tap the play arrow (if on mobile, click “Listen in browser”) on the soundcloud pod below to play the theme that has aired for over 30 years in the service of the Filipino:
A Salute to the ABS-CBN production staff: Professional even up to the most difficult time of our lives
It was characteristic of the professionalism and courteousness of the ABS-CBN staff that even at the depths of their trials last night – while they were being forcibly signed off by the NTC of the Duterte government,
the DZMM news production assistant (of DZMM teleradyo of ABS-CBN) texted a third time that night. Earlier that evening,
they confirmed a morning interview for the next day on DZMM teleradyo’s 6:15am Kabayan show with Noli de Castro.
But right there, that evening,
Noli de Castro was already at the tailend
of the last broadcast
of the long-running TV Patrol
before it would go off-air
after 30 years of broadcasting,
his heart being wrenched by what he had to announce.
It was characteristic of the integrity of the ABS-CBN staff
that in the dying minutes
of the most important devotion
of their lives,
the staff texted again, not betraying a hint of any despair, remaining professional to the very end:
He expressed thanks for accepting the invitation,
and then apologized:
He apologized that the morning program would no longer be able to air. The Duterte government had shut them down — the government’s NTC had shut down DZMM and TV Channel 2.
…
How do you reply to a text like that?
…
i reiterated what any Filipino would say:
Lalaban tayo. We will fight back.
Once again, here is TV Patrol on their last broadcast, final 17 minutes before being forcibly signed off:
