Take It Back: PNP, DILG Express Support to Ang Probinsyano in Joint Statement

The threat has been retracted, for now.

A week after the Philippine National Police and the Department of the Interior and Local Government expressed concern over ‘Ang Probinsyano”s supposed unfair portrayal of the police force, a joint statement was issued following a meeting Wednesday between the DILG and ABS-CBN executives. Here is the full statement.

“ABS-CBN and the Department of Interior and Local Government met yesterday (Nov. 21) in Camp Crame and resolved the issues related to the program “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.” It was a fruitful dialogue wherein both parties were thankful for the chance to express their views directly to each other.

The PNP stated the importance of the support and respect of the people to its organization, while recognizing ABS-CBN’s freedom to create and convey the story of the program.

For its part, ABS-CBN assured them that the program will continue to portray Cardo Dalisay as a police officer with integrity, who is dedicated to serve and protect the people.

The DILG, including its attached agency the Philippine National Police, will continue to support “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” as it continues to inspire Filipinos with the valuable lesson that in the end, good will always triumph over evil.”

It can be recalled that PNP chief Oscar Albayalde criticized ‘Ang Probinsyano’ for its unfair portrayal of the police force, something that the DILG initially agreed upon. In response ABS-CBN said that “all elements in the series are purely fictitious as stated in the disclaimer in the beginning of each episode” and that “they have no intention to smear the reputation of any person or organization.”

DILG undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that the meeting was simply set up to explain the two parties’ views to each other and that there was no mention of any changes to the plot. In the meantime, ABS-CBN executives are currently considering a meeting with PNP chief Oscar Albayalde to similarly iron out this situation.

Ang Probinsyano’s Latest Threat: PNP and DILG

It has been a mostly smooth-sailing run for ABS-CBN’s ‘Ang Probinsyano’, until now.

Earlier this week, the Philippine National Police, led by Director General Oscar Albayalde, criticized ‘Ang Probinsyano’ for its supposed unfair portrayal of the police force. This led to the PNP withdrawing any further support to the long-running ABS-CBN action series.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also sided with the PNP’s opinion on the show and considered filing legal charges against the producers of ‘Ang Probinsyano’. In response, ABS-CBN issued this statement.

“FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” assures the Philippine National Police (PNP) that the characters, places, and incidents in the program are purely fictitious as stated in the disclaimer aired at the start of the show every night. There is no intention to smear the reputation of any organization or portray any person in a negative light.

The program has also portrayed its main character, Cardo, as a hardworking police officer dedicated to saving lives and serving his fellowmen. As in the past years, “FPJAP” has highlighted that good shall always triumph over evil and has shared valuable lessons and family values that have resonated with viewers.

— Kane Errol Choa

Head, Integrated Corporate Communications

Senator Grace Poe, Gabriela, Jasmine Curtis-Smith and the group Let’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity (LODI) sided with ABS-CBN over the matter and chided the PNP and DILG over its perceived censorship of the series. Meanwhile, DILG secretary Eduardo Año would seek a meeting with the MTRCB and ABS-CBN executives regarding the matter.

As of November 16, 2018, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ has aired 813 episodes and is the highest-rated primetime series in the country with an average of 40% in the ratings. But with this latest issue facing the show, it appears as though its dominance may soon taper.

At this point, viewers of the show can only hope against the inevitability of cancellation should the PNP and DILG file and perhaps win its case against ‘Ang Probinsyano’. If that happens, it may become a repeat of ‘Voltes V’ and ‘Daimos’ getting banned from television under the Marcos regime, and it will be utter humiliation for media freedom.

Cain at Abel: Ang Probinsyano’s 11th Challenger

Coco Martin finds a familiar challenger yet again.

The last time Dingdong Dantes took on Coco Martin”s top-rating series ‘Ang Probinsyano’, he was unable to overcome said juggernaut. Dingdong’s ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ (season 2) only lasted a month before it was demoted to a later timeslot.

