Aside from the intense face-offs of Marites (Cherry Pie Picache) and Lena (Mercedes Cabral), the two women vying for the love of Rigor (John Estrada), there’s another pair of femme fatales whose tapatan in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” we always anticipate.
They’re none other than Tindeng and Doña Bettina, enthrallingly portrayed by veteran actresses Charo Santos and Tessie Tomas, respectively. Let’s revisit some of their scorching showdowns in this Kapamilya Update feature!
As we all know, their connection started amicably after Tindeng saved Bettina from being harassed by thieves during the latter’s trip to Quiapo one day. Tindeng declined the money Bettina offered to her as a way of showing her appreciation, so the latter simply gave the former her contact details just in case they would need any help someday.
When things got more chaotic at their household, Tindeng and Noy (Lou Veloso) left Quiapo and finally grabbed the offer and went to the Caballero mansion not to ask for money but for jobs. Since she owed them her life, Bettina decided to hire them as a stay-in housemaid and a gardener, as well as provide them with free food and shelter along with their wages.
While all is well between them at first, their employer-employee relationship began to get sour as Bettina became hostile toward Tindeng. We got to witness it for the first time when Bettina got fuming mad at Tindeng for cooking tinolang manok, which she didn’t like since aside from she regards it as a food for the sick, she also prefers saucy viands only. Bettina went on to call her “intrimitida” and “tonta,” which mean “meddler” and “stupid,” respectively.
Being the true palaban that she is, there were instances when Tindeng wasn’t able to keep her calm as she defended herself from the silly assertions of Bettina. Remember when Bettina alleged her of destroying one of her expensive angel collections and of stealing one piece of her jewelry? Tindeng did the same when Bettina berated Noy for damaging her precious plants after he accidentally fell on them due to dizziness.
Bettina’s blood boiled again because of Tindeng after she found out that the latter took her beloved granddaughter, Katherine (Ara Davao), to Quiapo when she visited her family. While that already didn’t sit well on her, Bettina got even more furious upon learning that Katherine also fell victim to a pickpocket. Katherine tried to pacify her by assuring her that she’s completely fine when asked by Don Facundo (Jaime Fabregas), but that wasn’t enough as she was still furious at Tindeng.
From simply wanting to get Tindeng out of her sight in that scene, Bettina eventually wanted her to be out of their house after she found out that she snuck out of work. Tindeng pleaded with Bettina not to expel her since she needed the job and a place to stay, but the latter was already firm with her decision. Fortunately, Don Facundo came just right in time and once again saved Tindeng from Bettina, telling his wife that they didn’t have the right to do so since, after all, Tindeng deserved a day-off and she didn’t steal anything.
And just recently, we saw how piqued Bettina was to Tindeng anew after she caught her and Don Facundo arrived at the mansion at the same time. She mocked her for taking a day-off again and even riding in their posh car, with Don Facundo dodging his wife’s snide remarks by explaining that he just chanced upon her on his way home, so he offered her a ride. However, we all know that the two of them were actually together the entire day in Quiapo and even helped her take Marites to the hospital after getting stabbed.
Kapamilya, are you Team Tindeng or Team Bettina? Regardless of your choice, watch out for their next face-offs on “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights at 8 p.m., on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5 and A2Z.