More than the heated arguments, feisty lines, and thrilling confrontations, Kadenang Ginto has made its mark in Philippine television as an iconic series built on campy scenes, absurd moments, and subtle humor. 

With its successful run from 2018 to 2020, it surely brought out a lot of clips that seeped through the Filipino conversation either as a meme or an important fragment of local pop culture. Some of them even had their own comedic iterations from netizens, mainly from how memorable and well-received Kadenang Ginto was at that time. 

The Rewined Podcast reeled back to those moments in its latest episode, with creative writer Danica Domingo explaining the inspiration behind them, beginning with the knife scene between Romina (Beauty Gonzalez) and Daniela (Dimples Romana).

As for Danica, they lifted the idea from how Filipino mothers usually scold their children during catfights, making sure that the heavily used line, “Sige! Magpatayan na kayo!” would have its spotlight. 

Danica shares, “Alam mo kung saan galing yan? Alam mo kung paano tayo pinapagalitan ng mga nanay natin pag kaaway natin yung kapatid natin? Yung ‘Magsaksakan na kayo.’ Inano lang namin siya sa screen. [Sabi namin,] ‘Magandang eksena ‘to.’” 

Considering that most people, if not all, have probably heard this line from their mothers, Danica thought, “So, parang gets ng audience, ganyan ako pagalitan ng nanay ko, e. Inaabutan na ako ng [kutsilyo]. Nagsasabi ng, ‘Sige na magsaksakan na kayo!’”  

As for Danica, their motivation during the scriptwriting process sometimes comes from personal experience, even if it’s as silly as getting scolded by your mother with a knife in hand. 

Cassie divides the mansion with nylon tape

Another campy scene that left a good laugh among the viewers was when Cassie (Francine Diaz) wanted a fair share of the mansion. So, that’s exactly what she did, parting the entire property using a red nylon tape to mark what belongs to her and what’s off-limits to Daniela and her child Marga (Andrea Brillantes). 

When Cassie decided to do that, she included everything—including the kitchen and the pool!

“Para po maiwasan nating mahawakan ang gamit ng isa’t isa, ate, hinati ko po yung mansyon. Kami po dito sa kanan, kayo po sa kaliwa,” Cassie says as Daniela and Marga fume in anger. 

Danica looks back to this scene and says, “Yan talaga, medyo campy na yan. Pero makikita mo rin kung gaano sila ka-grabe ipaglaban yung kung ano ang feeling nila dapat sa kanila.

“At saka, ang ganda kasi ng dynamics ng nasa isang bahay kayo pero any time, pwede kayong magpatayan. So, nakaka-add din ng layer yung fun sa panonood yung scotch tape, yung packaging tape.”

Romina’s pinakbet vs. Daniela’s samgyupsal

The overarching plot of Kadenang Ginto is set between two mother-and-daughter duos clashing against each other in an attempt to fight over a prominent namesake, Mondragon. This concept is very much evident in the interplay of characters—particularly in how the other side clashes with another, even in something as simple as cooking dinner. 

Thus, one of the more interesting displays of humor and camp in the series was when Romina and Daniela tried to outstage each other by preparing food. 

It all started when Daniela bought some take-out food to have dinner with her family. She then smells what Romina was cooking. “What is that awful smell,” she asks.

But after mocking Romina’s dish, her husband Carlos (Adrian Alandy) suddenly enters the kitchen and compliments the smell, not knowing that it was his ex who was cooking.

Daniela then throws away her take-out food and declares, “I’m gonna cook!”

The absurd part of it was that while Romina took her time preparing pinakbet, Daniela did the bare minimum by bringing in an entire samgyupsal set to the table!

Danica recalls, “Alam ko ano yan, e, dahil sa character ni Luis (Adrian) Alandy. Kasi nag-aanuhan na sila na, ‘Sino ba yung perfect sa atin na wife?’ Kasi may past si Luis at saka yung character ni Beauty, e.”

While this particular scene is not new, as it has its previous reiterations in other formats and executions, what made it specifically nuanced is how Beauty and Dimples played the scene with effective humor. 

As Danica puts it, “Hindi naman siya bago na eksena na labanan ng recipe, pero kasi the way inarte ni Beauty and ni Dimples, yung matatawa ka na loka-loka talaga sila.”

The sardinas empire

At the bottom of it all, Kadenang Ginto is not just a battle for property or namesake. It’s actually a war over who gets the upper hand, power, and control over—wait for it—a sardinas company. 

Danica thinks that this layer added more camp to Kadenang Ginto, allowing for a wider audience to relate to humble sardines, despite the grandeur that the series evokes. 

She says, “For me, looking back, parang ang ganda noong touch na isang produkto na pang-masa pero nag-build ng isang empire na pag-aagawan nitong mga character na ‘to. 

“So parang kapag tiningnan mo, sardinas lang talaga pinag-aawayan nila.  Maibang touch naman… pag nag-aagawan sila ng kumpanya, sardinas yung pinag-aagawan nila. 

“Baka part din yun ng pagiging campy. Kasi, di ba, ang yayaman nila pero yung negosyo nila, sardinas na pang-masa.”

To know more about the story behind the making of Kadenang Ginto, watch The Rewined Podcast episode here: