January 21 (2019-01-21) – October 4, 2019 (2019-10-04)
The General's Daughter is a 2019 Philippine television drama action series broadcast by ABS-CBN. Directed by Emmanuel Q. Palo, Mervyn B. Brondial and Darnel Joy R. Villaflor, it stars Angel Locsin. It aired on the network's Primetime Bida line up and worldwide on TFC from January 21 to October 4, 2019, replacing Ngayon at Kailanman and was replaced by Starla.
Plot
2nd LT Rhian Bonifacio is an AFP Military Nurse dedicated to save lives. Beneath her benevolent exterior, however, lies a secret - she's a spy, trained by her very own father, "Heneral" Santiago Guerrero, to exact revenge against his sworn enemy, BGen. Marcial de Leon, the commander of the Northern Command of the AFP.
Unbeknownst to Rhian, she has been living a lie - that the father she has known and loved all her life was the enemy all along and has trained her to be used as a weapon against her real father. Having been indoctrinated to believe in the nobility of Tiago's cause, Rhian will be caught in the crossfire between Tiago's cell and the AFP. Rhian will find herself struggling between her love for her false family and the dictates of her conscience.
Victor Silayan as Zandro "Tres" Abellanosa / Wilson Montino
Javi Benitez as Vladimir Lejano
Emilio Garcia as Mayor Dante Velario
Rochelle Barrameda as Irma Velario
Lara Morena as Adelfa Dimaranan
Broadcast
The General's Daughter premiered on January 21, 2019, which was simulcast worldwide on IWantTFC and YouTube.[13] The show aired on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida evening block and worldwide via TFC.[14]
Before the conclusion of the show, it was picked up by the Myanmar-based Sky Net which airs the same over Myanmar.[15]
Reruns
Reruns of The General's Daughter were aired on Kapamilya Channel from June 15, 2020, to January 15, 2021, filling Ang sa Iyo ay Akin's originally planned timeslot, which it was eventually replaced by the rerun of Asintado on the said timeslot.[16] This series had reruns on Jeepney TV from May 16 to September 16, 2022; then on All TV on December 2, 2024, but this series re-aired again on Jeepney TV.
Production
Casting
The initial cast of the series, which included Angel Locsin, Maricel Soriano, Janice de Belen, Eula Valdez and Ryza Cenon who had just transferred from the GMA Network, was announced by Dreamscape Entertainment Head Deo Endrinal via Instagram on April 12, 2018.[1] The series would be officially unveiled in November 2018 during ABS-CBN's Family is Love trade event.[17]
The series was first developed around 2014 or 2015, and underwent numerous changes before making it to air in 2019.[18] The biggest change made being that the Rhian Bonifacio character was supposed to be a member of the NavySeals, which was different from the member of the Army Nurse Corps that the character ended up becoming.[18]
Angel Locsin was the first and sole choice for the role of Rhian Bonifacio.[18] According to Dreamscape's creative head, Rondel Lindayag, only Locsin had the angst to portray the character perfectly.[18] However, Locsin could not accept the role early in its development because she was tied to star in a Darna which was supposed to have been directed by Erik Matti.[18] Locsin would eventually be forced out of the role after suffering a disc bulge on her back.[19] Thereafter, Locsin did not star in another TV series to rehabilitate her back as well as having gone through a break-up with former boyfriend Luis Manzano;[19] the lone exception thereto being a supporting role in La Luna Sangre, which was a sequel to the Locsin-starrers Lobo and Imortal.[18][19]
The role of Marcial de Leon was originally offered to Cesar Montano, who declined the role as he was, at the time, the COO of the Tourism Promotion Board, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism.[20]Richard Gomez was next approached to play the role, but he likewise turned down the offer in order to prepare for his bid for reelection as Mayor of Ormoc.[20] The role would eventually be bagged by Albert Martinez who was then a part of Kadenang Ginto, he'd later appear concurrently on both shows.[21]
The series was billed as the "biggest teleserye of 2019" in terms of the cast, the mounting of the drama, the mounting of the action, and the mounting of the interaction between components of the story.[21][18]
Reception
During its near 9-month run, The General's Daughter was a consistent top rater, second only to perrenial ratings hit FPJ's Ang Probinsyano.[22] Its pilot rating of 34.0% was considered impressive considering that the episode aired on simulcast with its online platforms.[23] The series would then register a higher number, 35.1%, on its second episode.[23] The series would hit its peak on May 16, 2019, as it scored a rating of 36.7%.[24] The show would make history on its September 6, 2019, episode as it placed number 1 on Kantar Media, displacing FPJ's Ang Probinsyano to number 2 for the first time since its debut in 2015; on that broadcast, The General's Daughter scored 32.8% to FPJ's Ang Probinsyano's 32.4%.[25][26] The series would conclude on a high note, registering a rating 35.9%.[27]
^Born Arabella de Leon, she was first given the name "Diana Guerrero" after Heneral Tiago abducted her and led her to believe that she was his biological daughter. As part of the mission given to her by Tiago to infiltrate the AFP and to kill Marcial, she went under the alias "Rhian Bonifacio." While she suffered from amnesia, she was given the name "Dyosa" by Elai and the people of Barrio Sto. Francisco. She also carried the title "Uno," being the top trainee of Tiago Guerrero's terrorist youth camp.
