The Correspondent

THE CORRESPONDENT
-ryandgreat, gma network center

i grew-up watching frontpage: ulat ni mel tiangco everyday! it's my source of daily dose of news in high school (and favorite ko kase si tita mel!) 

and i also remember watching public affairs shows in the late 90's, 

gma-7's i-witness on mondays,
the probe team on tuesdays,
imbestigador on wednesdays, 
debate on thursdays

and its counterparts are inside story of loren legarda, assignment of teddy locsin jr. and the correspondents

and obviously i don't watch abs-cbn current affairs programs that much! hehe

 1999 | Frontpage: Ulat Ni Mel Tiangco

1999 | I-Witness Che Che Lazaro (Photo: GMA-7)

2000 | The Correspondents Ed Lingao (Photo: ABS-CBN)

2007 | ABC-5 Ed Lingao (Photo: ABC-5)

November 3 | Aksyon Tonite anchors Cheryl Cosim and Ed Lingao (N5E)

November 3 | Ed Lingao first live anchoring

November 3 | at the control monitor of ENG van

November 3 | BTS | last 30! 

November 3 | BTS | stand-by for cue!

ed lingao is a well-known documentarist on tv and one of the correspondents, an award-winning investigative news program of abs-cbn

i've seen him twice already, first during a dokyufest in college and then in a media convention in 2011

and he's known among colleagues in the industry

and yesterday he was launched as the new anchor of our late night newscast aksyon tonite, replacing paolo bediones and martin andanar

his first assignment was an anchor's away from the studio,

that means to deliver the news on-site (depending on the top story of the day) from remote broadcast

it's my first manila assignment since i just got back from a month-long coverage in albay, so i have no idea about these changes

November 3 | Ed Lingao on his first Aksyon Tonite anchoring

and it's truly an honor to be the first remote producer for this task,

i have this visual imprint in my mind before and i'm more than thrilled to be part of this endeavor

i feel intimidated but at the same time i am excited to work with a real journalist!

he's incredible! down-to-earth, professional and his humility strikes me

this is particularly challenging and i really don't mind spending late nights at work everyday because this is such a delight for me

i'd like to be involve in some way and hopefully to do more of this

welcome back po sir ed or bok!

Don't Be Fooled By Da Rocks Daraga!

DON'T BE FOOLED BY DA ROCKS DARAGA!
-ryandgreat

on the first week of september news broke out of possible eruption of mayon volcano when phivolcs recorded an increase of rockfall

and declared alert level 2 and alert level 3

before that, i was longing to see legaspi city and mayon volacano last june!

but i intentionally missed my flight! because truth is, i'm not interested in any domestic flights hehehe

and fast forward to the first day of october when we're sent to albay, by more than 10 hours land travel!

i was told to prepare for at least two weeks stay there 

but it was extended to almost a full month

while the threat of eruption still imminent and there are some interesting news stories to tell (nga ba?)

October 12 | our view from our work place with cameraman Don Misagal

October 18 | we're only few meters from Mt. Mayon

October 20 | our view of Mayon Volcano

October 24 | i'm overweight?! (photo: Jeff Ocuaman)

October 13| at Cagsawa Ruins

the government of albay aimed for zero casualty in case of eruption and imposed a massive evacuation to thousands of family since september

and this has resulted to purportedly some couples having sex in the evacuation center!!!

jeff caparas had an interesting story on a newlywed still on their honeymoon stage in the evacuation center

the plan and action from the government of albay is to give motel access cards for the couples!

james beltran gives further details on phivolcs observation of mayon volcano on the second week of october

phivolcs stretched danger zone from 6 kilometers to 8 kilometers and the albay government has implemented force evacuation to areas affected

it was also reported that the budget allocation of albay for disaster is waning

and the albay government appeals to pnoy for financial assistance

because of the sudden increase of evacuees from the extended 8 kilometers danger zone

that's implemented to families from vulnerable areas near mayon volcano

some ngo's including alagang kapatid of tv5 responded as they came to albay for relief operations and distributed food and hygiene kits for the evacuees

on the third week of october, there were few volcanic earthquakes that phivolcs have recorded and a glow from the cater was also observed

and while the mandate for force evacuation is in effect there are some residents who stayed inside the permanent danger zone and restricted areas 

this prompted the phivolcs to conduct another survey and identify the markers where some of which have been moved that's the story of dindo flora

June 2014 | my ticket to Legazpi, Albay that I missed

October 4 | Jeff Caparas reporting live at Legazpi City

October 4 | Jeff Caparas reporting live for Aksyon News Alerts (N5E)

