Product Code Database
Mara Clara is a Philippine television drama series broadcast by ABS-CBN. Starring Judy Ann Santos and Gladys Reyes, it aired on the network's afternoon line up from August 17, 1992 to February 14, 1997, replacing Sebya, Mahal Kita and was replaced by Esperanza. It is the second longest running drama series of ABS-CBN (after Ang Probinsyano).
The title is derived from María Clara, the Mestizo heroine of José Rizal's Noli Me Tángere. It is a first release from Dreamscape Entertainment upon its establishment in 1992.
This series is streaming online on YouTube.
The fateful day began with Almira and Susan giving birth. Tragedy struck when Kardo accidentally caused the death of one of Susan's twins. To conceal his grave error, Kardo covertly swapped Almira's newborn with Susan's deceased infant, leading Amanthe to mistakenly believe their own daughter had died. Seizing this opportunity, Gary took his surviving baby and placed her with the affluent Del Valle family.
This intricate web of lies resulted in Mara, Almira's biological daughter, being raised in poverty by Susan (Susan Africa) and Gary Davis (Eruel Tongco). Meanwhile, Clara, Susan and Gary's true daughter, grew up in wealth under the care of Amanthe (Juan Rodrigo) and Almira Del Valle (Beverly Vergel), setting the stage for a life of mistaken identities and concealed truths.
Meanwhile, Gary (Eruel Tongco), a notorious gang and syndicate leader, approves of Mara living with the Del Valles, intending to extort money from them. As Mara navigates her new life, Clara, the Del Valle's adopted daughter, makes her life exceedingly difficult.
Earlier, Enrico (Noel Colet), Almira’s adopted brother, plotted against the Del Valle family. His malicious schemes were thwarted when his leadership of a gun-running syndicate was exposed, forcing him to flee to the United States.
Gary's abuse led to Susan's repeated mental breakdowns, culminating in her living as a beggar before eventually recovering. Beyond his manipulative nature, Gary rose to power as a syndicate leader, relentlessly extorting the Del Valle family and even using their money to establish his own business. Even while incarcerated, Gary, alongside inmates Waldo and later Negro (Enrico’s former henchman), continued his criminal enterprises. At one point, Gary and Lenita conspired to dismantle the Del Valle family through elaborate schemes.
During Almira and Amanthe's vacation, Almira's strict and conservative cousin, Marina (Carol Dauden), managed the household. Despite her nature, Marina was easily manipulated by Clara, who mirrored her biological father Gary's cunning. While Clara briefly showed signs of conscience after learning Mara was the true Del Valle daughter, she quickly succumbed to Gary's influence, letting greed and a craving for wealth and attention consume her.
As fate would have it, the Del Valle family adopted Mara and even provided her with a college scholarship, leading to Mara and Clara living under the same roof. When Clara discovered her true identity as Gary's daughter and Almira learned of this, many assumed Mara and Clara were biological siblings. This revelation, however, plunged Mara into an identity crisis, making her question her own origins and suspecting she might be the true Del Valle heir
The pivotal piece of evidence confirming Mara's true Del Valle identity was Kardo's diary. After changing hands multiple times, the diary finally reached Jepoy (Paolo Contis), who placed it in Almira's room. Upon reading it, Almira discovered the truth: Mara was her real daughter. Kardo further corroborated this revelation in a phone call to Almira, leaving no doubt.
The plot escalated with Gary's mysterious death by an unknown assailant. Speculation pointed to syndicate leader Tamaguchi, with Nakamura of the Yakuza as a suspect. Tragically, Almira fell into a coma after reading the diary and uncovering the truth about Mara.
Louie and her niece, Clara, conspired to destroy Mara and the Del Valle family. However, Lenita refused to partake in Louie's schemes. Louie then kidnapped Mara, demanding a staggering PHP 100,000,000 ransom from Amanthe, and accidentally shot Clara during the hostage crisis. Fortunately, the police, aided by Kardo, Berting, and Simeon, rescued them, leading to Louie's arrest and injury.
In the end, good triumphed. Damages were paid, Clara apologized to Mara for her actions, and Mara forgave her. All characters ultimately found their rightful place.
He manipulates and brainwashes Clara, urging her to continue her wicked ways and resent the Del Valles. Meanwhile, dark flashbacks haunt Almira's nightmares, and Henry fuels her torment by making her believe she orchestrated Gary's death. However, it's later revealed that Enrico/Henry was the true killer of Gary Davis.
