In a media conference held on October 18, Monday, GMA Regional TV One Mindanao news anchors Sarah Hilomen-Velasco, Cyril Chaves, and Argie Ramos answered how the closure of rival networks, ABS-CBN, affected their news coverage.
On Thursday, GMA Regional TV and Synergy First Vice President and Head Oliver Victor Amoroso led the official launch of GMA Zamboanga.
GMA Network has further strengthened its delivery of news and local features in Mindanao with the opening of GMA Zamboanga. This will be the fourth regional TV station in Mindanao, and it will also serve as GMA Regional TV’s Western Mindanao hub.
As the Kapuso Network’s regional station continues to grow and proliferate, the state of its rival network ABS-CBN has remained complex and dark after it was shut down in 2020.
Sarah Hilomen-Velasco stated that they used this unfortunate event to strengthen their work and cater to the needs of the public.
“Actually wala namang nagbago no, the more nga kaming nags-strive dahil mas maraming tao ang nakatutok sa GMA. So the more kaming nagkakaroon ng ‘paano ba natin ipi-present ito nang talagang maayos’ kasi ‘yun nga mas maraming nakatutok.”
“More of a challenge, mas kailangan naming pag-igihin pa ‘yung aming ginagawa. Naka-angkla kami dun sa ‘Serbisyong Totoo’ and syempre ‘yung campaign na local news matter,” said Velasco.
Now that the country is experiencing a pandemic, news anchor Cyril Chaves sees the importance of their work, especially in providing important matters.
Chaves stated, “Dahil nga sa nangyari, mas kinailangan na paigtingin ‘yung mga efforts na ginagawa natin. Para po maihatid sa mga Kapusong Mindanaoan ‘yung mga dapat nilang malaman.”
“For example ngayong pandemic, parang yung mga tao, they crave for information kasi gusto nilang malaman kung ano na ang nangyayari dito na lugar, anong nangyayari dito na rehiyon.”
“Ano ‘yung mga efforts ng government natin to solve this pandemic.”
Meanwhile, Argie Ramos clarified that the construction of the new Regional station has nothing to do with the lack of franchise of their rival network. It was just a coincidence.
Ramos clarified, “Maraming nagsasabi na parang sinakto daw ‘yung pagpapatayo ng GMA Zambonga dito dahil nga sa nangyari dun sa rival. Pero I think klaro naman na ‘yung GMA Zamboanga ay more than 2 years in the making siya. So hindi siya sinakto, coincidence lang siya.”
“Pero I think, more than that, lahat naman siguro ng media outfit, ‘yung goal natin is to strengthen ‘yung ating news coverage. Kaya naman nandito ang GMA Zamboanga para tulungan ang GMA Regional TV at ang GMA network as a whole.”
One Mindanao’s main goal is to deliver local news that matters and stories that inspire through multiple languages and dialects in various communities across the Philippines.
