Mutya Orquia showcases impressive dramatic flair in MMK “Lobo”

Mothers are expected to be the ones to take good care of their children and nurture them into becoming the valuable individuals that we wish them to be. Unfortunately, not all people are blessed with good and doting parents, like Marlyn Capio-Richter, a Filipina licensed social worker who has been helping victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, from which she was able to survive after being a victim herself in her younger years. 

Despite the pain and trauma that she had gone through during that darkest period in her life, Marlyn bravely shared her harrowing and inspiring story in “Maalaala Mo Kaya” via its latest episode “The Scarred Daughter Story,” also tagged as “MMK Lobo“ through which we are able to see her strength and resilience even at a very young age. 

Portraying her were up-and-coming child actress Jewel Milag and former child star Mutya Orquia, who both impressed us with their performances. The episode commenced with the 12-year-old Marlyn in the 1990s, who was busy putting on makeup while talking to a girl younger than her as she gave her pieces of advice in order for her to also earn a lot of money just like she does.

While it was alarming to know that Marlyn was already working at the age that she’s supposed to be still playing and studying, what appalled us more was that she had to do it in a prostitution den, where she provided service to old men in exchange for a hefty amount.

Well, If only her father hadn't died when she was still a little girl, she wouldn't be in that situation. It was her third birthday, so in order to make her happy, her loving father made the effort of braving the storm to buy her a cake. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come home alive anymore, as he got electrocuted by a fallen electric post.

Her mom, Ines (Desiree del Valle), then had a relationship with another man named Roger (Gerald Madrid), who, instead of being a father figure to her and her brother, turned out to be a “monster,” as he sexually abused her multiple times whenever it was just the two of them at home. 

After keeping it a secret for quite some time, Marlyn eventually mustered the courage to confess it to her grandmother (Lui Manansala), who accompanied her in reporting it to the authorities, which led to the arrest of Roger. This enraged Ines, who refused to believe her daughter and blamed her for all her misfortunes in life, which caused her miscarriage.

Marlyn’s hope of attaining justice for what had happened to her also perished when her grandma died. She tried to ask her for her support, but Ines instead asked her to drop the case if she still wanted to live with her. A scorching argument sparked between them, wherein Ines angrily told her, “Lason ka! Sinisira mo lahat ng taong nasa paligid mo! Lahat namamatay! Lason ka! Lason ka! Lason ka!”

Devastated by her mother’s reaction, as well as by the hurtful words that she received from her that would continue to haunt her for a long time, Marlyn decided to run away to a nearby town where she wandered and met a woman whom she thought would genuinely help her have a new life. 

Sadly, instead of taking her in and sending her to school just like she seemingly promised her, the woman brought Marlyn to a prostitution den and turned her over to a pimp named Linda (Rubi Rubi). Marlyn tried to run away but the two older women were too strong, so she had no choice but to stay there and work as one of the prostitutes.

At 14, a sliver of hope then shone upon her when a couple—a Filipina woman (Gail Banawis) and a German man—offered to help her get out of her plight by expressing their desire to adopt her and take her to Germany, where she could live a new life and pursue her studies. While she was initially dubious about it, Marlyn still chose to believe and go with them, only to find out that they were actually worse than Linda, as they turned her into a sex worker as well but didn’t give her a cut from her service.

She attempted to take her own life due to depression, but that was foiled after the couple were able to catch and save her. They were eventually forced to return her to Linda in the Philippines when her tourist visa expired, and she returned to her old job. Not long after, she and her fellow sex workers were rescued by the authorities when they raided the den and arrested its guests and administrators for human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.

They were turned over to a shelter where Marlyn met Delia (Ruby Ruiz), the social worker assigned to assist her during her rehabilitation. It was also Delia who relayed to her the news that Fr. Shay Cullen, a Catholic missionary priest from Ireland who established the PREDA (People’s Recovery, Empowerment, and Development Assistance) Foundation, would help her seek justice for what had happened to her by filing a case against all the people who abused her. 

She was brought to the PREDA Foundation headquarters in Olongapo City, where she was able to continue her studies (for real this time!) while the case was ongoing in Germany. They eventually won the case, and all the people who abused her during her stay there were imprisoned, except for her pimp, since she was able to run away. 

