While viewers felt a sense of satisfaction now that one less annoying villain stand in Tanggol (Coco Martin)’s way following the death of Edwin, it was a sentimental day behind the scenes as the team wrapped up the final filming day of Ping Medina, the actor who portrayed Edwin since the pilot week of "FPJ’s Batang Quiapo."
As a tribute, CCM Film Production shared a reel featuring Ping looking back on his journey in the series, which also showed a glimpse of his last taping day where he received a special surprise from the team and gave a short speech, saying, “Ito ’yung first show na malulungkot ako na mawawala ako.”
Ping said he’ll always remember the brotherhood he built with his co-actors over nearly three years. Now that he had officially said goodbye to the show, it's only beginning to sink in just how long they had been together as one team. "Ang tagal na pala namin na parang magkakapatid na kami sa set lalo na 'yong mga Tondo boys," he shared.
He said "FPJ's Batang Quiapo" taught him how to really look into the soul of a person, especially those living in Quiapo. "Ang pinakanatutunan ko sa 'Batang Quiapo' ay hindi puti o itim ang buhay ng tao, may gray area 'yan," he mused. "Mas nakilala ko ang mga tao ng Quiapo at mas na-appreciate ko sila."
Just like many viewers, he named Roda as one of his favorite characters to watch because of director Joel Lamangan's witty ad-libs. The characters Marsing, played by his father Pen Medina, and Nita, portrayed by veteran actress Susan Africa are close to his heart.
He also mentioned how much he enjoyed sharing scenes with Santino, played by Ronwaldo Martin, whose performance he found impressive. "Nag-umpisa siya na medyo alangan siya tapos pagtagal, pagaling nang pagaling at paganda nang paganda ang performance niya," he noted. "Minsan nasa eksena lang ako tapos biglang napapansin ko pinapanood ko na lang si Santino. Ang galing niya."
One memorable scene for him was the confrontation with Lovi Poe's Mokang, where he didn't know Direk Coco instructed Lovi to slap him ahead of cue, thus his genuinely stunned reaction during the take. "Noong nasampal ako, nagulat talaga ako," he laughed.
As he looked back on his “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” stint, Ping expressed gratitude to the show’s torchbearer, lead actor-director director, Coco. "Utang na loob ko sa 'yo na binigyan mo ako ng ganitong role," he said when asked what he wanted to tell Coco. "Nagtiwala ka sa akin bilang Edwin. First time na may nagtiwala sa akin na mag-comedy, na mag-action at kontrabida," he added.
"Sobrang nag-enjoy talaga ako. Nabago ang buhay ko ng role ko as Edwin." With sincerity, he further told Coco, "Marami akong utang na loob sa'yo, Direk. Alam mo na 'yan kaya maraming maraming salamat. Direk Coco, I love you."
In the recent episode of "FPJ's Batang Quiapo," a brutal fight broke out between Santino and Edwin, with both unleashing their rage and hatred for one another. Santino managed to get the upper hand and beat Edwin relentlessly. With Edwin not having strength to fight back, Santino reached for his gun and aimed it at him, hesitating at first until Edwin goaded him to do it. Even Santino was horrified when he killed Edwin, who had been jealous of his position in their group Red Phoenix.
Don’t miss an episode of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights at 8 PM on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), A2Z, TV5, and iWant.