| Genre: | Fantasy Christian drama |
| Runtime: | 30-45 minutes |
| Creator: | ABS-CBN Studios Rod Santiago |
| Developer: | ABS-CBN Studios Liwayway Komiks |
| Director: | Malu L. Sevilla Claudio "Tots" Sanchez-Mariscal IV Don M. Cuaresma Jojo A. Saguin |
| Executive Producer: | Carlina D. Dela Merced |
| Starring: | Andi Eigenmann Matteo Guidicelli Jason Abalos Vina Morales John Estrada Pilar Pilapil Alessandra De Rossi Dimples Romana Carlos Agassi Pen Medina Malou Crisologo Jason Gainza Malou de Guzman Bing Loyzaga Zaijian Jaranilla Zoren Legaspi |
| Theme Music Composer: | Rey Valera |
| Opentheme: | "Malayo Pa ang Umaga" by Aria Clemente and Vina Morales |
| Country: | Philippines |
| Location: | Loyola Grand Villas, Quezon City San Quintin, Pangasinan Mandaue, Cebu Province Cebu City Cogon Pardo, Cebu City Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong Pasay Morong, Bataan |
| Language: | Filipino Cebuano |
| Network: | ABS-CBN |
| Company: | Dreamscape Entertainment |
| Last Aired: | (first primetime slot) |
| Last Aired3: | (second primetime slot) |
| Num Episodes: | 147 |
| List Episodes: | List of Agua Bendita episodes and chapters |
Agua Bendita is a 2010 Philippine television drama series broadcast by ABS-CBN. Directed by Malu L. Sevilla, Claudio "Tots" Sanchez-Mariscal IV, Don M. Cuaresma and Jojo A. Saguin, it stars Andi Eigenmann,[1] [2] [3] [4] Matteo Guidicelli, Jason Abalos, Vina Morales, John Estrada, Pilar Pilapil, Alessandra De Rossi, Dimples Romana, Carlos Agassi, Pen Medina, Malou Crisologo, Jason Gainza, Malou de Guzman, Bing Loyzaga, Zaijian Jaranilla, and Zoren Legaspi. It aired on the network's Primetime Bida line up and worldwide on TFC from February 8 to September 3, 2010, replacing May Bukas Pa and was replaced by 1DOL.
See main article: List of Agua Bendita episodes and chapters. Agua Bendita was a comic created by Rod Santiago[5] in the 1980s. It was published by Liwayway Comics and adapted on television through the series, Komiks first aired in 2006 and again during Holy Week 2007, with two-part episodes in Season 1 starring Shaina Magdayao as Agua/Bendita and Rayver Cruz as Ronnie.
Agua Bendita was launched as one of the ABS-CBN's offerings for the 60th Celebration of Filipino Soap Opera ("Ika-60 taon ng Pinoy Soap Opera"), during the ABS-CBN Trade Launch for the first quarter of 2010, titled "Bagong Simula" (New Beginning).[6]
This show has been developed by Mga Anghel na Walang Langit, Princess Sarah, and May Bukas Pa due to genre of family and religious-oriented drama series where Dreamscape Entertainment released these type of series since 2005. It was succeeded by Momay also in 2010. Momay aired from May 24 to September 17, 2010, where it co-existed with Agua Bendita until September 3, 2010 along with the former's successor Noah from July 12 to September 17, 2010. Agua Bendita is the second of the one-year trilogy of ABS-CBN religious series that were released from February 2, 2009 to September 17, 2010 after May Bukas Pa and before Momay.
Agua Bendita was later re-aired on Jeepney TV after its initial broadcast.
In observance of the Lenten season, Agua Bendita had its encore telecast on Maundy Thursday (April 1, 2010), Good Friday (April 2, 2010), and on Black Saturday (April 3, 2010) at 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm as part of ABS-CBN's Holy Week presentation.
