On a March 31 episode of GMA Network‘s Unang Hirit, a priest mistakenly acknowledged Umagang Kay Ganda (UKG) during his guesting on the morning show.
In line with the country’s observation of the Lenten season, Unang Hirit host Mariz Umali addressed on the show’s segment Unang Balita the importance and how did the pandemic affect the annual religious traditions of the Catholics for the Holy Week.
“Isa po ang holy week sa mga pinakaimportanteng panahon para sa mga Katoliko. Dito ginugunita ang paghihirap, sakripisyo, pagkamatay at muling pagkabuhay ni Kristo. Pero ngayong pandemic, marami sa mga tradisyon ang hindi muna natin magagawa. Paano nga ba natin gugunitain ang semana santa habang nasa loob ng mga bahay?” Umali said.
The Unang Hirit host then welcomed Fr. Kenneth Onda of Recoletos Formation Center, who was invited to the show to discuss the matter further.
“At para riyan, makakasama po natin si Fr. Kenneth Onda O.A.R. ng Recoletos Formation Center. Good morning po Fr.!” she said delightfully.
The priest responded, however instead of Unang Hirit, he mistakenly greeted Umagang Kay Ganda, the program’s former rival show.
“Isang mapagpalang miyerkules santo po sa inyong lahat at sa lahat ng mga nanonood ng Umagang Kay Ganda. Magandang umaga po,” Fr. Onda greeted.
Umali smiled and immediately corrected the priest. The Unang Hirit host also couldn’t help but utter a short laugh.
“Fr. Unang Hirit po tayo hahaha.”
To which the priest then responded, “Ng Unang Hirit, opo.”
Due to ABS-CBN’s closure on May 5, 2020, Umagang Kay Ganda aired online as Umagang Kwentuhan on facebook live the next day.
However, the ABS-CBN’s longest-running morning show only lasted until June 30, 2020, when the ABS-CBN Current Affairs division – the program’s producer – was abolished.
The hosts of the show also went on separate ventures following the show’s closure.
Comedian-actor Ariel Ureta and former athlete Gretchen Ho moved to TV5. Ureta was part of TV5’s show Oh My Dad! while Ho joined the Network as an anchor for Frontline Pilipinas and The Big Story.
Beauty queen Ariella Arida, meanwhile, returned to GMA Network and was part of the recently concluded romantic fantasy series The Lost Recipe.
Jeff Canoy and Amy Perez are currently co-hosting the well-loved TeleRadyo program Sakto, which airs weekdays from 6 to 7 in the morning. Perez is also one of the main hosts of It’s Showtime.
Winnie Cordero also works in DZMM TeleRadyo for HaPinay, where she and her co-host May Valle-Ceniza address important life issues on Tita Talk every Thursday at 9 am.
Jorge Cariño, on the other hand, continues to be an active reporter on TV Patrol.
After 17 years with DZMM, broadcaster Anthony “Tunying” Taberna took his radio show Dos Por Dos to DZRH with his co-host Gerry Baja following the Congress’denial of ABS-CBN franchise renewal.
However, this didn’t stop former UKG hosts and staff members from reacting to Fr. Onda’s unintentional Umagang Kay Ganda greeting on Unang Hirit.
A former employee and Twitter user with handle @karlmabs shared his gratitude that despite their show ended in almost a year, they were still in the minds of people, perhaps their former viewers. He also claimed that UKG is Filipino families’ national morning show.
https://twitter.com/karlmabs/status/1377085787678765057
Reporter Jeff Canoy, like Umali, laughed off and jokingly wished the priest a tasty breakfast.
https://twitter.com/jeffcanoy/status/1377086095922356233?s=20
Gretchen Ho also shared her delight, saying that she had already missed her co-hosts.
https://twitter.com/gretchenho/status/1377087039166803970?s=20
Like Ho, Ariella Arida told her co-hosts to take care at all times as she couldn’t believe that the show had been off the air for nearly a year now.
Grabe mag anniv na. I miss you fam. Ingat tayo lagi ♥️ https://t.co/d0KcrDrRaz
— Ariella Arida (@araarida) March 31, 2021
Another staff member, Jaime Bolok mentioned on Twitter that he misses UKG host Gretchen Ho.
https://twitter.com/JabsBolok/status/1377090779277975552?s=20
Umagang Kay Ganda hosts pointed that there was no war between networks as they greeted Unang Hirit on their 20th anniversary in December 2019.