Now he teams up with Dennis Trillo in a new primetime series ‘Cain at Abel’. And in the lead-up to the series premiere, Dingdong himself conceded that ‘Ang Probinsyano’ is in a different league altogether and his only objective for ‘Cain at Abel’ is to keep loyal Kapuso viewers happy and excited regardless of ratings performance.

From GMA’s Public Relations team:

“‘Cain at Abel’ is an action-family drama about two brothers, Daniel (Dingdong) and Miguel (Dennis), who grew up in two very different worlds. As children, they were separated by fate. Daniel was raised comfortably in the city by his father. Miguel, on the other hand, was taken by his mother who later changed his name to Elias. They relocated to a poor fishing village where they struggled to make ends meet.

Years later, Daniel and Miguel/Elias were drawn together by their mutual affections: the father who brought them apart, the mother they yearn for, and the woman they both love.”

Solenn Heussaff (Abigail) and Sanya Lopez (Margaret) will play the respective love interests of Daniel and Miguel/Elias. The rest of the cast includes Eddie Gutierrez, Chanda Romero, Dina Bonnevie, Ronnie Henares, Tommy Abuel, Bing Pimentel, Renz Fernandez, Ervic Vijandre, Marc Abaya, Carlo Gonzalez, Boy 2 Quizon, Pauline Mendoza, Vince Vandorpe, Shyr Valdez, Leandro Baldemor, and Euwenn Aleta.

For the first few episodes of ‘Cain at Abel’, Yasmien Kurdi, Diana Zubiri, Gio Alvarez, Rafael Rosell, David Remo, Seth dela Cruz, and Ashley Cabrera will appear as younger versions of the lead characters. It will be directed by Don Michael Perez, Toto Natividad, and Mark Reyes.

If Dingdong’s prognostication were to be believed, it is clear that defeating ‘Ang Probinsyano’ is out of the question. The long-running series, as Dingdong said, is ‘in a different league’ now and for ‘Cain at Abel’ the aim now is to just make Kapuso viewers entertained.

So much for the ‘rivalry’. Anyway, good luck to ‘Cain at Abel’ as it gets underway this Monday.

‘Cain at Abel’ airs weeknights after ’24 Oras’ on GMA Telebabad.

Victor Magtanggol Completes Mission This Friday

“’Victor Magtanggol’ has completed its full intended run.“

This is exactly what GMA Vice President for Drama Productions Redgie Magno told Pep about the fate of ‘Victor Magtanggol’, the primetime action/fantasy series starring Alden Richards. The series will officially bow down after its 80th episode on Friday, but while ‘Victor Magtanggol’ had a decent run, it still failed to deliver.

‘Victor Magtanggol’ first premiered on July 30, 2018, but before the series even began, it was littered with controversy over its supposed similarities with Marvel’s Thor. Much like ‘Alyas Robin Hood’, ‘Victor Magtanggol’ failed to escape the wrath of the critics for allegedly plagiarizing another Marvel character.

In response, GMA executives defended the series saying that it was inspired from millenia-old Norse mythology. Still, a negative light had been cast on ‘Victor Magtanggol’, no matter what the executives say.

As expected, GMA placed ‘Victor Magtanggol’ opposite ‘Ang Probinsyano’, and the results did not look good for the former from the get-go. Much like the previous nine opponents that took on ‘Ang Probinsyano’, ‘Victor Magtanggol’ fell victim to Cardo Dalisay’s (Coco Martin) onslaught, losing by around 30% in most of its episodes.

Not even the supposed star power of Alden Richards helped ‘Victor Magtanggol’. In many ways, the series seemed to have taken a hit in Alden’s popularity, and it did not help that it went up against Coco Martin, by far the most popular star in primetime right now.

In Alden’s defense, he was still satisfied with how ‘Victor Magtanggol’ turned out. Not even its shortcomings prevented Alden from being thankful to the producers for giving him a project that expands his range of skill and physical will.

Still, it would have helped Alden if ‘Victor Magtanggol’ enjoyed a few wins. But regardless, it was worth a try.

On Friday, ‘Victor Magtanggol’ will take its last ride. Unfortunately for GMA, the series will only be remembered as yet another addition to ‘Ang Probinsyano”s list of victims.