The 3-part marathon special had ratings of "35% on Maundy Thursday, 26.1% on Good Friday, and 25.7% on Black Saturday".[7]
| Year | Chapter numbers | No. of chapters | Chapter numbers (with episode numbers) | No. of episodes (each chapter numbers) | No. of episodes (overall) | First aired (by chapter) | Last aired (by chapter) | First aired (overall) | Last aired (overall) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Prologue | 1 | Prologue (1–2) | 2 | 147 | February 8, 2010 | February 9, 2010 | February 8, 2010 | September 3, 2010 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 (3–15) | 13 | February 10, 2010 | February 26, 2010 | |||||
| 1–3 | 3 | 1 (16–37) | 22 | March 1, 2010 | March 30, 2010 | |||||
| 2 (38–89) | 52 | March 31, 2010 | June 15, 2010 | |||||||
| 3 (90–122) | 33 | June 16, 2010 | July 30, 2010 | |||||||
| 3–4 | 2 | 3 (123) | 1 | August 2, 2010 | ||||||
| 4 (124–147) | 24 | August 3, 2010 | September 3, 2010 | |||||||
| Epilogue | 1 | Epilogue (147) | 1 | September 3, 2010 | ||||||
Desperate to save his wife from having a miscarriage, Marcial steals Father Guido's agua bendita, which is intended to cure an epileptic Criselda. He manages to save his wife and their babies, but one of their daughters is born with an unexplainable physical defect.[8]
Cast | Character | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agua was born with an unexplainable physical defect: she can heal people with tears in grief. The Bida Kontrabida. Bendita is the physically normal but insecure twin, who feels that her parents concentrate of Agua as a result of her disability, leaving little for Bendita. She struggles with her jealousy but in the end learns to be humble and to love her twin sister. | |||
| Ronnie met Agua when they were children, but when they met as young adults he was blind; without knowing Agua's real identity, Ronnie learned to love her for her personality. His mother was a maid from a rich Italian family who got impregnated by the owner's son. To cover the shame, Ronnie's father left them penniless with only a house. He is Agua's love interest, favoring her more than Bendita, due to the former's kind and naive nature. | |||
| Paco the poor son of Criselda and Baldo, often called "Tod" when he was young. He met the twins when he saved their lives on separate occasions. Tasked by his mother to bring her Agua in order to be freed from her disorder, he often works different jobs which would lead him to the Cristi's during which he begins to pity Agua. He later becomes Bendita's love interest after being completely rejected by Ronnie. |
Cast | Character | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agua and Bendita's mother, who caused Agua's disability by drinking holy water when she was pregnant. | |||
| Mercedes' husband. A doctor. | |||
| Mercedes' mother. She is very close to Bendita, but not to Agua whom she regards as a 'freak', but do loved her and care for her, as she was protecting her from the danger. She is pretend to root of Agua's problems and Bendita's ill temper. | |||
| Doña Amalia's niece. She had feelings towards Marcial and Doña Amalia conspired to fulfill the Doña's goal of breaking Marcial's family bond. | |||
| Padre Guido's niece who was the intended recipient of the miraculous agua bendita. She is Paco's mother and has epilepsy, which the agua bendita was supposed to cure. Later Doña Amalia and Criselda set a wicked plan in which they will kidnap Agua and kill her. | |||
| Criselda's husband who is a gambler and a drunk. | |||
| The original owner of agua bendita and Criselda's uncle. He asked Marcial to give the agua bendita to Criselda to cure her illness. Unfortunately, Marcial stole it for Mercedes. Padre Guido appears from time to time in Agua's dreams to help her use her abilities she has gained from the agua bendita for good, though he also appears in Bendita's dreams, where he tells her that she can't use Agua's abilities because she does not deserve such privileges, and instead make her understand the error of her ways. | |||
| Agua's nanny. She and Marcial are the only two people who knew about Agua's disability when she was born. | |||
| A fisherman who saved Agua from danger and raised her. | |||
| Ben's wife who helped Agua from danger and raised her. | |||
| Ronnie's mother. She was once a maid on a rich Italian family. She got impregnated by one of the owner's sons. | |||
| Agua's fish (clownfish) friend. | |||
| Lisa's son who used to court Mercedes. However, due to Mercedes' rebellion, she ended up marrying Marcial. When Mercedes and her family decided to migrate in America, he found a chance to caress Mercedes once again. |
Cast | Character | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A fake healer who helped Criselda when they needed some money. Criselda acts as if she is being healed by Lucas to attract customers. | |||
| Amalia's sister. She is Divina's cruel stepmother. | |||
| Amalia's friend who owned the boat intended to bring the Cristi family to their hiding island. | |||
| Tod's co-worker and friend | |||
| Daughter of the water theme park owner, healed by Agua. | |||
The show uses "Malayo Pa Ang Umaga" as its theme song, originally composed and sung by Rey Valera. The first version is sung by Aria Clemente and the second version is sung by Vina Morales.