In the past three decades, Maalaala Mo Kaya has consistently lived up to its battle cry “Ang Tahanan Mo” through the remarkable true-to-life stories that inspired and touched our hearts. And among the narratives that truly inspired us and tugged our heartstrings were those that featured the unconditional and selfless love of mothers.
As we celebrate the wonderful lives, unwavering love, and unselfish sacrifices of all the “ilaw ng tahanan,” ABS-CBN pays tribute to moms everywhere in the world by streaming episodes of MMK that feature the heart-rending and moving stories of Filipino mothers through YouTube Super Stream this May.
Families can count on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel to watch MMK Klasiks that highlight a mother’s love.
Eskoba (2018)
Helmed by esteemed director Dado C. Lumibao, it follows the journey of Tet (Empress Schuck) and her mother Azon (Pokwang), an overseas Filipino worker who works as a house cleaner in Italy. As she, her brother Tot (Dino Imperial), and their father Augusto (Jeric Raval) live a comfortable life in the Philippines, they didn’t have any idea on the hardships and sacrifices Azon has to go through before she could send money and balikbayan boxes to them, until Tet experienced it first-hand when she and her brother visited her there.
Seeing the difficult situation of Azon, this motivated to work hard and take on other high-paying job in order to take her out of it. Their family went through different challenges on her way to attaining that goal, including her father’s death, but she’s still able to make it and give her mom a better life here in the Philippines.
Drawing (2013)
Directed by Raz Dela Torre and written by Arah Jell Badayos, this tells the story of Minda (Rica Peralejo), a young mom who decided to leave her children with her in-laws to work and save enough money for them after her husband, Ronnie (Allen Dizon), died of leukemia. As she returned after many years, she discovered that her children were maltreated by the family of her late husband, which made them resent her.
Thus, Minda did everything in order to gain their trust and affection again and make up for all of her shortcomings in the past years. Mending her relationship with them wasn’t easy, but she still succeeded in the end.
Stroller Bag (2017)
While some young parents out there are already discouraged to pursue their own dreams as they chose to completely focus on raising their kids, Vin-zl (Erich Gonzales) refused to easily give up and still continued her education – in spite of having to come to school with her daughter in tow.
The journey was indeed tough, but with the help and support of her loved ones, especially of her parents and her boyfriend Red (Geoff Eigenmann), as well as her determination and willingness to finish her studies, she’s able to balance her duties as a student and as a mother. And all her hardships indeed paid off as Vin-zl eventually graduated with flying colors.
Pasa (2013)
This Benson Logronio and Don Cuaresma masterpiece featured the heartbreaking yet inspiring story of a battered wife, played by Denise Laurel, who’s repeatedly maltreated by her husband (Rayver Cruz). In spite of this, and all the bruises and pains she has to endure, she still forgives him over and over again.
Blouse (2021)
Out of the tear-jerking episodes in this list, the story of Mama Corsing (Malou de Guzman) and her daughter-in-law Janice (Ria Atayde) is comparably lighter and quirkier as it chronicles how their relationship eventually became harmonious after being discordant ever since the first time they met. As Janice relentlessly wooed her in order to gain her favor, Corsing consistently gives her a cold shoulder as she dislikes her so much for her son Eddie (Jake Cuenca). Seeing how she dresses up and how close she is to other guys on their first encounter, those immediately gave a negative impression on her and assumed that she’s just flirting with her son. But that eventually changed when Mama Corsing helped her during her pregnancy and when Janice took good care of her in her last days.
Divet (2019)
Belonging to the Ibaloi tribe of Benguet, Diana (Pokwang) grew up following whatever their parents and the elderlies say. But her burning desire to pursue education made her disobey her mother Dicanay (Ruby Ruiz) as she broke their tradition of getting into a fixed marriage at an early age. With the help of kindhearted people who offered to send her to school, she had the opportunity to make her dream come true and successfully finished a two-year secretarial course.
Diana then had a relationship with Victor (Allen Dizon), to whom she eventually got married twice and started a family with. But their once beautiful union changed when her husband’s alcohol addiction almost destroyed her aspirations for their children, especially when he fell severely ill.
Ilog (2015)
Topbilled by teleserye queen Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo, this follows the harrowing story of her character Belen whose life became miserable after marrying Rey (Ian de Leon), which was highly objected by her parents. Due to her husband’s irresponsibility, she was forced to accept a job offer in Japan as a singer and be away from her children to undergo training in Manila.
Before flying to Japan, she eagerly went home to be with her children for the last time. But her excitement instantly turned to heartbreak when she discovered that Rey sold their children. Belen began her seemingly endless and extremely challenging quest in finding her children – first, all by herself, and with the help of Max (Epy Quizon), the man he met at the bar where she worked. She was able to complete her family again after so many years.
Kotse-kotsehan (2017)
One of the most talked about and remarkable episodes of MMK not only because of its riveting narrative, but of the award-winning performances of its lead stars Angel Locsin and Dimples Romana, who played Samina and Idai respectively.
While selling socks in Manila, Samina found a lost child weeping as he walked along that bustling street. Clueless on where or to whom she should surrender him, she took care of “Brombrom” (Ynigo Delen) as if he’s her own son and even took him with her when she went home to her children in Lanao. After more than a year, Samina found out through a friend that Brombrom’s family had been looking for him, so she immediately reached out to them in order to return him.
But what was supposed to be a peaceful encounter turned out scandalous as Samina and her sister Aisah were arrested for allegedly kidnapping Brombrom. Their imprisonment in Manila tore them apart from their families for almost a decade and unwaveringly prove their innocence on pursuit of regaining their freedom.
Picture (2017)
The first part of the two-pronged MMK special headlined by Dimples Romana and Angel Locsin, this episode tells the heartbreaking journey of Idai (Dimples) in finding her beloved third child Toper (Ynigo Delen), who suddenly went missing while they were eating at a restaurant in Manila. This completely shattered her vision of building a happy family with her husband Alfredo (Dominic Ochoa) and their three sons as they spent most of their time and resources in looking for their son.
After more than a year, Idai received a call from Toper’s alleged kidnapper who requested her to fly to Lanao and pay Php 30,000 if she really wanted to get her son back. They sought the help of authorities and was able to recover her son, as well as get the alleged kidnappers Roma Tarub (Angel) and her sister Aisah arrested. Even though Toper was already with them, they still found it hard to be absolutely happy as he couldn’t remember them and their sickly fourth child passed away.
Picture (2016)
Many netizens were surely inspired by the moving journey of a young girl named Caitie (Miel Espinoza), the daughter od Christine Feliz Lucas (Shaina Magdayao) and Jayjay Lucas (JC de Vera) who bravely fought for her life at a very young age as she suffered from juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. Thus, her moniker “Courageous Caitie” indeed suited her. They did everything in their power to save their firstborn, but she eventually succumbed to her disease.
Enjoy all of these for free for a limited time only on YouTube Super Stream and subscribe now to ABS-CBN Entertainment YouTube channel.