Kambal Sirena, Dyesebel Won’t Begin Simultaneously

March 06, 2014

'GMA’s Kambal Sirena begins its run a week ahead of IBC’s Janella in Wonderland and ABS-CBN’s Dyesebel. (Photo courtesy of Bida Kapamilya)'

After the premiere of IBC's first fantaserye Janella in Wonderland last January 6, the so-called ‘Sirena Wars’ on Philippine television will have to wait for another two weeks, as both GMA and ABS-CBN set their final episode dates for Adarna and Honesto.

Adarna, the fantaserye starring Kylie Padilla, airs its final episode tomorrow. Airing since November 18, 2013, Adarna was supposed to revive GMA’s tried and tested fantaserye genre that has worked for them in the mid-2000s. Unfortunately, the show failed to surpass expectations, due to the fact that a rival teleserye is superbly dominant in its timeslot.

That teleserye happened to be Honesto, which has been consistently atop the primetime ratings since its debut. Its superior ratings also translated into high trending figures in social media, with hashtags related to the show leading Twitter’s trending topics. The Raikko Mateo-starred series first aired on October 28, and will air its final episode on March 14.

The two series will be replaced by Kambal Sirena and Dyesebel respectively. The former, an original concept of the Kapuso network, will star Louise delos Reyes, while the latter, acquired by the Kapamilya network from Mars Ravelo’s estate, will star Anne Curtis.

Hype between the two series began last December, as both networks revealed the initial teasers for their respective mermaids. But while GMA began to heavily promote Kambal Sirena during the months of January and February, ABS-CBN was slow to promote Dyesebel as it continued to focus on its highly-rated programs Honesto and Got to Believe. Nevertheless, viewers were salivating at the prospect of two mermaid-based series facing each other on primetime.

Both Janella in Wonderland, Kambal Sirena and Dyesebel will feature an equally stellar supporting cast. In Kambal Sirena, Aljur Abrenica will star as the leading man, while Wynwyn Marquez serves as the main villain. The series will also star Mickey Ferriols, Angelika dela Cruz, Gladys Reyes, Tessie Tomas, Mike Tan, Pancho Magno, Polo Ravales, Lotlot de Leon, Rich Asuncion, and Chanda Romero.

In Dyesebel, Sam Milby and Gerald Anderson will play the leading men, while Andi Eigenmann takes on a villainous role. Portraying supporting roles in the series will be Dawn Zulueta, Eula Valdes, Gabby Concepcion, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Bangs Garcia, David Chua, Ai Ai delas Alas, Neil Coleta, Young JV and Ogie Diaz.

While Kambal Sirena and Dyesebel won’t begin at the same time, the rivalry between the two mermaid-based series will be something to look forward to. And it should add spice to what has been an already heated rivalry between the two major networks.