The Kapamilya Culture

In my career as a writer/ media person, I have worked at two ABS-CBN subsidiaries: Star Cinema and ABS-CBN Publishing. Since I am a freelance writer, I have been tapped in the past to do short-term projects by the broadcast network's other departments/subsidiaries such as marketing, PR, radio, sports, and SKYcable. 

Through the years I have personally witnessed and experienced the Kapamilya culture. 

Because of my numerous interactions with the company and its people, I believe I can describe what it's like to be part of the Philippines' biggest media company. 

I started at ABS-CBN's Star Cinema right after college, a young graduate who was gung-ho on working in the movies. Back then, Star Cinema was a new film production outfit set to make a mark in the industry dominated by big studios. 

The entire ABS-CBN TV production department was located on one floor, which also housed the private offices of the TV executives. ABS-CBN Talent Center was tiny 16-square meter space that had one desk and a sofa. Star Cinema's own office, located beside the mess hall, was a small room that could fit only four desks. The network had reopened seven years earlier and the exuberant, raring-to-go spirit was very palpable among the people who were there. 

Perhaps one of the benefits of being in a small, growing organization was the accessibility to the company's bosses. A film production assistant  (P.A.) like me could run into Ms. Charo Santos-Concio, then head of TV Production and Star Cinema's Executive Producer, in the corridor and ask her pointblank, "Will you still get me for the next movie?" She eventually did. I stayed as production assistant for two more films and as promotions coordinator for 20 more films.

In my four-year tenure at Star Cinema, I developed my skills in copywriting and promotions work, which laid the foundation for the career I now enjoy as an independent publicist. ABS-CBN's sister company also helped put food on my family's table. Not just through the salary that I took home every two weeks, but through the rice subsidies (one sack of rice) that I received every month.

In 2003, I found myself back at ABS-CBN; this time at its Publishing division. I was lucky to be offered to edit API's (ABS-CBN Publishing Inc.'s) first and only soap opera digest called Teleserye Mag, and then be part of the editorial team of API's lifestyle celebrity glossy, StarStudio Magazine. 

The network had grown magnificently - as epitomized by the impressive 15-story Eugenio Lopez, Jr. (ELJ) Building. Still, access to our bosses, particularly Ma'am Charo (who was then head of ABS-CBN Entertainment) and Ms. Cory Vidanes (who was then head of TV Production), was simply a phone call away. CSC (Ma'am Charo's initials) and CVV (Tita Cory's initials) always had time for our team; they never turned down our interview requests. 

One of my favorite anecdotes about Tita Cory I like telling is how she continued to eat in ABS-CBN's main building cafeteria even when she was already a network executive. To me, Tita Cory's action signified that she, a former production assistant, was one with the rank-and-file. 

The cafeteria in the main building was the venue for monthly forums with then ABS-CBN President and Chairman Mr. Eugenio Lopez III a.k.a. EL III a.k.a. Sir Gabby. Called the "Kapihan with the Chairman," employees and talents were welcome to attend the gathering and air their concerns. Those who had to stay in their respective offices due to work could watch the forum on their computers and send messages since it was aired through the office intranet. 

I have vague recollections of what transpired during these Kapihans. We were always busy at the magazine. But I do remember sending a comment questioning why there were separate lanes at the cafeteria for on-retainer talents and regular employees. Talents like myself, I said, should not be "second-class citizens" in the same company. 

I did not think what I said would make much of a difference. A few days later, our editorial assistant, Manila, reported that the cafeteria lanes had been abolished and talents could line up anywhere we wished. "It's because of the comment you made," she told me. 

I cannot categorically claim credit for that. But what I can say with absolute certainty is that ABS-CBN's leaders -- the executives--do listen to the people under them. 

Around 2008, I resigned from the magazine because there was going to be a reorganization. The new editor-in-chief was bringing his own team. In the process, I was going to be demoted from associate editor to staff writer. My pride was hurt and I emailed my sentiments to one of my bosses. 

To my surprise, she called me on my cellphone and said that the division's head was going to hear me out. I got my audience with the division's head who listened sympathetically to me. I said I didn't want my old job back. I just wanted someone to know what I went through. 

That unfortunate incident is now water under the bridge. Show me a company or organization that does not have politics, intrigue and deficiencies, and I will show you a company that does not exist. Like my late mom had told me — every family has its own dysfunction. Businesses are no different.

But every family has its blessing or grace.

