Love, jealousy, and fury were indeed in the air in the previous week’s (June 3 to June 7) episodes of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo as we didn’t only witness intense, nail-biting, and gigil-inducing scenes, but also kilig and cute encounters among some of its characters.
And one of those scenes that made our hearts flutter was the unexpected kilig scene between Tindeng (Charo Santos) and Don Facundo (Jaime Fabregas) after he offered to take her to the market upon seeing her walking down the street on his way to his business meeting – much to her surprise. As one of his minions called to say that his business partner wished to postpone their meeting for that day, Don Facundo decided for them to just proceed to the farm instead of the market, where he assisted her in ticking off everything on her list.
As Tindeng marveled at his skill in selecting fruits and vegetables, Don Facundo recounted that he was raised in a low-income household, so he experienced shop for groceries himself and working odd jobs to make both ends meet. Aside from his perseverance, he is grateful for the good fortune of meeting people who helped him reach where he is now, such as the affluent father of Señora Bettina (Tessie Tomas).
Before leaving, Olga (Irma Adlawan), a.k.a. Beng, handed Bubbles two plastic bags full of clothes that she claimed had formerly belonged to her late daughter. She then enthusiastically greeted her “happy birthday,” which startled both Bubbles (Ivana Alawi) and Tanggol (Coco Martin). As Olga attempted to take it back and said that it was supposed to be a joke, Bubbles confirmed that it’s indeed her birthday the following day. Olga pretended to be shocked to learn that Bubbles and her “deceased daughter” were born on the same day.
When there was only just the two of them in the room, Tanggol apologized to Bubbles once more for breaking their agreement of not avenging the death of Mokang (Lovi Poe) anymore and focusing on living the morally upright life instead. In return, she reminded him that the only reason why she decided to accept Pablo’s (Elijah Canlas) invitation for a second date is to save him from harm and for him to fulfill that goal.
While Bubbles was getting ready for her date with Pablo, Tanggol and Pablo got into another heated altercation. Tanggol tried to talk her out of going with him once more, but Bubbles reassured him that she would be fine and that this would be the last time that she would do it. Pablo contradicted her, sure that once she sees how wealthy his family is, she would never want to return to her current life.
After several times of being repeatedly teasing him and attempting to make him ‘fess up, Frida (Deo “Diwata” Balbuena) finally succeeded in making Tanggol admit that he really likes Bubbles. In order to make Bubbles feel even more cherished and special, Frida even heartily suggested that they go on a date where he could tell her how much he truly feels for her, as well as plan an amazing birthday surprise for her.
Pablo introduced Bubbles to his grandma, Señora Bettina, as his girlfriend and by her birthname “Samantha,” much to the astonishment of Bubbles. As Pablo took her on a tour around their family’s expansive estate, Bubbles had the opportunity to get to know him better and how he was growing up, which allowed her to understand why he behaves the way he does. He attempted to make advances on Bubbles while they were in the swimming pool, but didn’t succeed as she was able to repel and avoid him.
Luckily, Tindeng arrived just in time to prevent Pablo from harassing her, which extremely got him mad at her. Despite what had happened, Bubbles still joined him and Señora Bettina over their special lunch, wherein she was surprisingly regarded by her as Pablo’s future wife. Pablo tried to impress his grandma by fabricating stories about Bubbles and how they met, but the feisty and straightforward woman was quick to dispel it by insisting to tell the truth that really upset both Bettina and Pablo.
Pablo went on to chastise Bubbles for being uncooperative and call her names, but she had remained defiant. She further triggered him by conveying that Tanggol had been right all along about his perception of him, which worked as Pablo rabidly tried to harass her anew. But Bubbles was strong enough to knock him down and run out of the house as fast as she could to escape, with Tindeng and Noy (Lou Veloso) accompanying her on her way out.
Equipped with fresh information from Olga concerning the most recent whereabouts of Ramon (Christopher de Leon), a.k.a. Alberto Frias, Tanggol was driven to fulfill his personal mission of exacting revenge for Mokang's death. But in order for them to properly plan and prepare, Primo (Lito Lapid), Berting (Joey Marquez), and Amanda (Lorna Tolentino) counseled him not to let his rage get the better of him and to spy on them first since they are unaware of how huge Alberto’s troop is and they also lack sufficient weapons.
Knowing that Tanggol is already in the path of changing his life, Primo’s group discouraged him from holding a gun and killing Alberto himself, advising him to leave the task on them. Tanggol was vehemently eager to finish him off when he spotted him upon arriving at the warehouse that Olga mentioned to him, but was hindered by his companions since they already planned everything out. Unbeknown to him, the Red Phoenix group led by Roy (Jeffrey Tam) and Lucio (Ronnie Lazaro) were also there to carry out the same mission of destroying Ramon.
Tanggol might have initially heeded their advice, but he was utterly unstoppable in his vengeful schemes as he bravely launched his own attack. Unaware of their presence, Tanggol was spotted by Roy and some of his minions and saw it as an opportunity to inflict revenge on him as well after Tanggol betrayed him and Angkong (Joonee Gamboa) that nearly cost their lives and sent them to prison. An intense three-way gunfight broke out after Bullet (Renz Fernandez), one of Ramon’s henchmen, caught Tanggol aiming at his boss, which also served as a signal for the groups of Primo and the Red Phoenix to move.
The much-awaited face-off of Tanggol and Ramon finally happened, in which the latter got disarmed after they both fell off a scaffolding. Clueless that the real culprit behind the tragic death of Mokang was Olga, both of them were apparently perplexed on what the other was referring to. Primo arrived just right in time to save Tanggol from being shot by Ramon, but he wasn’t able to get rid of the vengeful Lucio.
Both the Red Phoenix and Tanggol’s group attempted to overcome Ramon’s troop, but they were tremendously outnumbered, so they decided to retreat for now.
Going through the tweets posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Kapamilya netizens who got to watch the previous week’s episodes of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, majority of them expressed how thrilled they were of the three-way skirmish among Tanggol’s group, Ramon’s troop, and the Red Phoenix syndicate, especially the nail-biting showdown between Ramon and Tanggol. Some of them were also heartbroken upon seeing Primo being gunned down by Lucio and, at the same time, furious at the latter for betraying his former friend.
Many were mad as well for the acts of lasciviousness that Pablo perpetrated on Bubbles, while she was commended for being able to stand on her own and protect herself. Meanwhile, he may usually annoy or amuse us, but the loquacious and arrogant Roda (Direk Joel Lamangan) surprisingly warmed our hearts in the past week as he conveyed his moral support for Marites and his willingness to take her in if ever he still has the financial capacity.
Below are some of the tweets that we had collated:
The trailer for the next week’s episodes promises viewers with another bunch of exciting scenes! So, you better not miss them by watching FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, weeknights at 8 PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5 and A2Z.