Even though she was facing imprisonment and charges of obstruction of justice for her connivance with one of Manila’s most wanted criminals, Tanggol (Coco Martin), and the looming loss of her job as a patrolwoman at Quiapo Police Station, Ponggay (Maris Racal) still refused to throw him and his group under the bus.
When their station commander, Rigor Dimaguiba (John Estrada), interrogated her about Tanggol’s whereabouts shortly after his arrest that happened right in front of their fellow officers, Ponggay firmly insisted that she didn’t know.
This flared Rigor’s rage, as he reminded her that it was not the first time that she betrayed the Quiapo police. It can be recalled that during one of their operations against the Montenegros, Tanggol and his gang had managed to take Don Julio (Tommy Abuel) from their custody. Ponggay defended herself, arguing that she hadn’t had a clear shot at the time, which was why she hadn’t been able to stop Tanggol.
Rigor’s anger boiled over, which made him abruptly stand up from his seat, loom over her, and yell right on her face. He furiously warned her not to dare fool him and insinuated that he wasn’t surprised she had gotten involved with a criminal since her late father, Mauro (Richard Quan), had been dismissed from the service for being embroiled in a crime.
Despite knowing the truth, Ponggay remained unfaz. She met his gaze steadily and replied that she would not speak without a lawyer present, to which Mando (Allan Paule), who was also in the interrogation room agreed, pointing out that forcing her to talk without legal counsel could be a technical violation.
But Rigor dismissed any objections and continued to gaslight Ponggay by accusing her of betraying their precinct by protecting a criminal, had cost the lives of many of their colleagues. Thus, he would make sure that she would pay for her and that she would never get back to the force.
He then ordered a female police officer to handcuff her and put her in jail. But prior to being fully locked away, Ponggay had the chance to speak with her best friend and colleague Patrolwoman Chona Vasquez (Via Antonio), who asked her why she was allowing herself to be imprisoned. Ponggay calmly replied that there was nothing she could do since she knew that Rigor would only pin everything on her. However, she’s confident that they would find no evidence to support their allegations against her, so she would just continue standing on her ground and deny everything.
Bewildered, Chona repeated her question, to which Ponggay explained that it was because she knew that she was responsible for the bloody encounter that had claimed the lives of many comrades, including P/Lt. Hector Victorino (Aljur Abrenica). Thus, she had to face the consequences of her actions because if not, she would be no different from the Guerreros.
When Chona questioned how they could possibly fight the corrupt and ruthless political family now that Ponggay was in jail, Ponggay instructed her to safeguard their recordings of the confessions of Lucio (Ronnie Lazaro) and Onyok (Hyubs Azarcon). She stressed that her imprisonment should not stop them from helping Tanggol seek justice, and reminded Chona to continue trusting him, as she believed he was the only hope for real change in Manila.
Although it broke her heart, Ponggay reluctantly surrendered her police uniform and badge, switching into simple clothes as her mugshots were taken and she was led into her cell.
Do not miss the next episodes of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo”, weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, ALLTV2, A2Z, iWant, and Kapamilya Online Live (KOL).