Kapamilya actress and Love Thy Woman actress Ruffa Gutierrez shared how she could vividly remember the sadness of her co-workers when ABS-CBN’s franchise bid was denied.
During an interview with Toni Gonzaga for I Feel U, Ruffa reminisced about the sadness that happened on the set.
“We were shooting the day na nag-shutdown. Can you imagine? May eksena kami na dapat hindi iyakan, biglang lahat kami umiiyak sa set.”
According to Ruffa, she even begged the director to record the emotional scenes since everyone was feeling emotional crying their hearts out,
“Sabi ko, ‘Direk, pwede na bang kunan ‘yung mga iyakan scenes natin? Kasi pinatayan na tayo. Nag-no na ‘yung Congress. Gawin na natin ‘yung mabibigat na eksena.’ Kasi kahit na hindi kami kailangan maging emotional, lahat kami talaga were so emotional.”
But one thing that caught the attention of Ruffa, is how ABS CBN employees still worked hard despite the pandemic and the franchise rejection,
“Every time I look back, bilib na bilib ako talaga sa amin, sa buong cast, crew, staff. Napakahirap gumawa ng isang production. Napakahirap i-maintain ‘yung excitement with everything going around,” she said.
She felt very much appreciation for those working on their show as they continue to maneuver on the new shift of digital platform.
‘Nako kapag walang free TV, wala na.’ Hindi ako naniniwala doon kasi I believe that digital is the future. We just have to adapt to it. We just have to embrace it. Hindi naman lahat nasa digital pero eventually lahat, tututok sa atin.”
Now that Love Thy Woman has ended, Ruffa, along with her co-stars Eula Valdez and Sunshine Cruz, took the opportunity to thank fans who stayed loyal to ABS-CBN in the midst of the rejection of the franchise.
“Ako, gusto ko lang sabihin na talagang all of us, on behalf of all of us, gusto naming magpasalamat sa inyong lahat na hindi kayo bumitaw sa amin. Kahit na isinara na iyong istasyon sa TV, sa free TV, nandiyan pa rin kayo sa Facebook, sa YouTube, number one pa rin kayo.”
Ruffa also stressed the increasing number of ratings the show has earned on the various streaming media platforms including iWant TV, Iflix, and YouTube.
“We can see the numbers and it’s growing every day. So, I think the future is now digital, so nandiyan po kayong lahat, it’s streaming, and nakatutok pa rin silang lahat sa atin.”
It’s been more than two months after 70 congressmen from House of Representatives committee voted to reject ABS-CBN’s franchise bid leaving the network unable to run its main broadcast channels.
