Maalaala Mo Kaya’s March 27 episode “Tungkod” (with the pre-airing title ‘I See You, Bro”) featured a touching story of friendship between former adversaries Petrus Niño Samonte and Raddy Dionisio. Joao Constancia and Neil Coleta played Petrus and Raddy, respectively, who went through struggles and challenges that made their friendship even stronger.
REVIEW: Joao Constancia shows “future best actor material” in MMK “Tungkod”
Charo Santos-Concio was able to talk to both Petrus and Raddy in this episode of MMK Kumustahan. Petrus was the letter sender and he shared that he could still vividly remember the first episode of MMK back in 1991 where it featured an inspiring father-and-son relationship, and he added that the most important realization that he learned from that episode was to love your father.
Meanwhile, Petrus, who is a visually impaired person, shared that he was strongly motivated to get back to school and enroll in a school for the blind because he knew that God has always been there to guide him.
After school, he took a massage training course in the Ephpheta Foundation for the Blind, a non-government organization that noticed his talent in massaging and gave him the opportunity to work as a massage therapist in the foundation despite his visual impairment.
Meanwhile Raddy shared that when he first knew Petrus, he thought that he was very bubbly and hyperactive. But eventually Raddy stood as his best friend who was there to protect and take care of him, considering that Petrus’ mother is working abroad, and his siblings already have their own families.
If there’s one thing that Petrus values the most and would never forget in their friendship is the fact that Raddy has always been there by his side when no one else was there for him. Petrus shared that his friend would always visit him and would always look after him. And when it was Raddy who needed his help, Petrus made sure that he was present during that time.
Raddy said that it’s really their respect for each other that also made their friendship grow much stronger. He said that Petrus really had a low morale before but as his friend, Raddy did his best to encourage him to not give up and always choose to work for himself.
Even though Raddy has his own family and Petrus was already living with his mother and his nephews, they remain close friends.
Lastly, Petrus told Raddy that he should just continue to work hard and take good care of himself and his family amidst the pandemic. On the other hand, Raddy told Petrus that he should always take care of himself as well and be very mindful of the people he encounters.