Filipino Teleserye 2022
Maria Clara At Ibarra (Filipino Review & Summary)
Maria Clara At Ibarra poster
- Genre: Historical Costue Drama, Time Travel
- Release Date: 3 October 2022
- Origin: Philippines; Based on Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere
- Teleserye: 1001 🤣🤣🤣
Cast
- Barbie Forteza as María Clara “Klay” Infantes
- Julie Anne San Jose as María Clara Delos Santos y Alba
- Dennis Trillo as Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin
- Manilyn Reynes as Narsing Infantes
- Tirso Cruz III as Padre Dámaso
- Rocco Nacino as Elías
- Andrea Torres as Sisa
- Juan Rodrigo as Santiago “Tiago” Delos Santos
- Juancho Trivino as Padre Salví
- David Licauco as Fidel
- Lou Veloso as José Torres
- Dennis Padilla as Adong
- Ces Quesada as Isabel Alba
- Gilleth Sandico as Victorina de Espadaña
- Karenina Haniel as Victoria
- Robert Ortega as Ronald
- Bobby Andrews as Anton Villarama
- Alicia Mayer as Geraldine Cruz-Villarama
- Vanessa Peña as Anica Cruz Villarama
Episode 1
I found out about this drama from Twitter so I looked for it on Youtube and thank goodness it is available there but I am afraid for those who do not speak nor understand Tagalog, there is no English subtitle available yet.
Anyway, Maria Clara and Ibarra are characters from the Philippines’ national hero, Jose Rizal’s novel called Noli Me Tangere which means Touch Me Not. It was written in the 19th century during Spain’s occupation of the Philippines. Rizal’s novel Noli and the second book, El Filibusterismo (The Filibuster) are highly regarded and credited as the inspiration for Filipinos to demand independence from the repressive Spanish colonisers.
This drama is a time travel one. It penetrated the pages of Noli Me Tangere. Klay the time traveller will give us a 3-D account of what really happened in book. It will me a marriage of a character from the present time to those in the past.
Klay, short for Maria Clara, is just in her early twenties but she felt that life had been particularly harsh to her and therefore too cynical before her years.
As per her father’s words, Klay is a product of drunken sex with her mother. He did not marry Klay’s mother, Narcissa, because he never loved her. His stark pronoucement shocked even his current wife.
Narcissa, Klay’s mother is now married
Anyway, Narcissa married someone else who regularly beats her up. To Klay’s frustration, her mother just takes up the beating without much complaint. She said that her stepfather is at least there for her and her brother Elias.
Klay is a self-supporting nursing student. She is in her last year and plans to go abroad to work as soon as she can but at the moment, Rizal’s Life, Work, and Writing is proving rather a hindrance to her plans. She had taken the subject for the second time because she did not pass it the first time.
Her night job as a waitress was not helping at all as she doesn’t have time to do her homework like reading Noli Me Tangere. In desperation, she allowed herself to be persuaded by a schoolmate to submit a ready-made school report of Noli.
Unfortunately for her, her Rizal professor recognised the school report that was submitted by his student from last year.
She was lectured by the professor of not appreciating one of the greatest work of a Filipino which is about the motherland and its struggle.
The word struggle somehow incited Klay because she told the professor, that she knows what real struggle was that is not found in books. She works eight hours at night in a company that tries hard not to pay her. Her own father doesn’t want anything to do with her and her stepfather uses her deluded mother as a punching bag.
The professor who was bent of failing her in the subject felt rather sorry for her so he gave her another chance to submit a book report.
He insisted that she takes his old copy of Noli Me Tangere. As she left, he quietly wished her safe travel.
Later that night, she started reading the book, she was only into a few pages of the book when she fell asleep.
When she woke up, she was in a strange place next to the bed of a newly awaken girl who asked her shocked who she was.
I enjoyed the first episode. I find that it is rather hard to understand what Julie Anne who plays the book’s Maria Clara was saying. Hope her pronunciation improves. LOL
Episode 2
Met the real Maria Clara who thought Klay was deranged so she aksed that she be taken to the mental hospital.
Episode 3
Klay met Ibarra and started stalking him and ended talking to him in English which impressed him and his misogynistic friends.
Episode 4
Loving this drama, I must admit though the dialogue is rather stilted with the Spanish language being rather murdered.
Crisostomo was shocked to find out that his father had died. His uncle would not reveal how his father died as they were pushing for the party being thrown by Captain Tiago
Klay got herself a job at the party as a waitress. This shows that the tradespeople’s entrance was different from the entrance for esteemed guests.
It still happens nowadays in some sectors of society.
Anyway, she serve Father Damaso with Tinola chicken wings and neck which was not the choicest part of the chicken. He was not very happy especially when he saw that Ibarra had the chicken breast.
Episode 5
Klay continued to help Ibarra deal with Father Damaso but her ways were too subversive that Ibarra almost had a fisticuff with the friar.
Anyway, Ibarra did not finish his dinner and opted to leave midway through dinner, thus he missed the arrival of Maria Clara.
Klay, the stalker, ran after Ibarra and tried to insinuate herself with him. She was arguing her case with him when the police chief stopped them. From him, Ibarra found out how his father died.
Don Rafael was arrested after killing a guard in self-defense when Don Rafael castigated the guards and the onlookers for allowing a young child to be beaten up by the Guardia civil.
Don Rafael ended up fighting with the rather hefty guy but somehow, Don Rafael prevailed. Unfortunately, he pushed the guard away who stumbled and knocked his head on the edge of a sharp rock, or something.
Padre Damaso saw everything had had Don Raphael arrested.
Don Raphael was shocked at how calculating and cold Padre Damaso was. He had always considered him a friend.
Don Raphael died in prison in grief and humiliation.