In the Philippines, teleseryes usually alternate between two main plots: search or revenge.
Revenge, indeed has become one of the most popular plot devices on television where the main character rises from oppression, and gets back at the people who have done him or her wrong.
The plot works perfectly if it follows the right formula: a rich lead character, an effective kontrabida, and entertaining campy confrontation scenes!
PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) lists down ten of the many revenge-themed teleseryes produced by TV networks to entertain their audience.
1. MariMar (1996 in the Philippines, 2007-2008, 2015)
One of the first revenge-themed soap operas aired in the Philippines wasn’t actually a
locally produced show.
In fact, it was the first Latinovela in the Philippines: the 1994 Mexican drama series MariMar that aired on RPN-9 in 1996.
It tells the story of the impoverished and innocent Marimar (Thalia), a beautiful woman who falls for and marries the rich Sergio Santibanez (Eduardo Capetillo).
But, apparently, Sergio marries Marimar just to spite his father, Renato (Miguel Palmer) for marrying Angelika (Chantal Andere), a social climber.
Later, Sergio falls seriously in love with Marimar. Angelika, however, deceives Marimar into believing that Sergio is only pretending.
Marimar leaves the Santibanez mansion and finds her true identity—that she is the missing heiress of Gustavo Aldama. Renaming herself as Bella Aldama, she uses her fortune to exact revenge on the Santibanezes.
GMA-7 later did a Pinoy adaptation of Marimar with Marian Rivera in the titular role and Dingdong Dantes as Sergio.
Angelika, who plays the wife of Renato and the stepmom of Sergio, was played by Katrina Halili.
READ TOTOO BA: Katrina Halili initially turned down kontrabida role in MariMar?
Another version was made by GMA-7 in 2015 with Megan Young in the title role.
This time, the stepmother role of Angelika, played by Jaclyn Jose, was patterned after the original version. She is older than Sergio and Marimar.
2. Wildflower (2017-2018)
Wildflower that aired in ABS-CBN Primetime Bida in 2017 was inspired by the
the Alexander Dumas novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.
It tells the story of Lily Cruz (Maja Salvador), a young woman who suffers the injustices of the Ardientes, causing the death of her parents.
With the help of Prianka (Priscilla Meirelles), Lily transforms into Ivy Aguas.
She then uses her fortune and beauty to enter the world of Ardientes, seek justice, and uncover their evil ways.
The series brought back the revenge drama genre after the popularity of light-romance on TV.
It ran for a year, was well-received, and earned for Maja a Best Actress award at the first Asia Contents Awards held in Busan, South Korea in 2019.
3. Contessa (2018)
GMA-7’s Contessa, aired in 2018, was another series inspired by The Count of Monte
Cristo.
It tells the story of Bea Resureccion (Glaiza de Castro), who is framed for a
crime that happens on her wedding day.
Behind the crime is the powerful Imperial family, which makes sure that Bea’s life in jail will be a living hell.
Guada Venganza (Tetchie Agbayani), who has known and experienced the evil ways of the Imperials, rescues Bea from near death and takes her under her wing.
Guada helps Bea avenge her suffering at the hands of the Imperials.
Bea then transforms into Contessa and reclaims the life that the Imperials have taken away from her.
4. Dirty Linen (2023)
The ongoing Kapamilya series Dirty Linen is currently one of the most talked-about series for its edgy story.
It begins with the death of four helpers at the Fiero mansion, the "dirty linens" were kept hidden by the Fiero family.
Years later, Alexa (Janine Gutierrez), the child of one of the helpers (Dolly de Leon), enters the Fiero mansion as a maid, a ruse hatched by the other family members of the missing helpers to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of their loved ones.
The show has trended on social media several times for its edgy shots, classical musical scoring, and the “mata-mata acting” of the actors.
5. Sana Bukas pa ang Kahapon (2014)
This 2014 drama series tells the story of Rose (Bea Alonzo), an heiress who turns her back on her family to be with Patrick (Paulo Avelino), the man he loves.
Rose's father is killed just as she is about to make amends to him. She is blamed and sent to jail for her father's death.
The lawyer Emmanuelle Romero (also played by Bea) takes on Rose's case and gets her out of prison.
In the middle of their investigation, Rose and Emmanuelle get involved in a tragic
accident. Rose survives with third degree burns, but Emmanuel dies.
Rose assumes the identity of Emmanuelle to continue the investigation.
She learns that Patrick has married her stepsister Sasha (Maricar Reyes), which leads her to believe it's only her money he's been after all along and it was him who killed her father.
Rose, together with Emmanuelle’s mom Ruth (Susan Roces), plots a revenge plan to uncover the truth behind the tragic events.
6. The Killer Bride (2019-2020)
The Killer Bride was Maja Salvador’s follow-up project after Wildflower. It starts with the story of Camila dela Torre (Maja), a woman who falls in love with Vito dela Cuesta
(Geoff Eigenmann), a bachelor from the Dela Torre’s rival clan.
On the day of their wedding, Camila is framed to kill Vito’s brother and jailed for a crime she did not commit.
The crime becomes the talk of the town in Las Espadas, where Camila is crucified and called the “killer bride.”
In prison, Camila finds out she is pregnant.
A huge fire then happens in the jailhouse, which leaves everyone believing that Camila and her child perished in the fire.
Horror stories begin to hound Las Espadas following the town's major crop plague.