Despite finally living with her true parents, Mara faces new threats. Her uncle, Henry, along with Inggrid (Glydel Mercado), conspires to destroy the Del Valle family, with Inggrid attempting to seduce Amanthe. Meanwhile, Susan confronts Roy, who seeks revenge for his brother Gary's death and Louie's imprisonment. Additionally, Clara secretly schemes to claim her right as a Del Valle heiress. Fortunately, Roy is captured by the police with the help of Jun (Daniel Fernando).
Adding to the turmoil, a missing diary entry suggests Mara might be the product of Almira's sexual assault by Gary, rather than Amanthe's daughter. For Mara's safety amid the escalating chaos, Almira sends her back to Susan. This deeply saddens Mara, especially when Clara manipulates Susan into believing Almira caused Gary's death. Enraged, Susan turns against the Del Valle family, while Clara's hatred intensifies, fueling her determination to blame them for her father’s fate.
Following her kidnapping, orchestrated by Henry and Ingrid, Almira was involved in a car accident. One of the two fatalities was mistakenly identified as Almira due to her ring, which the culprits had forcibly taken. Miraculously, Almira survived and was rescued by wealthy elderly couple Dante (Dante Castro) and Alicia (Raquel Montesa), who coincidentally had lost a daughter, Elena, who strikingly resembled Almira.
Following a tense confrontation with the Del Valle family, Henry is shot dead by the authorities. In a separate confrontation, Clara almost kills Mara. Mara fully recovers, while Clara is admitted to a mental institution due to her severe mental conditions. The Del Valles then depart for the United States.
On May 19, 1996, cast members Eruel Tongco, Ireneo Sevilla, Joy Clarise Cojuangco and Bienvenido dela Rosa died when their vehicle fell into a ravine in Palayan while driving home from a Nueva Ecija stage presentation. To fill in the sudden demise of the actor, they introduced Louie, the previously-unspoken sibling of Gary played by Maila Gumila to continue what could have been the storyline of Gary. However in the movie version which was shot the same year, they picked William Martinez to play the role of Gary. They eventually replaced Gumila's character as main antagonist during the end of Book 1 by Henry/Enrico, played by Jeffrey Santos on their second season.
In the film, Gary Davis' character was changed. It was portrayed by Eruel Tongco in the series, while William Martinez played the role in the film due to Tongco's death from a car accident in 1996.
Additionally, Qureubin was originally portrayed by Whitney Tyson in the series but Jinky Oda portrayed the character in the film following a series of bullying cases to Tyson during shoots leading eventually to her withdrawal from the series.
| Later in the series, Kardo revealed the shocking truth to Gary: Mara was not his biological daughter. | From the very beginning, Gary knew that Mara was not his biological daughter. |
| Susan attacked Lenita after she ordered Mara to wash her clothes. | Consumed by rage after discovering Gary's affair with Lenita, Susan lashed out, attacking her in a fit of fury. |
| Clara brought the diary with her to the mansion. | Kardo entrusted the diary to Clara after she learned the truth about her identity. |
| Clara overheard a conversation between Amanthe and Gary, during which she learned that she was their daughter of Susan and the latter. | Witnessing Clara hurting her mother, Amanthe revealed to her that she was Gary and Susan's daughter. |
| To prevent Susan and Kardo from revealing Mara's true parentage – Amanthe and Almira – Gary kidnapped her. | Gary kidnapped Mara after Clara revealed that everyone knew she was Amanthe and Almira's biological daughter. |
| Almira learned she and Amanthe were Mara's true parents through Kardo's diary and a subsequent phone call from him. | Upon reading Kardo's diary, Almira's suspicions were confirmed: she and Amanthe were indeed Mara's true parents. |
| Louie ordered her henchmen to kidnapped Mara directly. | Gary tricked Mara that he would brought her to her real parents but eventually, she kidnapped her. |
| Louie was shot and wounded by a police officer after she attempted to kill Amanthe. | Gary was shot to death by Kardo and Amanthe simultaneously. |
| Mara was shot during her welcoming party. | This didn't happened in the movie version since Clara accepted her fate and was part of the party. |
| Almira was allegedly killed by kidnappers during a car bomb suicide. | Almira did not die in the movie. |
The TV series made waves through most of the Filipino audience and being called by ABS-CBN as, "Ina ng Pinoy Soap Opera" owing to the series' huge success.
The highly-overt antagonism of Gladys Reyes' main antagonist character, Clara, by way of her violent actions done throughout the series against Judy's character, Mara, had provoked a huge reaction on those who viewed the show's protagonist Mara, more favorably, such to the point that Gladys Reyes had earned the title "Bella Flores of the 90's".
|
|