Asintado’s Final Week

It all comes down to this.

‘Asintado”s final episode is slated to air this Friday. But in many ways, this series turned out to be unpredictable.

First aired on January 15, 2018, ‘Asintado’ was placed in the leadoff slot of ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold. It was to be the comeback series of Julia Montes nearly a year after starring in the long-running afternoon series ‘Doble Kara’.

But unlike ‘Doble Kara’, ‘Asintado’ performed on a relatively quiet scale. Debuting with a 17.7% rating, the series hovered between 14-17% for much of its run.

Despite that, ‘Asintado”s ratings were more than enough to dispatch its rival GMA dramas ‘Impostora’ and ‘The Stepdaughters’. And considering that it now airs at 3:50 p.m. on a regular basis due to the longer-than-usual running time of ‘It’s Showtime’, ‘Asintado”s performance was still impressive at best.

Overall, ‘Asintado’ will have a total of 187 episodes by Friday’s finale. As far as ABS-CBN standards go, this is already a long run.

If there is anything to pick up about ‘Asintado’, it is on how some of the cast members adapt to a role they were not used to. Julia Montes, long known for her dramatic skills regardless of being a villain or a protagonist, became more of an action star in this series as her character Ana sought vengeance on the loved ones she lost.

Shaina Magdayao, as Samantha, embraced the bad girl role particularly well, that is until it was revealed that Samantha and Ana were actually long-lost sisters. Paulo Avelino, as Gael, was no slouch either in working the good and bad side of his character.

In the last few weeks of ‘Asintado’, the focus shifted to Nonie Buencamino’s character Salvador, whom Ana blamed for the murder of her wife (and Salvador’s son) Gael as well as his wife Miranda (Lorna Tolentino). While Nonie”s credits as a villain were few and far between, his portrayal of Salvador may have been his best yet as a heel.

That said, the last week of ‘Asintado’ should be a good one. Whether or not Ana gains her much-needed justice remains to be seen, so stay tuned to find out the ending to this story of revenge and vindication.

The Blood Sisters to Conclude Friday

Erich Gonzales’ ‘three-in-one’ had a mixed run.

The good news for her is that ‘The Blood Sisters’ still reigned on its timeslot. But unlike its predecessor ‘Wildflower’, it failed to win big and make a noticeable impact.

First aired on February 12, 2018, ‘The Blood Sisters’ tells the story of triplets Erika, Carrie and Agatha (all portrayed by Erich). The series had a strong debut, hitting the 25% mark on its first episode.

‘The Blood Sisters’ would go on to hit the 20% mark on several other occasions during its run. Overall, however, the series never caught on with the viewers the way Ivy Aguas/Lily Cruz (Maja Salvador) did on ‘Wildflower’.

It also didn’t help that ‘The Blood Sisters’ wound up airing twenty minutes later than usual because of ‘It’s Showtime”s incessant streak of going overtime. Whenever Vice Ganda and company go beyond its limit, the worst-case scenario that ‘The Blood Sisters’ had was a 6:10 p.m. start which is way past its normal start time of 5:45-5:50 p.m.

That of course threw some viewers off and ‘The Blood Sisters’ ratings were affected by it. While the series still got the better of competing program ‘Wowowin’, the small gap between the two suggests that ‘The Blood Sisters’ was indeed beatable.

Still, the series managed to air 132 episodes when it is all said and done. Not bad for a series that had plenty of expectations yet could not get the job done.

If there was one consolation for ‘The Blood Sisters’, it is that Erich Gonzales continued her maturation as an artist. Having to portray three different characters is no easy task, but Erich was able to effectively pull it off with Erika, Agatha and Carrie.

Still, those shortcomings ‘The Blood Sisters’ had outweighed the positives. Had ABS-CBN put a leash on Vice Ganda’s excessive bantering, ‘The Blood Sisters’ would have raked in more viewers.

Either way, ‘The Blood Sisters’ was still a good series to watch even with all the concerns put into them. May this series enjoy a graceful exit this Friday.