Former GMA and ABS-CBN newsmen now on Canadian TV
THREE familiar faces in Filipino broadcast television can now be seen on Canadian TV with the order to reach out and connect with the large Filipino communities in the country.
OMNI, a Canadian television network, which caters to European and Asian communities, launched a Filipino language newscast, according to its social media posts on September 1.
Headlining the broadcast is former GMA Network morning host and news anchor Rhea Santos, as well as former ABSCBN reporters Ron Gagalac and Marieton Pacheco.
“Sapagkaiba-ibanglahiatkultura, Canada,” the Filipino journalists, led by Santos, said in a video introduction.
“Atnaritoang OMNI Television taas-noongkakatawansa multicultural community ng Canada. Ipinagmamalakinaminnamaging bahagingsusunodnakabanatasa kasaysayanng OMNI Television, sapamamagitanngpinakabagong all-Filipino news broadcast.”
Santos co-hosted GMA-7’s daily morning program “Unang Hirit,” alongside Arnold Clavio, Susan Enriquez, Connie Sison, Mariz Umali, and Ivan Mayrina. She was part of the network for nearly 20 years (making her the longest-serving female morning news anchor
in Philippine television history) before leaving for Vancouver in Canada in August 2019 to pursue further studies. She is an active vlogger on YouTube documenting her life in Canada with her husband and two young sons.
The Filipino broadcast is a late night newscast at 11 p.m. Toronto time (11 a.m. in Manila of the next day).
In a release by Rogers Sports & Media, which owns OMNI Television, aside from the Filipino newscast, they also have bulletins in Arabic, Italian, Punjabi, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
According to statistics from the Department of Foreign Affairs, there are 837,130 Filipinos in Canada, which makes them the 4th largest ethnic group in the country.