Nonetheless, Marlyn was still filled with joy and gratitude because, aside from achieving the justice she yearned for and truly deserved, she finally experienced genuine concern from other people, which she thought was already impossible. She also received monetary compensation, which the foundation had allotted for her schooling and her future. They celebrated the momentous victory with cake and ice cream.

Just when Marlyn thought that she would continue moving forward, she suddenly saw herself going back to the life she used to have in the past after Fr. Shay advised her to do so, for her to completely heal and move on. Accompanied by a social worker, she visited their old house, which was then already disheveled, yet she wasn’t able to stay there for too long upon seeing her mentally challenged mom left all by herself. 

As she graduated from high school, Marlyn asked for Fr. Shay’s permission for her to be allowed to try to live outside the foundation to see if she could live a normal life. Thankfully, Delia and her younger sister Ging (Ara Mina), a perfectionist, let Marlyn stay with them, which eventually convinced Fr. Shay that she could already leave. 

Not wanting to be kicked out, Marlyn volunteered to do all the household chores despite not already feeling well, which caused her hospitalization. But Ging told her that they’d already considered her as a family, so they wouldn’t leave her behind nor give up on her easily, which Marlyn absolutely appreciated. 

Marlyn eventually graduated from college and followed in Delia’s footsteps as a social worker. Just when she thought that she had already overcome her trauma, it was triggered during one of her conversations with a young female victim that PREDA was able to rescue. She had a heart-to-heart talk with Ging, who encouraged her to confront her past that had been haunting her, which she heeded by visiting her mom again.

After their heartwarming and tearful reconnection at their old house, Marlyn brought Ines with her as she returned to the house of Ging, who accepted her with open arms. Marlyn had an intense breakdown moment one day as she lashed out at Ines for suddenly splashing water on her while she was about to feed her.

It might be difficult for Marlyn at first to forgive her because of everything that happened, but Ging advised her that doing so was not only for Ines but for herself, too. Marlyn did forgive her Mama, and she took care of her until her last breath. Healing was indeed not easy, but she made it through because of the two women who weren’t her mothers, yet still embraced her like she was their real daughter. 

Valuable takeaways from Marlyn’s journey

Regardless of whether we went through the same plight as Marlyn or not, many of us can certainly relate to the journey of Marlyn to forgiveness, moving on, and healing. 

While we probably grew up believing that we have to hear “sorry” before we could forgive, life would teach us that forgiveness doesn’t always begin with an apology. It’s because there are times when we would not hear nor receive any apology from the people who did us wrong, yet we would still need to forgive not just for them but for ourselves as well in order to set ourselves free and for us to become fully healed. 

Many would also agree with host Charo Santos’ opening and closing spiels for the episode, wherein she said that “Life is indeed full of ironies.” Sometimes, the people who aren’t even related to us become our true family and the ones who teach us the real meaning of family and how to forgive our loved ones who have hurt us. At the same time, it’s also sad that the people we love and we expect to love us are the ones to inflict pain and leave a deep wound on us.

Marlyn has also reminded us not to allow the wounds of the past to define us. She may have already lost hope and perceived herself as a hopeless case, but she still chose to rise up from the ashes and fight with the help and support of the people who showed her genuine concern.

With regard to the performances of the cast, viewers would surely agree if we would say that Mutya Orquia, who played letter sender Marlyn Capio-Richter, did an impressive job with her portrayal. She indeed really made us feel the pain, wrath, sadness, and disappointment of her character with the way she delivered her lines and displayed her emotions. It’s also delightful to see her take on a daring and challenging role, which signified her “graduation” from teenybopper roles and readiness to accept more mature ones.

At the same time, her seasoned co-stars Ara Mina, Desiree del Valle, Gerald Madrid, Rubi Rubi, and Ruby Ruiz also astounded us with their dramatic performances that surely helped Mutya with her portrayal. The same goes for Lui Manansala and Joel Molina, who did great as well despite their limited exposures. 

“Pinoy Big Brother” alumna and budding actress Gail Banawis was so promising as a villain here, too, while child star Jewel Milag, who played the young Marlyn, also delivered an awesome performance.

Kudos to writer Akeem Datol del Rosario, Director Dado C. Lumibao, and the entire “MMK” team for another well-written and flawlessly executed episode!

Here are some of the tweets posted by Kapamilya netizens on X (formerly Twitter) regarding the episode tagged as “#MMKScarredDaughter”: