It was indeed another exciting week (May 13 to May 17) for the avid viewers of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, especially for those who had been anticipating the showdowns between the two women vying for the affection and attention of Rigor (John Estrada)– Marites and Lena, compellingly portrayed by veteran actress Cherry Pie Picache and seasoned thespian Mercedes Cabral, respectively.
The previous week commenced with glimpses of the current lives that the Dimaguiba brothers are living. Tanggol (Coco Martin) wasn’t able to hide his ‘jealousy’ anymore upon seeing Bubbles (Ivana Alawi) chatting again with Pablo (Elijah Canlas) at the bar, while David (McCoy de Leon), who continues to pretend to be a Montenegro scion, was warned by Ramon (Christopher de Leon) against returning to his “adoptive” family in Quiapo and repeating the mistake that he committed in their next business transactions. Santino (Ronwaldo Martin), on the other hand, resumed his boxing training despite being beleaguered with family problems.
In his pursuit of taking his bar back from Pablo, Baste (Niño Muhlach) once again tried his luck in inviting him for a rematch with Tanggol as his opponent. Knowing how much Pablo likes Bubbles, Baste put her as a pawn and promised to allow him to take her home and not just on dates, which Pablo accepted as long as she would agree with it as well.
Of course, Bubbles and Tanggol initially got mad upon learning the new deal of Baste with Pablo, with Tanggol being hesitant at first as he was afraid to lose again and put Baste and his fellow bar employees in another difficult situation. But realizing that the fate of everyone working in the bar was in their hands, Tanggol agreed to play against him anew, as well as Bubbles who’s willing to sacrifice herself for the welfare of other people.
And all their worries and jitters were worth it as Tanggol finally defeated Pablo in their 9-ball pool match – much to the delight and relief of Baste, Bubbles, and everyone in the bar. Of course, they celebrated the victory by drinking booze! Meanwhile, Pablo’s curiosity about Tanggol grew as he expressed his interest to know his background.
Now that Baste was able to take back the bar and everyone was able to keep their jobs, Tanggol asked Bubbles to not go on dates with Pablo anymore, which she’s apparently not keen to do since aside from the fact that nobody would get mad at her once she’ll do it, she also finds him likable since she’s handsome, gentleman, and generous, to which her cousin Emong and her bestie Jelly (Kim Rodriguez) both agreed. He might not confess it, but Frida (Deo “Diwata” Balbuena) was able to see how jealous he was, so he teased him. Bubbles, on the other hand, felt so kilig as she sensed Tanggol’s jealousy.
On their way home after his bloody fisticuff with his colleagues PLT Mario Samonte (Jorel Ramirez) and PLT Luis Jacobe (Victor Silayan), Rigor finally confessed to his best friend Mando (Allan Paule) that their allegations were actually true since the real reason Lena resigned was because he got her pregnant. This enraged Mando since he knew all too well how Marites (Cherry Pie Picache) is a dutiful and loving wife to him. And this was proven again when she treated his wounds and bruises upon arriving home.
David came home that night and had a tête-à-tête with his father regarding infidelity and his relationship with Camille. While there were only the two of them outside their house during that time, it seemed that Camille was able to overhear their conversation, wherein he told his father that he’s no longer happy with her, as she asked him if he plans on marrying her as soon as he got inside their bedroom while tears welled up her eyes.
After getting rebuked by Marites for asking Camille (Yukii Takahashi), who’s already heavily pregnant, to wash her laundry, Lena was once again sideswiped by her as she tried to be the one to treat the wounds and bruises of Rigor when he got home from his altercation with Samonte and Jacobe. As they went to bed that same night, Lena threw tantrums when Rigor chose to sleep again in the room that he shares with Marites by loudly knocking on the wooden wall that separates their rooms.
The following day, Marites and Lena had another fiery exchange, through which the former reminded the latter that she was only there because of the child she’s carrying in her womb and not because of Rigor’s affection for her. They then had an instant cook-off initiated by the latter, who’s keen to prove that she is the better cook between them, which is one of the reasons why Rigor keeps coming back to her. Since Marites refused to share the stove, utensils, and condiments with her, Lena decided to buy her own stuff and prepared another viand for Rigor.
Their showdown continued as they served Rigor their respective versions of adobo – Marites cooked the conventional adobong baboy with eggs, while Lena provided him with adobong baboy sa gata and even scooped rice to his plate. In the end, it was Lena’s recipe that won his heart as he put more of it onto his plate, which got Marites upset.
Just when we thought that the battle was already over, Marites and Lena once again had a scorching argument that really irked Rigor. Their dispute further intensified when Rigor told them that he would be equally dividing his salary between the two of them, which didn’t sit well with them as they both believed that they are deserving of the larger cut. Rigor also infuriatingly asked them to stop quarreling and be civil with one another if they couldn’t be friends.
As Santino consoled the fuming mad Marites in the bedroom that she shares with her husband, Lena, on the other hand, was trying to persuade Rigor to spend time with her first before going to work or to completely not report to work just to be with her. She also requested for him to sleep beside her for the sake of their baby.
Olga (Irma Adlawan), a.k.a. Beng, once again had her breakfast in the carinderia of Bubbles’ grandma and even had the chance to share the table with them and ask Tanggol updates regarding his search for Mokang’s (Lovi Poe) husband, as well as if he has already notified her parents about what happened to her. Furthermore, she also relayed to him the current situation at their home after Marites discovered that Rigor has a mistress and he even got her pregnant, compelling him to bring her home with him. Before she left, Olga requested a hug from Bubbles, to which the latter obliged.
Tanggol opened up to Bubbles about his mother’s current predicament and they suggested for him to visit her again and treat her somewhere in order to make her feel better and know that he cares for her. He heeded her advice and immediately left for Quiapo. As if a stroke of fate, he spotted her at the Quiapo Church and invited her to dine at a fastfood restaurant.
Here are some of the rave comments from avid FPJ’s Batang Quiapo viewers that we’d spotted on X (formerly Twitter):
Will Tanggol and Rigor go face-to-face again as the former goes back to their house to confront the latter’s paramour who alleged him of pushing her off the stairs that led to her hospitalization? Let’s all find out in the next episodes of FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, weeknights at 8 PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5 and A2Z.