in the 1961 movie, she was the brilliant cook who prepared the dishes;
in the 1992 series, she was always mentioned as one of Maria Clara's friends (tho I have no picture of her because she was kind of an 'extra' in that series and was hard to pinpoint); She ended up with Albino.
^^^ i can only recognize Sinang, Victoria, Iday and Maria Clara here. Andeng is one of the 2 girls that I can't name.
and in MCAI 2022 she was the housekeeper/foster sister that was good at making hopia. She was also Padre Salvi's spy in the Tiago household.
So is Andeng the same social class as Maria? She's a "foster" sister, right? Yet why does she not hang out with Victoria/Sinang/Iday/Neneng? Is she of lower class? And if she was Maria's 'foster sister' and they grew up together, then how come she was not childhood friends with Ibarra himself? Was she really Padre Salvi's mole in the Tiago household like in MCAI? Does she really end up with Albino like in CCP NMT 1992?
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Let's dive into it.
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CHAPTER 7: AN IDYLL IN THE AZOTEA
We are first introduced to her at the end of Chapter 7: An Idyll in the Azotea. Capitan Tiago asks Ibarra to pass a message to Andeng to 'prepare the house.'
Ch. 7 - Spanish
Ch 7 - Soledad Lacson-Locsin
We see here that there is no mention of what Andeng actually is. What is implied is that Andeng is staying at Capitan Tiago's house in San Diego, like she is one of the caretakers there.
In Leon Ma. Guerrero though, he calls her "housekeeper."
Guerrero kind of gives the game away. But does he?
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CHAPTER 22: LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
Sinang and Andeng both tell Maria Clara that Salvi was nuts.
Ch 22 - Spanish
Ch. 22 - Soledad Lacson-Locsin
Ch 22 - Leon Ma. Guerrero
Ch. 22 - Pascual Poblete
We finally have a term for her relationship with Maria Clara: HERMANA DE LECHE, (Literally SISTER OF MILK) or SISTER BY WET NURSE or KAPATID SA GATAS
Notice also that Maria Clara makes quite a clear distinction
Sinang -> mi amiga/ my friend
Andeng -> mi hermana de leche/ my sister by wet nurse
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CHAPTER 23: A FISHING EXPEDITION
Andeng showcases her cooking prowess. And people were trying to bother (nagpapansin) at her for her favor. cute
Ch. 23 - Spanish
Ch. 23 - Pascual Poblete
In the Spanish original, Andeng will then always be referred to as Maria's Hermana de leche.
Ch. 23 - Soledad Lacson-Locsin
Ch. 23 - Leon Ma. Guerrero
Soledad Lacson-Locsin and Leon Ma. Guerrero proceed to call her as "foster sister" in the next chapters.
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CHAPTER 29 LETTERS
Maria Clara tasks Andeng to deliver a letter to Crisostomo and have her serve Ibarra some tea.
Ch. 29 - Pascual Poblete
Pascual Poblete Tagalog translation also uses an alternate term: Kapatid sa Suso (Sibling by Breast). In the Tagalog translation, Kapatid sa Gatas and Kapatid sa Suso are then used interchangeably in the succeeding chapters.
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HERMANA DE LECHE
So now we get it. Andeng was Maria's Hermana de Leche or Sister by Wet Nurse or Kapatid sa Gatas. That means, Andeng's mom was most likely the one who breastfed Maria Clara after Donya Pia Alba died due to complications after childbirth.
But why was Andeng a housekeeper while Maria Clara was not? Were wet nurses considered family servants?
Aside from being a criada (househelp) of a rich family, women in 19th century Philippines could also become "nodriza" or "wet nurse." These women usually came from poorer families, just like criadas.
From Property Owners, Workers, and PublicWomen: Stories and Geographies of theLate Nineteenth Century Manileña, 1860-1896 by Marco Stefan Burce Lagman (2020)
What began as a practice associated with the aristocracy and comfortable classes soon became a custom even among
urban working class women working outside the home who could afford the services of someone to provide milk for their children.
In October 1879, an unmarried mestiza named Luciana Eugenio filed theft charges against Cornelia Oliveros and her brother Rufino. In her complaint, Ms. Eugenio, who worked as a maestra of a production unit at a tobacco factory in Tambobong (present-day Malabon), stated that when she arrived home from work one day, she found her wet-nurse Cornelia was not around.
