially hesitant to accept it, but eventually gave in to their prodding.
He also took the chance to request the jail chief to set his friends free from the isolation cell. They granted it, with Jail Warden Balatucan (Robert Seña) reminding everyone, especially the group of Bong (Vandolph) that they cannot harm Tanggol and his friends again. Besides, Chief Espinas also announced that they’re having a “prison week” and would invite a famous personality to entertain them, so everyone must behave.
When they finally got reunited with Tanggol, Ben (Mark Lapid), Enteng (Jojit Lorenzo), Tanos (Mark Anthony "Big Mak" Andaya), Bulldog (Sugar Ray "Mammoth" Estroso), and Dolfo (Ryan Martin) expressed their worry on their friend upon finding out his new duty.
Chief Espinas, meanwhile, told Bubbles that Tanggol is going to be her new partner in their future missions. She also told Col. Balatucan to observe his friends and see if they can turn them into their hitmen, too.
The day after her unexpected encounter with Noy (Lou Veloso), Olga paid Marites (Cherry Pie Picache), Tindeng (Charo Santos), and Noy a surprise visit at their stall in Quiapo, putting on her guise as Beng. Tindeng confronted her for what she did to Noy.
But Beng insisted that she was not the person Noy was referring to, which Tindeng didn’t believe. Marites tried to stop Tindeng from ranting and apologized to Beng, who, in return, reminded her of all the good things that she did to help their family without expecting in return. A new misunderstanding arose between Marites and Tindeng, with the latter berating the former for easily putting her trust on Beng and getting blinded by her debt of gratitude.
As she went to the drugstore to buy vitamins and pain reliever, Camille was spotted by her parents who were horrified after seeing the bruises on her face. She insisted that she’s okay and told them that it was just an accident, but they declined her explanation and immediately brought her to the police station to file a complaint against David.
When he’s done with his self-pity after Marsing (Pen Medina) and Nita (Susan Africa) took away all their belongings from their house where he currently resides, Roda decided to go out to look for something decent to it. Unfortunately, he was found by his former debtors who he oppressed and angrily mobbed him in front of the Quiapo Church.
Tindeng and Noy saw what’s happening and didn’t hesitate to save him by stopping his aggressors. She rebuked him, telling him that he deserves everything that’s happening to him because of how cruel, arrogant, and greedy he is. And his current predicament is the universe’s way of teaching him lessons that he must realize, so he must pray to the Black Nazarene and ask for His divine forgiveness.
After two people gave him alms without him asking, Roda decided to just go with it and turned himself into a beggar. He then chanced upon Marsing and Nita, who were busy dealing with people in Quiapo who wish to borrow money from them. It took him a lot of begging, to the point that he agreed to kiss his shoes in front of many people, before he’s able to convince them to lend him.
Roda then accompanied the couple to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Real, to whom he sold all the stalls near Quiapo Church, to buy those. They were able to acquire the property for 500,000 pesos and gave Roda 5,000-pesos as commission in exchange of not being bothered by him anymore. He also successful in gaining another P5,000-commission from Mrs. Real.
Comments from netizens
Last week’s episode of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo focused on Roda, who never fails to amuse netizens with his antics and utterances every time he appears onscreen. Thus, they heap praises on Direk Joel Lamangan for his compelling performance and impressive flair in comedy that provides balance in action and drama themes dominating the series.
While many viewers agree that Roda deserves her current ordeal for his wickedness, arrogance and greed, we also couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, especially when he was scorned by Marsing and Nita as their way of giving him the taste of his own medicine. There were some who are probably disappointed with how the couple has become haughty and ruthless like Roda, yet still with a heart. It’s just that we didn’t expect them to act like that way, now that the tables have turn for them.
On the other hand, we were touched by how Tindeng treated Roda despite all the troubles that he had caused their family. As much as she wanted to hurt him like what the other people he crossed did to him, she still chose to be kind towards him and forgive him. She firmly believes that Roda can still change, so she wanted to help him by urging him to reflect on his wrongdoings.
And, as we’ve mentioned earlier in this article, viewers were also surprised to see former Pinoy boxing champ Luisito “Lindol” Espinosa as he makes his comeback in the spotlight not as a professional boxer, but as an actor.
Here are some of the comments from some avid viewers of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo that we spotted on social media:
Will Tanggol and his friends succeed in their plan to escape during their mission outside the prison? Well, that’s for us to find out, so you better not miss an episode of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.