ABS-CBN RETRENCHMENT: SIGHS FROM THE REGIONS

Benie Boy Angchay, an ABS-CBN cameraman who braved bullets while covering conflict areas in Mindanao during his 24-year stint with the network, found himself disoriented and sad as he grappled with the prospect of going jobless after his last day as a “Kapamilya” on Aug. 28.

After 70 members of the House legislative franchise committee voted on July 10 to reject the media giant’s application for a new franchise, Angchay was among the first employees—including those based in the regions—to be formally notified of their retrenchment.

Even before the bad news became official, Angchay said he and his coworkers at the network’s Mindanao bureau were already reeling from the online bashing they were getting from social media trolls.

“It hurts us so much that some people who didn’t even bother to listen to both sides of the issue could have misjudged us,” he told the Inquirer on Friday.

ABS-CBN’S provincial news teams are among the network’s key strengths, particularly relied upon for covering natural disasters, local politics, as well as cultural and religious events.

“Maybe we can live on what we will receive from the network, and once [the public health situation] gets better, we might start a business,” he said.

‘A second chance’

In the Visayas, some of the network’s more than 100 employees in the region took to social media on Friday to express their sentiments.

Romeo Subaldo, the news chief based in Bacolod City, said he did not know what hit him when he and 80 coworkers were told they would be out of work by Sept. 1.

In a Facebook post, Subaldo thanked the network for helping him “straighten ... out [his] life” when he was hired as a field reporter in 2005, following an internship. “The worthless student was given a second chance to live a dignified life. I built a house and bought a car because of ABS-CBN,” he said.

“When I heard that I would no longer have a job starting September, [my] first thought was: how do I continue paying for my house and my car? [How do I] feed my dogs? Will we be able to survive?” Subaldo added. “It is very painful to leave the place that has been my home for 15 years and the people who have been my family.”

Misfortune

Yasmin Pascual Dormido, a Bacolod-based reporter who has worked in ABS-CBN for 23 years, said she would never blame the company “for our misfortune,” because “it has always been good and generous to its workers.”

In the Cebu office, the mass retrenchment finally hitting home moved radio reporter Angelica Fay Saniel to tears. “It’s not just about losing our jobs but also the relationships we built over time. It would take a while before reality would sink in,” she said.

At the head office in Quezon City, Elvira “Tootsy” Angara, wife of Sen. Sonny Angara, said in an Instagram post on Friday that she had been crying herself to sleep for the past several nights.

“Today, 24 years ago, was my [first] day as [an ABS-CBN employee] and for many it will be the last. As we all go through this devastating week, my heart grieves [and] my heart is angry,” said Angara, a longtime marketing executive in the network.

“Not only do I see the faces of those I love who are in deep pain, but I also see the faces of those that inflicted pain on us ... Fathers and mothers with families hurting other dads and moms with families, too.”

The retrenchment was “so devastating,” Angara said, but her company’s story “is not over. I swear to each and everyone of you: It’s not over!”