The Kapamilya series began airing on September 28, 2015 and ran for almost seven years with 1696 episodes.
[Warning: Spoiler Alert]
On August 12, 2022, ABS-CBN’s top-rating action drama series ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’ bade farewell to both its loyal and casual viewers with a special 110 minute episode. The series, starred by Coco Martin as the policeman Cardo Dalisay, saw the demise of more members of the fictional Special Task Force Agila in its final episode. That, as they continue to hunt Renato Hipolito (played by John Arcilla), now the main arch nemesis of Dalisay and his squad after the death of Lily Hidalgo (Lorna Tolentino).
Ultimately, President Oscar Hidalgo (Rowell Santiago) shot Hipolito multiple times as the latter nearly killed Dalisay in the middle of the forest.
After surviving the near-death experience anew, Dalisay gets visited by his family, only to discover Lola Flora (played by the late Susan Roces) had passed away outside of the storyline. Roces was also given a tribute montage that celebrated both her character as Lola Flora and her role in making the series possible. After that, President Hidalgo gave his respect and honor to the policemen of TF Agila while they were inside their respective caskets.
Dalisay, eventually, received a medal of his own as he gets promoted to Police Major. He then decides to go back to the province and continue his service there. Hidalgo then weds Aurora (Sharon Cuneta).
While on his way, he met Mara (Julia Montes) who have long been thought to be dead. It is unclear, however, whether Mara is indeed alive as she didn’t speak any line in that particular scene. That is also where the series officially ended.
The final episode ran from around 8:15 pm to 10:05 pm, and saw the pre-emption of the Friday episode of ‘Love in 40 Days’ as other programs post-Probinsyano aired at a much later time. In terms of competition, the finale aired versus two Telebabad dramas ‘Lolong’, ‘Bolera’, and Bubble Gang.
‘Ang Probinsyano’ history at a glance
Launched on September 28, 2015, FPJAP served as Coco Martin’s primetime comeback after the successful run of ‘Ikaw Lamang’ in 2014. The program, which was adapted from Fernando Poe, Jr.’s 1996 film of the same title, was greenlighted by FPJ’s wife Susan Roces and family. It was (at that time) to be the first FPJ movie to be adapted for TV.
Due to its high popularity, the series was given extensions multiple times. In fact, in 2018, the series received an all-time high TV rating on Kantar Media’s National TV ratings, where it recorded a whopping 47.2%.
Despite those successes, 2020, the fate of the show, along with all of ABS-CBN’s offerings were put on doubt as the network was shuttered due to the lapsing of its 1995 legislative franchise. However, as Kapamilya Channel on cable was launched, the program also became the first to return with new episodes and eventually, the first drama series to simultaneously stream on YouTube and Facebook.
After Kapamilya Online Live was launched in August 2020, FPJAP consistently broke records on nights where it would see major fights or character deaths. Case in point: the finale drew over 500,000 concurrent viewers, all-time high viewership for both the series and KOL.
FPJAP also became the launchpad for the careers of Pepe Herrera (Benny), Awra Briguela (Macmac), Simon Pineda (Onyok), among others. Guest stars have also made their mark on their show, with the likes of Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Angelica Panganiban, Paulo Avelino, among others, each having a stint on the program. Maja Salvador (Glenn), Bela Padilla (Carmen), Yassi Pressman (Alyanna), and Mara (Julia Montes) also became the the love interests of Cardo Dalisay.
FPJAP also cemented the legacies of Philippine showbiz legends Eddie Garcia and Susan Roces, who both passed away while the show was still on the air.
Programming-wise, during the span of FPJAP’s run, there were three KathNiel-led and LizQuen TV series, respectively, two JaDine dramas. Several children-led or targeted dramas, which were bumped from the traditional 8:00pm slot to the post-Probinsyano time slot, were aired like My Dear Heart and Starla. Over at rival GMA, Dalisay and company dispatched 20 series, a list that began with MariMar (2015) and ran until First Lady which ended in July.
FPJAP also joins an exclusive club of Pinoy drama series that ran for more than four years, and is the only one to do so in the 2010s.
What happens after ‘Ang Probinsyano’?
Beginning Monday, August 15, 2022, ABS-CBN will breathe life anew to ‘Mars Ravelo’s Darna’ as Jane de Leon takes on the role of the famous Filipina superheroine. She will be joined by Iza Calzado as Leonor (First Darna), Zaijian Jaranilla (Ding), Janella Salvador (Valentina), Joshua Garcia (Bryan), among others.
As for Coco Martin, nothing is yet confirmed with regards to his next project. But there has since been rumors of him doing another TV adaptation of an FPJ film. List of possible titles include ‘Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko’ and ‘Batang Quiapo’.
For binge-watchers, Probinsyano’s first season is still on Netflix as ‘Brothers’ and all of its 1696 episodes will live on iWantTFC.
For seven years, ‘Probinsyano’ became part of Filipino households and a cornerstone of Philippine primetime for most of its run. With the endless bullets, gunfights, car chases, as well as lighthearted moments and those emotional encounters, the series surely resonated with its audience one way or another. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and it was indeed good and fun ’til it lasted.