Maging Sino Ka Man: Ang Pagbabalik

Cast and characters

Plot

Part 1: Six Months Later

Six months after Eli and Jackie’s marriage, their lives appear harmonious. They enjoy a second honeymoon in Barcelona. Jackie's parents have reconciled. JB and Celine are engaged. Jackie informs Eli that she might be pregnant.

Tensions arise when Jackie discovers she is not pregnant. At the same time, Celine experiences severe stomach pains. JB suspects that she may be pregnant. Meanwhile, the Madrigals' newly inaugurated business becomes the target of a mysterious bombing.

A new character, Jessica, enters the story and confronts Fidel about their past affair. Veronica then reveals that Lena is also Fidel’s daughter and vows revenge for the hardships she and her daughter have endured.

While Jackie carries out charity work for the victims of the bombing, Veronica (also called Veron) disguises herself as a frail mother caring for a sick daughter who happens to idolize Jackie. Out of compassion, Jackie promises to visit the child, unknowingly setting in motion a new series of events that will once again change the course of her life.

Part 2: The Revenge of the Mistress and the Daughter

Everyone is uneasy as a new day begins. Veronica reveals that Lena is Fidel’s daughter, renewing conflict within the Madrigal family. Eli tries to convince Mr. Jimenez to invest in Fidel's project, but he declines because of Fidel's reputation. Eli is forced to defend Fidel's credibility, but ends up upsetting both Mr. Jimenez and Fidel. He goes to St. Rita to seek comfort and confide in Dadoods at his grave.

Meanwhile, Jackie and Celine are upset to learn that Veron has tricked them into coming to her home only to tell them that Lena is Jackie's half-sister. Jackie and Celine are unconvinced and leave, but Jackie remains bothered by the incident. Jackie discovers that Celine might be pregnant, but is saddened by the fact that she might end up not having a child. Lena confronts her mother and asks her to stop begging the Madrigals to accept her as family, but Veron insists on seeking revenge. Lena decides to run away. She returns to St. Rita to reunite with Joaquin, her one true love. She fails to find him there, but meets Eli and mistakes him for Joaquin. Veron tries to seduce Fidel while Monique and Jackie are away, but she is stopped.

Amang (Mateo) tells Eli about his dark past with Fidel. He was badly beaten when he was young and left for dead. A woman found him, they had a relationship, and they had daughters: Onay and Annajoy. He also reveals that Mateo's hand is disfigured because Fidel ordered Tomas to shoot Mateo's hand. When Mateo goes abroad for a better living, he learns that his wife was raped by Fidel. He returns to the Philippines for revenge, but is stopped by his wife. A fire breaks out and he believes that his wife and daughter have perished, but his daughter, Onay, survives. When Fidel asks Eli about his business plans for Mateo, Eli tells his father-in-law that he will let Mateo join their company. Fidel feels uneasy because Mateo's assistant, Veron, tells him that she will be in his office as long as Mateo is in his house.

Corazon shares moments with Mateo. When she heads home, Tomas kidnaps her. Tomas drives her to their house where he beats her and holds her at gunpoint. Corazon tries to resist, and Mateo goes into Tomas's house. JB enters the house as Tomas and Mateo fight over the gun. JB is accidentally shot and is rushed to the hospital. Celine vomits and Onay rushes her to the hospital. Tomas is assaulted by Amang's men.

Part 3: Quarrel Tension

Lena realizes that Eli is not Joaquin. Jackie feels remorseful and vows to find Lena's true love, strengthening their bond as sisters.

After working overnight, JB is pressured by both Celine and his boss. Vanessa forces him to party with their team in order to have his proposal approved by the board. Corazon continuously complains about being left at home alone.

Celine avoids JB's calls. Onay helps Celine find a nice dress to wear for an attempted truce with JB. Celine and Onay drop by at JB's office that night, not knowing that he's been forced to go to the party.

Eli makes peace with Corazon when Mateo asks him to deliver a gift to her. However, Eli can't persuade Corazon to let go of the past. It is implied that restoring her shipping business might be the only thing that could change her mind.

Part 4: Life Begins, Life Ends

Mateo is enjoying a lunch date with Corazon when he spots Fidel and Monique in the restaurant. He invites them both to join them, even though the tension between the two men is obvious. Mateo mentions how he would have married a girl once, but that his chance was ruined because of an enemy. Fidel switches tables before Monique can understand the implication.

Lena, Jackie, and Eli join forces in the search for Joaquin. Eli learns that his near-death experience has made him open to odd visions. Nana Impo tells them that perhaps Eli's recent dream is telling them to return to the place where Lena and Joaquin first fell in love. Nana Impo reminds Eli that love will always guide him through various struggles.

While looking at Monique's lifeless body in the morgue, Jackie struggles to accept her mother’s death. Upon seeing Fidel, Jackie expresses her fury for how he caused this to happen, all for the sake of money, power, and pride. For Jackie, it makes no difference who is at fault, because she and her father are haunted by their memories of Monique.

