‘Agimat ng Agila’ starring Bong Revilla to premiere on May 1

Kapuso TV’s latest fantasy-action series Agimat ng Agila, starring Senator Bong Revilla, will be airing on GMA Network starting May 1. 

Revilla will be playing Major Gabriel Labrador, a forest ranger and leader of Task Force Kalikasan. To protect his family, his community, and the forest’s wildlife from villains, Labrador is chosen to possess the agimat ng agila, the powers of an enchanted eagle. The series is directed by Rico Gutierrez.

In December 2019, Revilla said that he was “very happy” to have received the opportunity to return to his “first love,” which is “acting.” The report also said Revilla would not “abandon his responsibilities in the Senate.”

The series was first announced in December 2019 and initially slated for a 2020 premiere. The announcement that Senator Bong Revilla would be returning to GMA-7 sparked outrage on social media, with some questioning the media network as to why they’re allowing the senator – who was jailed for but later acquitted of plunder – to return to television. His appearance on GMA’s 2020 Christmas station ID also drew flak.

The senator’s last showbiz gig was on 2014’s Kap’s Amazing Stories. This will be Revilla’s first acting project since his 4 years in detention for plunder charges, which he was acquitted of by anti-graft court Sandiganbayan in December 2018. 

Revilla had been accused of allocating his pork barrel to bogus nongovernmental organizations linked to so-called scam mastermind Janet Napoles. The senator allegedly earned P224.5 million in kickbacks. (TIMELINE: Bong Revilla’s plunder case and the pork barrel scam)

Revilla, along with then-senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, faced plunder charges, which they all denied. (READ: Pork Tales: A story of corruption)

The court told Revilla to return P124.5 million to the Philippine treasury, but he has not done so.

The Ang Panday actor won a Senate seat in the 2019 elections.

Agimat ng Agila will premiere on Saturday, May 1, at 7:15 pm on GMA-7. – Rappler.com