This was the early part of the year, Feb. 10, 2020, classes in the 2nd semester had just opened (mid-January), the pandemic had not been declared — the topic was quo warranto proceedings etc. The Rules of Court and special proceedings and special civil actions, remedies, etc. were discussed the way any lawyer would discuss rules and precedents. During the almost 15-minute-long interview, the first 12 minutes of the Q and A went well, it was a cut-and-dry discussion on the principle of non-exhaustion of administrative remedies as requisite to any Supreme Court proceeding – very placid and peaceful. Then news anchor Henry Omaga-Diaz, like most ABS-CBN news anchors, started to open a series of questions that i had not anticipated and had not prepared for, and it was the first time that it would be confronted, he went to the question of Congressional non-renewal: What if Congress does not renew the franchise? What then? I answered, “… if it is RENEWED…” “… if it is RENEWED…” then the Supreme Court case should not proceed unless the Supreme Court unusually ignores being moot and academic and ignores all precedents on non-exhaustion of administrative remedies. The straightforward answer should be: If it is NOT renewed, then we would lose ABS-CBN (the largest free TV channel and free radio). i never posted this in this site as my voice started to crack and break (at 12:45 of the video time-counter), something that’s never happened before, it’s a good thing this was a phone-patch special coverage and not on-camera…
so lame during the unexpected that i never posted it here. (but apparently, millions saw and heard it on TV and radio.) The men and women of ABS-CBN showed me better: Surviving … continuing to thrive … and now rising again. The year that was.
(the lameness of me in the video below, morning of Feb. 10, 2020). For the men and women of ABS-CBN: i have not a haiku
Razor-sharp Journalists Johnson Manabat and Jeff Canoy quiz me on when factchecking is necessary: At sunrise this morning on ABS-CBN Teleradyo Sakto 6:30am
(Credits: As stated in the embedded materials. Interview questions by the ABS-CBN News Team, camera-framing (medium shot) by ABS-CBN producers)
When viewed in YouTube, the segment has at least five sponsors: At the start of the video and twice in the middle –please don’t click “skip ads” for sponsors that support in-depth, contextual news discussion: Many thanks.
Wait — ngayon ko lang napansin na pareho kaming kulay ng suot ng news anchor (it’s only now that I noticed that i’m wearing the same color as what the news anchor is wearing). Hindi po kami nag-usap (it’s just a happy coincidence). i wear pastel colors and neutrals for interviews in the pastel room (i used to wear all-pastel green or mint green to match the room but after several interviews, i ran out of pastel greens so now it’s any pastel or neutral tone. Other than that, in any other location, for television, you would sometimes be advised to wear bright, solid colors.)
Other visual elements for your entertainment for this relevant topic (i hope the discussion was substantive enough and at the same time easy to watch) : i have given up on fixing my hair (100% risk-free hair salons do not exist); this is sleeping with wet hair, no blow-dry, no-comb-just-scrunch-with-hair-product-and-let-it-tumble-like-tiny-serpents look . i’m wearing Myra’s pearl bracelet 😊 The most important thing is the substance, which requires preparation, then you just make sure it is easy to understand and easy to watch. Happy viewing!