October 6 | the newlywed couple (N5E)

October 11 | James Beltran reporting live from Leagazpi City

October 11 | James Beltran reporting live for Aksyon News Alert

October 13 | James Beltran reporting live from Leagazpi, Albay

October 13 | James Beltran reporting live for Aksyon sa Umaga (N5E)

October 7 | James Beltran reporting live at Legazpi, Albay

October 7 | James Beltran reporting live for Aksyon sa Tanghali (N5E)

October 9 | James Beltran reporting live from Legazpi, Albay

October 9 | James Beltran reporting live for Aksyon sa Tanghali (N5E)

October 25 | Dindo Flora reporting live from Legazpi, Albay

October 25 | Dindo Flora reporting live for Aksyon

October 7 | my SNG team in Legazpi, Albay

October 7 | Doraemon and the majestic Mayon Volcano

October 18 | dinner out (photo: James Beltran)

and after our 28 days of stay,

the alert level of mayon volcano was maintained to level 2

and the eruption might still occur against the slower volcanic rockfall the last week of october

my primary concern is our safety, how will we respond if in case the volcano erupts?

we cannot just run or hide because our job is to capture the event as it happens

but whenever i see the majestic view of mayon volcano, when it's not covered by clouds, something tells me not to worry

and every morning i find time to talk to that wonderful creature! and pray for our safety

and thank God that i get to see it everyday at work during this coverage

the scenic mayon has the same view in all bicol districts, from daraga, legazpi and camalig

there are also other bicol landmarks like old churches at the cagsawa ruins and daraga church

unfortunately we're not able to explore except at the embarcadero at the port district of legazpi city

when our reporter james beltran treated us for a dinner after his 2 weeks stay

to james thank you for the treat! di bale hinde ka naman na-zero ng story hehehe

Super Mario

SUPER MARIO

-ryandgreat

the invasion of super mario!!!

(super mario is a popular family computer game in the late 80's and early 90's!)

weather forecast from pagasa announced bagyo mario has intensified and moving north of luzon

there was no storm signal raised in metro manila

but the spawn of heavy rainfall caused by monsoon rains throughout the morning of yesterday resulted to flooding in most metropolis flood-prone areas

Super Mario in action figures!

i left our house an hour early of my call time just to avoid traffic jam and floods

i had to ask my crew to pick me up along edsa before we proceed to araneta avenue

we took all the possible and passable alternate routes to avoid deep floods

but most of the streets were already flooded and at the same time there's traffic congestion everywhere

on-site, my reporters are jeff caparas, paolo bediones and the entire rescue 5, the rescue response team of news5

my first assignment was the live report of jeff caparas for aksyon tanghali,

on his rescue assistance for evacuation of some residents that were trapped

followed by a live update for t3 with paolo bediones on his assitance to some residents for a safer place

watch the full report through News5 Everywhere: 

September 19, 2014: Aksyon sa Tanghali - Jeff Caparas

September 19, 2014: T3 - Paolo Bediones - T3

and later that day, our news desk did inform us to prepare ahead for live updates because our prime time newscast aksyon will air at 5pm

jeff and paolo had 2 reports for aksyon prime

paolo on his first live report, gave an update on-site and reported his rescue efforts along the chest deep flooded araneta avenue

while jeff reported his own account on their rescue effort where they've assisted a baby boy and a mother to move to a higher ground from low-lying area

and also he's own personal experience being rescued by a rope to cross floodwaters while he's trying to rescue some trapped residents

September 19 | Jeff Caparas reporting live at Araneta Avenue

September 19 | Jeff Caparas reporting live for Aksyon Tanghali (N5E)

September 19 | Paolo Bediones live at Araneta Avenue

September 19 | Paolo Bediones reporting live for T3 (N5E)

Paolo Bediones reporting live for Aksyon

Paolo Bediones for Aksyon (N5E)

September 19 | Jeff Caparas reporting live for Aksyon

September 19 | Jeff Caparas for Aksyon (N5E)

September 19 | Paolo Bediones for Aksyon (N5E)

September 19 | Paolo Bediones for Aksyon Tonite (N5E)

September 19 | Shawn Yao reporting live for Aksyon Tonite

September 19 | Jen Calimon on-the-line for Aksyon Tonite

September 19 | BTS | Shawn Yao's live report

September 20 | the morning after the storm!