Eli feels helpless around Jackie's grief and accuses Mateo of killing Monique. Mateo cannot remember what happened and believes that he's not guilty of the crime. Since Eli has alread judged him, Mateo chooses not to defend himself to his son or to Corazon. He only knows that he will fight Fidel until the end.

JB blames himself for Monique's death for telling Eli about his long-lost sibling, who pushed Mateo into facing Fidel in a duel. Unknown to either of them, Lolo Bogs tries to persuade Onay to meet her father before it's too late. Onay is having second thoughts because she can't forgive the person who abandoned her and her mother.

At the funeral, Jackie refuses to leave Monique's resting place, so Eli gives her privacy. Eli bumps into his father-in-law who swears that he and Mateo will pay for the death of his wife.

Part 5: Jealousy and Anger

In Tagaytay, Vanessa takes a liking to JB and tries to seduce him. She enters his bedroom in the middle of the night, but JB brushes her off. JB makes it clear that he's committed to Celine, so Vanessa resigns herself to being friends.

In the spa, Corazon guilt trips Celine for letting JB shoulder the burden in their family. This adds to Celine's despair, especially after hearing the doctor's diagnosis that her cancer is advancing and that the chemotherapy has failed.

Celine chooses to suffer alone. She secretly checks on JB at his work site and decides to return home. Onay refuses to let her set off alone. When JB arrives home, he is shocked to see that most of Celine's clothes are gone.

Part 6: Celine's Death

Everyone, except Mateo, participates in scattering Celine's ashes on the beach. Even Corazon grieves for Celine's death and regrets distancing herself from her daughter-in-law. JB pretends to be strong enough to move on as he busies himself with work in Mateo's company. The company is being managed by his mother for the time being.

Corazon asks JB not to push himself too hard. He brushes off her concerns and accuses her of being relieved that Celine is gone. Onay witnesses this exchange and tells JB that Celine would be disappointed with his attitude. JB doesn't care about anything anymore, except putting an end to his misery.

After several months, the court sentences Mateo to murder. Onay suggests a motion for appeal, but her father insists on going to prison. Mateo asks for Eli's forgiveness and advises Eli on how to fix his problems with Jackie. Jackie decides to annul their marriage.

Part 7: Who's to Blame

Onay punches Eli in the face to try to stop him from doing anything reckless. His encounter with Jackie and her boss causes him to drink the entire night. Onay is forced to take leave to look after her brother. Onay's absence from the office enrages JB and he vents his frustrations to Corazon. Corazon laughs at his strange reaction.

When Eli gets sober, he visits Monique's grave. He realizes that it's too late to fix his marriage, so he meets with Jackie to tell her that he will cooperate with their annulment process. At Mateo's company, Onay presents her new marketing ideas to the board, but JB embarrasses her by discrediting her report. She later learns that JB hates her because she reminds him of Celine.

Part 8: Trials

When JB gets into an accident, Onay looks after him and honours her promise to Celine. JB resents her concern at first, but he makes peace with his grief once he recovers from his injuries. JB tries to be nicer to Onay. Her secret feelings for JB return, especially after Corazon gives Onay her blessing.

Meanwhile, Jackie and Eli's annulment case plays out in court. Jackie strengthens her petition when she describes Eli and Lena's betrayal, which she believes led to her miscarriage. Outside the trial, Eli begins to pick up the pieces in his life by performing well at Mateo's company. Jackie is oblivious to Lena's visits to Monique's grave and is left in shock after seeing Eli on a date at a local restaurant.

Finale of Book 2

After two years in prison, Mateo is troubled by recurring dreams about Monique. He realized that Daniel witnessed the incident, and learns that Fidel fired the shot that killed his wife. He shares this with Eli and Onay, and decides to reopen his murder case.

Fidel reacts strongly to the revelation. He is also haunted by his memories of Monique's death, especially after seeing Eli again. Still in denial, he forces Jackie to promise him that she will never reconcile with Eli as a way of avoiding the truth.

Jackie receives a message from a mysterious caller, who tells her that he knows what really happened to her mother. She agrees to meet secretly with this person, not realizing that he overheard the whole exchange.

The truth about Monique's death remained a mystery since Daniel had been scared to speak out during Mateo's trial two years prior. As he stands up for justice, Mateo escapes the prison to face Fidel again, in the same place they fought before.

Jackie, JB, Onay, and Eli arrive in time to stop them from killing each other. When Fidel refuses to calm down, Mateo reveals that Fidel was Monique's killer. Faced with his own guilt, Fidel ends up in a mental hospital despite Jackie's forgiveness.

Six months later, Mateo is released from prison. Corazon encourages JB to try love again, and Jackie realizes that she still loves Eli. This time, Jackie runs after him just when he's about to give up on her. Eli hears her plea, and they reconcile. Jackie gets pregnant again and remains happily married to Eli.

JB seeks Onay's forgiveness when back on the island. Onay, agrees to be friends with him as long as they maintain their special memories of Celine.

Marketing

The series was part of ABS-CBN's promotion of its prime-time lineup for the first quarter of 2008. The 'One Gr8 January 28' launch included three other prime time shows premiering on the same night (Kung Fu Kids, Lobo, and Palos).