At ABS-CBN, this grace comes in the form of the Lopez Achievement Awards (LAA), an annual competition among the Lopez Group of Companies to which the media company belongs to. LAA is like the holy grail that Lopez companies aspire for. More than the trophies and the jackets that team members of the winning companies get as prizes, it's the honor that brings greater pride. 

For some years, I have helped co-write LAA nomination write-ups for SKYcable, which is a company under ABS-CBN. 

Separate teams would tell me their success stories and best projects and how hard they worked to meet their objectives to bring awe and delight to their customers. Listening to their stories always got me inspired. Anyone who's ever felt disillusioned by big business or lacked a sense of purpose at work will find renewed hope and direction. To the employees of SKY, it is hardly about the bottom line. Instead, it is about being of service. My SKY-subscriber friends who've been assisted by my contacts at SKY can attest that service is a commitment that the cable/internet company takes very seriously.

Without a doubt, ABS-CBN has made a big impact on my professional life and personal life. 

Humility. Openness. Service. These are the legacies of my days as a Kapamilya. 

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Man of My Dreams

For many years now, I've been writing down my dreams in a journal. By dreams I don't mean my life aspirations, although the word is also synonymous to that. By dreams, I mean the images, the "movie" I see when I am asleep.

I dream very often. There are times I remember what I saw in my sleep and I am able to capture, to document these scenes in writing. I have dreamt of my mom who passed away; the more recent dreams about my mom have me and my mom doing activities together like trying on formal clothes and attending a party.

But this morning, I dreamt of a man I have had a fondness for. I have dreamt about him previously, some dreams about him I was able to recount in my journal.

You could say he is truly the man of my dreams. Not just in my sleeping life but in my waking life. He is kind, loving, honest, and he is passionate about what he does. He is insightful. During the first few times we talked I realized that I enjoy talking with him and told him so. "Thank you," I said. "It's rare to have deep and meaningful conversations with someone."

To cut a long story short, this man and I are friends (at least I'd like to think so), though I have long wished that we could be more. Alas, that wish is still a wish.

Back to my dream.

This morning's dream about him, (let's call him "C") was so vivid. Here's what I wrote in my dream journal:

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I was in a restaurant with many people. I was with my friends from high school. I think I was wearing a white top and a white skirt. (What can I say? I dream in detail!)

I went out of the restaurant and when I returned I was so shocked because I saw C sitting beside a woman with short hair. She wore nice fashion earrings. And on C's lap, there was a baby whom he was feeding with a milk bottle.

I was so shocked. (Okay, I already said that.) I think C did not see me because he continued talking with the lady. I noticed that C and the lady were sitting far from each other. (Social distancing?) Or maybe it was because C had a baby on his lap and that's why the lady could not sit close to him.

I felt distraught.

I asked my female friend if she noticed that C was right there. And my friend answered in the negative. Why would she notice? She doesn't know C.

I walked around the restaurant like a headless chicken. I even wanted to ask the waiter if he knew anything about C and the lady. But I kept my mouth shut. I had some dignity and some sensibility left within me.

[I was going to say "Would a waiter know?" On hindsight, they do. Waiters are keen observers. This part is real: I remember a time I met a guy for late night drinks at Congo Grille in St. Francis Square and when my date stood up to go to the restroom, our waiter chatted with me a bit. He remembered that I interviewed actress Iza Calzado at Mario's Kitchen in Galleria earlier that year. This waiter knew because he was the one who attended to Iza and me.]

Anyway, back to my dream again —So I walked around the restaurant. I didn't know where to go or what to do because I saw C out on a date with a woman.

And then I realized my bag was missing. I didn't know where I left my bag, forgotten where I placed it because of my confusion. I felt I had lost something very valuable.

And then I saw C stepping out of the restroom. He wiped his hands on a towel. He saw me and didn't avoid me. In fact, he talked with me.

He said he heard me talking to my female friend.

Then I replied, "Was my voice too loud?"

Instead of answering the question directly, he mimicked how I talked to my female friend and repeated the question I uttered to her, word for word.

And then we walked together. I guess he was going back to his table.

I remember we walked closely, side by side, shoulder to shoulder.

Then I said, "What do you want me to do? If you tell me to drop out of your life, I will."

We reached a part of the restaurant with a short flight of stairs, a set of few steps with a railing.

When C and I got there, we stopped walking. And then C did the most surprising thing.

He faced me and, in a tender voice, said a prayer of thanks for our friendship.

Just like that, I admired him even more. And then I said to myself, "How can I give up on him?"
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I woke up feeling happy, free, and with a sense of clarity. St. Joseph I am not, but I believed God was speaking to me in my dream.