on their second live reports for aksyon prime, paolo updated the latest situation on flood that has already subsided at that time

while jeff discussed another rescue efforts made by rescue5 team to some trapped residents

for the late night newscast, aksyon tonite,

our line-up has expanded, shawn yao joined paolo and jeff for the latest quezon city situation and then police reporter jen calimon for a breaking news story

aside from updates of latest situation, paolo and jeff did summarize their news stories

that mostly on the rescue efforts to residents of araneta avenue and re-telling of their own personal experiences during the rescue operations

and apparently this was also paolo's first appearance to his newscast aksyon tonite, after he was replaced by martin andanar last august

meanwhile, shawn yao reported on the situation of evacuation sites where some residents have stayed

on the other news topic was breaking news story from our police reporter jen calimon

on the death of the mother of actress cherry pie picache, who was said to be stabbed by an unidentified suspect

some details were not given as the actress asked for some privacy at that moment

September 19 | Aksyon Tonite line-up

that was supposed to be our last story but lo and behold! the newscast extends until midnight

and shawn yao who just left had to go back to do an impromptu live report of just about anything

it was such a long day at work!

and it's the most tiring but fulfilling news duty i've ever had this year!

and i subsisted on caffeine and lotsa inner strength and prayers!

thank God that no one gets hurt, no reported casualties and that today as i write this to completion, the Sun has come out! thank you Lord

and i'd like to thank my news repoters jeff caparas, paolo bediones, shawn yao and jen calimon, 

to my entire team, my systems engineers henry and teddy bear!,

cameramen allan and ronald and kuya kenneth and raymund and some of our lighting technical crew

to cheska, joseph, sir emil, rescue5 team and all our news crew!

credit goes to all of you!

and just like super mario on that popular 90's video game, we did survive! at the end of the game!

Aksyon All-Day

AKSYON ALL-DAY
-ryandgreat, abs-cbn broadcasting center

it's been a month since News5 launched the all-day aksyon newscasts

and that brought a significance change in our news organization 

having the trademark aksyon that transcends from primetime and it got off to a running start after a month

July 21 | Ina Zara live at Mandaluyong City Hall

July 21 | Ina Zara reporting live for Aksyon Primetime (N5E)

July 21 | Aksyon Primetime first day with Luchi Cruz-Valdes as anchor

July 21 | Shawn Yao live at Manadaluyong Police Headquarters

July 21 | Shawn Yao reporting live for Aksyon Tonite

July 21 | first airing of Aksyon Tonite

July 24 | Butch Abad appears for a Senate Investigation

July 24 | Butch Abad live on AksyonTV (N5E)

July 24 | Butch Abad Live on Aksyon Tanghali (N5E)

July 24 | Butch Abad taped interview for Aksyon Primetime and Reaksyon

July 24 | Butch Abad interview for Aksyon Primetime and Reaksyon (N5E)

July 24 | Butch Abad interview for Aksyon Primetime (N5E)

July 24 | Mae Anne Los Banos live from Senate

July 24 | Mae Anne Los Banos reporting live for Aksyon Primetime (N5E)

July 24 | Mae Anne Los Banos' second live report for Aksyon Primetime (N5E)

July 24 | Senate Team! with Mae Anne Los Banos, apir!

good morning club becomes aksyon umaga

while the format of aksyon sa tanghili is similar to the format of the years ago defunct balitanghali of amelyn veloso and raffy tulfo now with cherie mercado

and the latenight newscast pilipinas news becomes aksyon tonite with paolo bediones and cheryl cosim

but it wasn't too long ago that there's aksyon jounalismo that's a predecessor of pilipinas news

and the primetime newscast is now being led by tv5 news chief luchi cruz-valdes with erwin tulfo 

mam luchi brought her reaksyon segment to aksyon primetime by interviewing the most talked about personality of the day

we've had the opportunity to produce some of the interviews for reaksyon through remote broadcast

it's a butch abad kind of work day on 24th july at senate

we aired a special coverage on aksyon tv channel 41, aksyon tanghali, 

two live reports for aksyon primetime by mae anne los banos and a taped interview for reaksyon

department of budget and management secretary butch abad faces the senate for an investigation

on the highly controversial disbursement acceleration program fund or dap 

where he further explains the benefit of dap to the public for the economic growth

July 24 | on-going Senate Investigation with Butch Abad

on that night, we aired two stories for aksyon primetime, 

the first one was about senator nancy binay questioning dbm secretary butch abad on different issues, on transportation and health projects

and the second report is a brief summary of the entire hearing

and now, it seems a good a time as any to say congratulations to the production team of aksyon umaga, tanghali gabi thereon!