The “killer bride,” now an urban legend, is believed to be the ghost of Camila haunting the town.
Years later, the mysterious Emma (Janella Salvador) appears claiming to be possessed by Camila.
It becomes clear later on that Camila is still alive and Emma is her adopted daughter whom she used to execute her revenge against the Dela Torres and the Dela Cuestas.
A twist toward the end of the story is that Emma turns out to be the daughter Camila has been looking for all along.
The series was a national awardee at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for Best
Telenovela in 2020.
7. Magkaagaw (2020-2021)
Magkaagaw is tagged “hindi ordinaryong kuwento ng paghihiganti.”
It begins with the story of Veron (Sheryl Cruz), who is left by her husband Mario (Alfred Vargas) for another woman, Laura (Sunshine Dizon), who does not know he's married.
Veron vows to make Laura’s life a living hell.
Laura, on the other hand, lives a quiet life far away from Veron.
Years pass, Laura’s daughter Clarisse (Klea Pineda), now all grown-up, weds Jio (Jeric
Gonzales).
But their mariage is tested when she achieves success in her dream job working for a woman only known as VRS.
Jio meets Veron at a bar, an encounter that ends up in a one-night stand.
VRS, who turns out to be Veron learns to her surprise that Clarisse, her secretary
whom she treats like her daughter, is the wife of Jio and, even worse, the
daughter of Laura.
Veron then plots to exact revenge on Laura, using her daughter and son-in-law in her scheme.
The series was known for its steamy scenes, such as showing Veron, Clarisse, and Jio in the same bathtub and the kissing scene of Sheryl and Jeric.
8. Pangako Sa ‘Yo (2000-2002, 2015-2016)
Pangako Sa ‘Yo, dubbed as the first soap opera to use the term teleserye, is also one of the first Pinoy dramas that had revenge as its main plot.
The series starts with the impoverished Amor de Jesus (Eula Valdes), who works as a maid for the Buenavistas.
She is in a secret relationship with the Buenavistas’ heir, Eduardo Buenavista (Tonton
Gutierrez).
However, Benita (Liza Lorena), the evil mother who does not approve of her son's girlfriend, plots a scheme for Amor and Eduardo to break up.
Amor, who is pregnant with Eduardo’s baby, finds out that the man she loves has
already married Claudia Zalameda (Jean Garcia).
Amor then vows that the people who wronged her will pay: “Matitikman nila ang batas ng alipin!”
She then leaves to work as a domestic helper, leaving her daughter to her mother.
Unfortunately, the dumpsite, where her family reside, collapsed. Amor is left to believe that her daughter is dead.
She later returns to the Philippines as the rich Amor Powers, ready to avenge her daughter and the pain caused by Eduardo and Claudia.
Along the way, Amor meets the beautiful Yna (Kristine Hermosa), a maid in the
Buenavista mansion who falls in love with Eduardo and Claudia’s son, Angelo (Jericho Rosales).
Yna, who has experienced the same fate as Amor in the past, is actually Amor’s missing daughter.
Pangako Sa ‘Yo was a huge success in the Philippines.
It is known as the first teleserye to have a cinematic approach, and is also the first daily series produced by Star Cinema.
9. Magkaribal (2010)
Magkaribal was dubbed as the first fashionserye in the Philippines as its milieu is centered on fashion.
It was headlined by Gretchen Barretto and Bea Alonzo as sisters who were separated because of tragic events.
The series combined two main plots of teleseryes: search and revenge.
Anna (Gretchen Barretto) gets separated from her younger sister Angela (Bea Alonzo) after a huge fire in the hospital.
She blames her father, Manuel (Mark Gil) and his mistress, Vera (Angel Aquino), for the misfortunes she and her sister experienced.
When Anna got the opportunity to study in the United States courtesy of Ronaldo Valera (Robert Arevalo), she transforms into the fashionable, beautiful Victoria Valera.
As Victoria returns to the Philippines, she vows to make Vera’s life miserable, even telling her, “Kukunin ko lahat ng ninakaw mo sa akin. Wala akong ititira sa iyo, maski na ang pangalan mo.”
Victoria, along the way, meets Vera’s loyal worker Gelai (Bea), who becomes the center of her wrath when Gelai gets into a relationship with Victoria’s great love, Louie (Derek Ramsay). She also makes Gelai’s life a living hell, not knowing that they are sisters.
Later, Gelai becomes a known fashion designer and gets even at Victoria for the cruelty she did towards her.
10. Hanggang Kailan (2004)
Hanggang Kailan was dubbedthe “seryereal” of GMA-7 as the network and its director, Joey Reyes, promised that the show would be infused with balance of light and dramatic moments same with daily-life events.
Utimately, it became the reunion of Lorna Tolentino and Alice Dixson, who were sisters in the 1989 film Nagbabagang Luha.
It tells the story of the bida-kontrabida Valerie (Lorna), who returns to San Sebastian to claim what she believes is rightfully hers: her first love Dado (Christopher de Leon).
Valerie and Dado separated when her father forced her into marrying a rich man as
payment for his debt.
Now divorced, she returns to San Sebastian with her two children and plans to wreak havoc on Dado’s married life with her half-sister, Thelma (Alice Dixson).
However, Hanggang Kailan’s end proved that love is bigger than revenge as Valerie
gives up her own life to save Dado, catching a bullet for him.