After having been part of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” ever since it premiered in February 2023, Susan Africa and Pen Medina have already signed off from the series after their well-loved characters, Nitang and Marsing, were ruthlessly murdered by the henchmen of the Guerrero family, as seen in the December 12 episode.
As we bid farewell to the last two members of the Dimaculangan family, let us revisit their last few scenes in the primetime series and how they’d ended up in this unfortunate situation via this feature.
Just when the couple thought that they’d hit the jackpot when they were able to ink a deal with the most affluent family in Manila—the Guerreros—they had eventually found themselves wrong, as this would instead lead to their ill-fated demise.
It all started when Nita offered Jackie (Angel Aquino) the products that they could order from their “start-up” company, with the promise of helping them gain huge profit from it as well since the items were acquired at discounted prices.
The offer apparently came at the right time since a fire broke out in one of the barangays under the Guerreros’ watch, leaving many families and individuals homeless, penniless, and hopeless. And since they are obligated by their positions to serve and extend help to their constituents, the Guerreros had no choice but to immediately act on it while making sure that they could earn something out of it at the same time. Thus, Jackie had thought of tapping the Dimaculangans to be the supplier of the relief goods they had distributed to the fire victims.
As they assumed that there would be no problem and they’d scored big time in this business deal, the Guerreros eventually found themselves in the midst of a scandal. After several people reportedly died due to food poisoning caused by the relief goods they’d provided, which turned out to be expired already. The families of the victims and other people who’d learned about the fiasco demanded accountability from the Guerreros, who repeatedly said that it was the contaminated water at the evacuation area and not the relief goods they’d distributed that caused the deaths.
Vehemently agitated by what had happened, the Guerreros summoned the Dimaculangans—who thought that it was for another business transaction—to the city hall to supposedly ask them to explain. But it didn’t happen anymore, as on their way to the Mayor’s Office, Nita and Marsing were blocked by the group of Tindeng (Charo Santos), who confronted them about their involvement with the Guerreros and the controversy they’re currently facing.
Jackie and Miguelito (Jake Cuenca) arrived at the scene afterwards and stopped them from quarreling. A heated spat then sparked between the group of Tindeng and the Guerreros, as the former conveyed that they already knew about the illicit acts and warned them that they would file administrative charges against them. As soon as Tindeng and company left, the Guerreros went on to castigate Nita and Marsing over the expired goods and told them that they no longer wanted to do business with them, with Miguelito threatening to have them killed.
Since it would cost them their livelihood, Marsing once again tried to talk to Jackie but to no avail since the latter was already adamant about severing their family’s connection with them. As she continued to blame them over the disaster, Nita finally mustered the courage to speak up and revealed to everyone that it was Jackie who told them to cut corners in order to receive a higher kickback from the purchase of relief goods.
Of course, Jackie didn’t allow the couple to smear their family’s reputation, so she badmouthed them to the crowd waiting and protesting in the lobby of the city hall. She declared that it was Nita and Marsing who supplied the expired relief goods, so it’s them who should be blamed and receive the wrath of the people.
The couple refuted the claims and clapped back at her, with Marsing saying how awful it was for her to wash her hands of the issue when she was the one who told them to do it, and Nita announcing that Miguelito should not have won the last elections since the Guerreros engaged in vote-buying. To stop Nita from further blabbing, Jackie aggressively pulled her hair, hit her with her bag, and kicked her on repeat until the former was already down on the floor.
Unfortunately for the Dimaculangas, the people believed Jackie, and they went on to mercilessly mob them until they arrived outside the city hall. Tanggol (Coco Martin) and his friends, who were just passing by the area, caught the situation and immediately came to help them.
As soon as they were able to get away from the city hall, the couple confessed to the group about the reason why the people violently assaulted them and how they were also victims of the wickedness of the Guerreros. Upon learning their involvement in the tragedy that struck some of the fire victims, Tanggol wasn’t able to help himself from reprimanding them, reminding them of how important food is, especially to underprivileged people, and of how painful it is to lose a loved one.
Since they expressed remorse for what they’d done to their fellow Manileños, as well as to him when they insisted that he killed their children, Mokang (Lovi Poe) and Edwin (Ping Medina), Tanggol accepted the apologies of Nita and Marsing. He also advised them to go somewhere far away knowing that their lives are already in danger, especially as they went against the Guerreros. True enough, Jackie and Miguelito ordered their minions to hunt them down and make sure to kill them even before they could fulfill their threat to expose them.
Contrary to Tanggol’s advice for them to go straight to the bus terminal, the couple decided to return to their abode first in order to get their important belongings. Little did they know that the henchmen of the Guerreros were already waiting for them at San Dimas, so a wild chase between them transpired. With the help of their neighbors in Quiapo and their right-hand men, Opok (Pokski Ramirez) and Marlon (Marlon Tourette), Marsing and Nita managed to run away from the enemies and reach the bus terminal.
However, just when they assumed that they’d successfully escaped, Jason (Paolo Paraiso) and his group were able to catch them going out of their hiding place while the bus they were aboard was about to depart. They riddled the bus with bullets, not taking into consideration the innocent people that might be implicated. Unfortunately, Nita was fatally shot in the chest, while Marsing was mercilessly shot point-blank by Jason inside the bus.
The tragic demise of the Dimaculangan couple indeed came as a shock for avid viewers of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” since it wasn’t included in any of the previous teasers. While this is of course heartbreaking, especially since they’re among the teleserye couples we’ve learned to admire in spite of who they are, yet many are surely glad that they’re still able to have character development before they bid adieu. They showed remorse about the bad things they’d done and opted to take the high road by exposing the corrupt acts of the Guerreros.
Will the last statements of Nita and Marsing against the Guerreros help Tanggol and the Manileños finally achieve the justice they’ve been yearning for? Let's see in the next episodes of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights at 8 PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, and iWant.