Ang Probinsyano as today’s idol

Back then, we joined the hordes of fans filling up the seats of the nearest cinema in town.

The audience-drawer was a young man being introduced to a life of audience exposure, something he had never experienced at all.

The young man was Coco Martin and his discoverer was Brillante Ma. Mendoza.

Coco followed each and every lesson given him to the last detail which pleased Brillante very much.

Years later, Coco had become a big star but he hadn’t changed in terms of being grateful to his mentor and everyone else who had helped him along the way.

In his current teleserye based on FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano (Man from the Province), Coco plays twins and police officers Ador and Cardo de Leon.

While exercising their duties, one of the twins (Ador) was killed by a companion, for whatever reason has not yet been uncovered.

So Cardo uses this opportunity to imitate Ador to hopefully discover why his brother had been killed.

Cardo gets permission from his bosses to visit the house of some kidnapped girls on the basis of a trumped-up excuse.

Coco in disguise as a woman (Paloma) is determined to find out how one of the girls Carmen was kidnapped, but gets waylaid along the way by the taxi driver (Jason Francisco) who falls in love with him (as a woman) and keeps following him around.

The children in the house where Coco lives discover under the bed his disguise including hair and shirt. They put these on and start dancing. Meanwhile, Coco is fast asleep and has no idea of what has been happening. Until Susan Roces (in the role of Lola Kap) catches them and starts believing talk that Coco in reality is bi-sexual!

Cardo’s mission gets more complicated as he tries to hide his identity as Paloma from his loved ones. The streets become more and more dangerous for women, and the mission becomes complicated as Cardo continues to disguise as Paloma.

It is therefore no surprise that Ang Probinsyano’s pilot episode has reached a 41.6 percent nationwide ratings. Coco’s return to primetime and being called the King of Teleseryes fits him completely.

FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano makes so much sense in hitting issues of national relevance while telling the story of a young police officer.

The effect of Ang Probinsyano has always been compared to that of Manny Pacquiao’s fight where the crime rate goes down while people at home watch the fight on TV.

For his encouraging portrayal of a cop, Coco was recognized by the Philippine National Police. He was awarded a certificate of appreciation by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano during the 63rd Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) founding anniversary at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

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