Like the criada, By 1897 they had to be registered with the government and have a certificate of approval from the gobernadorcillo and the curate of the places that they came from. A section of the Bureau of Public Health was also established to monitor the health of these nodrizas because the employers of these nodrizas were worried of poor quality breast milk. Their work documents included their health card from the BPH.
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It now makes sense that when Andeng came of age, she was most likely employed by the family as one of their house servants/criada, since her mother was already known by the family. This proves that Andeng was of 'lower class' compared to the elites Maria Clara, Victoria and Sinang.
We continue the social class divide between these women peppered throughout the chapters.
CHAPTER 43 : THE ESPADANAS
Note that Andeng is more often associated with housework (especially with cooking) than Victoria and Sinang.
As we can see, there really is a line between
Maria Clara's two best friends -> the cousins Victoria and Sinang
her hermana de leche -> Andeng
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So is there evidence of Andeng being P. Salvi's spy?
So far, the above^^^ passage and Andeng describing Salvi as "a man out of his wits" in Ch. 22 are the only lines where Andeng mentions Salvi or the Church. She has some pretty naughty ideas about religion in general that is so unlike the Andeng who was blackmailed by Salvi in MCAI.
Therefore, I have no reason to believe that Andeng was P. Salvi's spy, as portrayed in MCAI. In my opinion, he was too efficient in the book not to need it.
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OTHER JUICY ANDENG THINGS
CHAPTER 41 LAW AND MIGHT
Andeng also served refreshments to the VIPs during the theatre performances for the fiesta and well...
sooooooo may secret boyfriend pala ang lola niyo. huehuehuehue. Lumalablayp si Ate Andeng, mga peeps. 😘
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CHAPTER 55 THE CONSPIRACY
Andeng's actions when the terrorist attack took place.
I desperately need a graphic of Andeng protecting Maria Clara using a roasting spit hahhaha
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IN CONCLUSION, ANDENG...
...is Maria Clara's hermana de leche (or milk sister/kapatid sa gatas/kapatid sa suso). In english, she's more often referred to as "foster sister;"
...is most likely the daughter of the nodriza that nursed Maria Clara as a baby;
...is a criada/househelp of the delos Santos family who takes care of their house in San Diego;
...is of lower socio-economic class compared to the elites Maria Clara, Victoria, Sinang, Iday and Neneng;
...is known as an excellent cook whose specialty is sinigang;
...has a boyfriend (that was not Albino) who keeps trying to meet up with her;
...has weird ideas of what confessionals are for;
...is willing to protect Maria Clara with a roasting spit against bandits.
Bro, like why did MCAI turn Andeng into Salvi's spy in Tiago's household?
MCAI literally didn't need to do this. This was not in the book.
Unlike in the novels, secrets cannot be kept in the Tiago household anymore. MCAI Salvi has unrestricted surveillance via Andeng more than Book Salvi ever had.
This turned Andeng, a close confidant of Maria Clara, into the worst traitor of them all.
This was done in order to lift up Klay into a position of better moral standing and loyalty with regards to Maria Clara.
This is the hypocrisy of this show. For all its preachiness about 'feminism,' it destroyed the friendships and dynamics between the original 19th century female characters first, just to raise this 'modern' 21st female character as someone better than any of them.
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It also provided the audience with a reason on why Ibarra (subconsciously) can never trust Maria Clara as fully as he should have (thus pushing the "klaybarra" and "klay is the best" agenda further.)
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As someone who writes for MCAI... MCAI Andeng has become one of my biggest hurdles. My challenge: Any information that is passed on to MCAI Maria Clara will eventually reach Salvi through Andeng. So what do MCAI fic writers like me supposed to do? Do we accept Andeng The Betrayer as a series canon (even if it was never like this in the books) or... do we strike down Andeng first?
I guess the gods were generous today when they gave birth to arguably my definition of the sun ☀️. Happy birthday @beaalonzo wishing you with more birthdays to come! 😍 #beaislove . . . #beaalonzo #bea #basha #andeng #alovetolast #abscbn #igdaily #igaddict #inatagramthatshit (at Manila, Philippines)
