Will Lucas ever win Mariano’s approval? These 10 scenes from “Sigabo” hint that it’s still a long way off

While parents are expected to love their children equally, some unknowingly—or even deliberately—show favoritism toward one child over the others. Whether through constant praise, greater trust, or higher expectations, this unequal treatment can leave the other children feeling overlooked, inadequate, and desperate to prove their worth.  

Such is the case with the Zafra family in “Coco Martin’s Sigabo,” as their patriarch, former PLTCOL Mariano Zafra (Efren Reyes), tends to always favor and praise firstborn Victor (JM de Guzman), while consistently belittle and demean the younger Lucas (Ron Martin). As a result, Lucas appears to have grown up in Victor’s shadow, struggling to earn the same love and recognition from their father. While Victor embodies the excellence Mariano admires, Lucas is left feeling inadequate, constantly striving to prove his worth despite feeling that everything he does is wrong in his father’s eyes. 

In this episode of Kapamilya Toplist, let us look back at 10 scenes from “Sigabo” that show Lucas’ relentless efforts to win Mariano’s approval—but, so far, to no avail. 

When Deborah (Chanda Romero) initially dismissed Lucas’ upcoming business transaction with Mr. Chan (Mike Castillo) as “small-time,” Victor proved her wrong by laying out the entire plan, earning Mariano’s approval and a “very good” remark. Mariano then advised Lucas to follow his older brother’s lead so he could learn how to run their gold-smuggling business. Deborah quickly came to Lucas’ defense, pointing out that he had already been handling the business and urging her husband to put his trust in him, but Mariano is firm in entrusting the business to Victor. 

After the NCIA managed to put his notorious brother behind bars, Lucas stepped up and took on the responsibility of protecting their family and business. Deborah was apprehensive about her beloved son’s safety as their syndicate attempted to silence Mr. Chan, especially when Lucas refused to accept backup from Arturo (Richard Quan), his parents’ most trusted right-hand man. Amid her concerns, Mariano appeared to trust Lucas’ abilities for the first time, saying that his son was already grown up and knew what he was doing. 

Unfortunately, Lucas failed in the very first mission he led, prompting him to ask Mariano for a second chance. His father reminded him that, in the world where they belong, not everyone gets that privilege. Mariano urged him to stop talking and start delivering results, and Lucas promised not to disappoint him again. 

After Mariano and his minions managed to ambush Mr. Chan, he left the job of killing NCIA Agent Samantha Jacinto (Julia Montes), who had spearheaded the team in charge of investigating and pursuing Victor, to Lucas, which he confidently accepted. Armed with courage, confidence, and Deborah’s advice and encouragement, Lucas and his men carried out the ambush on Sam. He may have managed to graze her with a bullet during their shootout and shoot her multiple times when she jumped into the river to escape, but Mariano remained unconvinced that Sam was dead because Lucas couldn’t produce her body. 

In their attempt to take Victor from the authorities, Mariano became furious after Lucas chose to save him first rather than go after his brother and take him away. As Mariano reprimanded him for ruining their plans, Lucas explained that keeping Victor safe had been more important at that moment because his brother could have died if he hadn’t rescued him.  

Deborah defended and supported Lucas by saying that she might have done the same, but Mariano insisted that Lucas didn’t need to intervene because he definitely could fend for himself. He warned Lucas that he would pin the blame on him once Victor would end up spending the rest of his life in prison. 

Following Lucas’ repeated failures in carrying out the missions entrusted to him, Mariano sought help from Django (Jhong Hilario) and his henchmen to recover their gold shipment, which had been confiscated by the NLEA on the orders of his longtime rival, Ricardo Jacinto (Edu Manzano). While Lucas and Deborah scoffed at Django’s proposed strategy, Mariano was impressed by the plan, agreeing that guns weren’t always the answer and that sometimes, brains had to be used instead. 

When their NCIA asset, Agent Pia Catacutan (Katherine Luna), informed them that Sam’s team had recovered the leather jacket she had been wearing on the night she went missing, Lucas and Deborah couldn’t hide their pride because to them, this seemed to confirm that Lucas had succeeded in killing Sam. However, their celebratory mood was instantly spoiled by Mariano, who remained unconvinced that Lucas had actually killed Sam and remarked that they wouldn’t have encountered such problems if Victor had been the one leading their group.  

Finally, Mariano could barely contain his fury toward Lucas upon learning that Agent Pia had nearly been killed during their attack on the tribute party organized by the NCIA for Sam. His anger was fueled by the fear that Pia might die or turn against them, either of which could jeopardize their chances of securing Victor’s release, especially since she was handling his case. Once that would happen, Mariano swore that he would disown Lucas and no longer consider him his son. 

Is there still hope for Lucas to earn the same affection and recognition Mariano has always given Victor? Let’s find out by not missing an episode of “Coco Martin’s Sigabo,” weeknights at 8:00 PM on ABS-CBN sa ALLTV2, Kapamilya Channel, TV5, A2Z, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), or stream anytime on iWant!