Philippine Drama Series

Kamandag, also known as Venom in English, is a fantasy Philippine drama that aired on GMA Network from November 19, 2007 to April 25, 2008. Adapted from a comic strip popularized by renowned writer-director, Carlo J. Caparas in the ‘80s, GMA’s newest telefantasya focuses on the adventures of a half-man, half-beast who will defend humans against injustice and evil.

Kamandag’s Origins

The story of Kamandag begins in a land called Ambrograw, the real of half-human, half-beast creatures. In this place, where the gods and goddesses of the animal kingdom reside, the mortals are treated like slaves and discriminated against. Five kingdoms exist, each ruled by a different animal: the snakes (Hasbaya), bulls (Orobaya), foxes (Lobobaya), monkeys (Goybaya), and wild cats (Pusbaya).
This land of creatures is where Vergel is born, the son of Saban, the king of snakes, and the mortal woman, Alicia. He became an outcast despite having royal blood in his veins.
His father wanted to give Vergel birthright but the kingdom’s detractors saw the situation as an excuse to wreak havoc in their work. So Vergel is then sent to the mortal world to group up as an ordinary human being.
Vergel soon discovers the extraordinary powers he possesses. Whenever he feels agitated when danger is near, physical changes manifest – scales appear on his skin and his sense of smell is heightened, among others. He can also unleash deadly venom. But blessed with a good heart, he uses these unique abilities to help people.

The Production

An ambitious fantaserye in the making, Carlo J. Caparas’ Kamandag, is no doubt another big production of GMA. It took them almost a year to prepare and finalize the details of the show which is very evident in the cast, costumes, sets, and designs used.

“We started working on this program since late last year. We announced that we are going to do this in the trade presentation that we had for the industry in January, so you see how much time we devoted in putting this program together. The designing sets, costumes, casting took us quite a while but from the very start this project was meant for Richard,” shares Ms. Wilma Galvanted during the press launch of Kamandag.

Directing the show is the fantaserye guru, Mark Reyes. “In the tradition of Encantadia, Mulawin, and Atlantika, here comes the next big epic of GMA na talagang pinaghandaaan. We were doing Kamandag probably a year before we go things rolling. Trust GMA to come up with something this big. Everything is fresh and the enerfy is there. You can see the costume, the set, I am very much excited about it!” declares the talented director. Together with Topel Lee, they assure the Kapuso viewers that they are in for a very explosive adventure.

“Mga Kapuso again hindi namin kay idi-disapoint dito sa bago naming telefantasya, ang Kamandag. Kakaiba siya, amadaming elemento ang magugustuhan niyo. Ito po ay first time na collaboration namin ni Richard, pero ang team ko ng Encantadia at Atlantika ay kasama ko ulit dito kaya expect that kind of quality, that kind of passion behind the show, so magugustuhan ninyo ito,” assures the very proud Mark Reyes.