FPJ's Ang Probinsyano (lit. 'The Provincial Man') is a 1996 Filipino action film co-written, directed and produced by Fernando Poe Jr., who also stars in twin lead roles. The film was a box office hit. A sequel, Pagbabalik ng Probinsyano, was released in 1998.
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Plot
Police Captain Ador de Leon is killed in a drug bust operation after he is betrayed by his fellow officer Major Sandoval. His superior, Colonel Bernardo lies to Ador's wife Lily, telling her that he is severely injured, and devises a plan for his twin brother, Lieutenant Ricardo "Kardo" de León, who is the Chief of Police in the distant provincial town of Santa Marcela, to assume his identity. Kardo cut contact with Ador after the death of his family, which was mistaken for Ador's, in a massacre. Kardo arrives at Ador's house, and is received by a relieved Lily, whom she believed to be her husband. However, Kardo later slips up, forcing him and Col. Bernardo to reveal the truth to Lily, who eventually forgives them.
At a club frequented by Ador and other policemen, Kardo meets Carmen, a dancer, and gets to know her and her daughter Menchie, who grows fond of him. Knowing that Kardo is already suspecting him for Ador's death, Sandoval dispatches two corrupt policemen to hold Carmen and Menchie hostage and lure Kardo into her house to kill him. Arriving at the house, Carmen, who is terminally ill with brain cancer, sacrifices herself in order to save Menchie and Kardo, who kills the two policemen. Sandoval is suspended after his role is revealed, while Menchie chooses to live with Kardo.
Kardo eventually finds the truth about his brother's death and launches an assault on the drug syndicate responsible, killing Sandoval. Afterwards, Kardo returns to Santa Marcela with Menchie.
Sequel
A sequel, Pagbabalik ng Probinsyano, was released almost a year and a half later, directly after the success of the original.
Remake
In 2015, the film was remade by ABS-CBN as a teleserye starring Coco Martin together with an ensemble cast.
Deviations and connections to the TV series
In the film version, Kardo (Cardo in the television series) has a wife and children, who were murdered because the killers had mistaken Kardo for Ador. In the TV series, he was adopted by the Dalisay family. Hence, Kardo's last name in the film version is de Leon instead of Dalisay.
Ador's guilt is the reason for his and Kardo's separation in the film version. In the TV series version, their grandmother had young Cardo adopted by a childless couple as a condition for the treatment of Cardo's injuries in Singapore.
Ador and Kardo did not have a living grandmother in the film. In the TV series, the twins have a grandmother played by veteran actress Susan Roces, widow of the late Fernando Poe Jr.
Cardo in the TV series is a Special Armed Forces trooper in Botolan with the rank of Staff Sergeant (PO3). In the film version, Kardo is Santa Marcela's Police Chief, with the rank of Lieutenant.
The film's antagonist is a drug syndicate. In the TV series, it is a human-child trafficking syndicate whose line of business shifted to drug production and distribution.
The child Kardo adopts in the film is a girl, while in the TV series, it is a boy. Later, Cardo and his family would adopt five more children as part of his expanded family.
In the film, Ador's son is named Jerry; while in the TV series, he names his son after him.
Carmen, a love interest in both the film and the TV series is presented differently between the two versions. In the former, Carmen is a night club entertainer and the mother of Menchie, the child whom Kardo adopts; whereas in the latter, Carmen is the widow of Ador, replacing the film's Lily as Ador's wife.
Salazar is the surname of the film version's Carmen. In the TV series, Guzman is Carmen's maiden name before she married Ador.
Re-release
A special tribute screening of the film was held In August 2015, in celebration of Poe's 76th birthday and ahead of the premiere of the TV adaptation. The screening was attended by Poe's widow, Susan Roces, their daughter, Senator Grace Poe and her son, Brian Llamanzares, along with the cast of the series Coco Martin, Maja Salvador, Bela Padilla and Jaime Fabregas who also served as the film's musical director.