'Tuloy ang laban': Yassi Pressman reveals Coco Martin's soft side as 'Ang Probinsyano' turns 5

MANILA, Philippines — Fans of ABS-CBN’s longest-running action-drama series “FPJ's Ang Probinsyano” know how fierce its main star Coco Martin is in fighting bad guys.

But Coco’s leading lady in the show, Yassi Pressman, was surprised at how brave Coco is even in real life.

During her recent launch as new Nivea endorser, Yassi told Philstar.com and other media outlets what she discovered about Martin after all these years of working with him in “Ang Probinsyano.”

“Feeling ko po alam n’yo na rin po lahat. Siguro, I haven’t talked about this openly. One thing na nagulat din ako this year is the way he defends the people around him. Sometimes, baka nadadala nga ng nararamdaman n’ya o tingin natin because people have lost their jobs kasi po kasama namin ‘tong mga taong ‘to.”

While Yassi admired Coco when he posted strong statements against ABS-CBN shutdown on social media, she came to appreciate him even more when he was not afraid to show his feelings as he broke down with her and other “Ang Probinsyano” cast members when the network failed to renew its franchise.

“Nu’ng nagsara po ‘yung network, we all stopped taping and we all cried by the pool area. And lahat kami, we were silent and we were crying. We looked around – ‘yung mga makeup artists namin, ‘yung mga naglilinis, ‘yung mga nagtatayo ng tent, ‘yung laging bumibili ng kape namin. The little things and the other workers, pa’no na sila? That’s where the pain is coming from siguro. That’s probably the only thing and apart from the goodness that everyone knows about him.”

Apart from the network’s shutdown, Yassi has been trying to recover from losing her dad last February.

Related: Yassi, Issa Pressman pay tribute to dad who died at 90

“In a way, I still think that he’s still there. He’s still and will always be there. Whenever I was having a hard time, I see him in my dreams or butterflies come to me. I never really feel that he’s left us completely,” shared Yassi, whose resort in Siargao was also closed due to the pandemic.

She tries to deal with her troubles through charity work like making sandwiches for novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) frontliners, helping feed Tondo families, designing ballers for a cause, releasing a new song to give hope for frontliners and spending her birthday with kids in a hospital.

“The pandemic was really tough... We start our lives again by being happy not only for us,” she enthused.

When asked by Philstar.com if she has a special someone right now (is it Coco?), Yassi simply beamed: “My sister is my special someone. Secret!”

In social media posts today, the show’s cast congratulated the series for its fifth anniversary.

“Ano mang pagsubok ay kayang lampasan. Happy anniversary, mga Ka Probinsyano! Tuloy ang Laban!” said Lorna Tolentino.

“Happy anniversary, mga ka-Probinsyano! Lima na tayo! God bless everyone!" added John Arcilla.

“Sama sama pa rin nating haharapin kahit ano pang pagsubok ang dumating. Happy Anniversary, mga Ka Probinsyano!” Coco said.

Last week, the show introduced its latest character, Seth Fedelin, who portrays Macoy, a teenager from the province who will work with Cardo and the rest of the policemen in Lito’s (Richard Gutierrez) property.

RELATED: Yassi Pressman shares COVID-19 scare in ‘Ang Probinsyano’ after Mark Leviste tested positive