On October 4, Palanca awardee and Apokripos author Jerry B. Gracio accepted the second seat in the partylist Kapamilya ng Manggagawang Pilipino while saying his goodbyes to ABS-CBN heads Cory Vidanes and Laurenti Dyogi.
Gracio posted a copy of his letter to Vidanes and Dyogi via his Twitter account. He admitted that he was reluctant to accept the second seat from the Kapamilya Partylist. However, he decided to take the seat in the labor group to inspire change in the coming elections despite the lack of financial support for the campaign.
“Hindi ko tiyak kung mananalo ang partylist na ito. Pag nagkataon, hindi ko alam kung tatanggapin pa ninyo ako, kung may babalikan pa akong trabaho. Ang totoo, pakiramdam ko, para akong tatawid sa alambre na walang net na pansalo. Pero iniisip ko, lagi na lang ba tayong mag-aalala para sa bukas, nang hindi kumikilos para baguhin ang kinabukasan?
“Dahil dito, pagkatapos ng mahabang konsultasyon at pagmumuni, nagpapasya ako, kahit na mahirap, kahit walang pera, kahit na magutom — dahil wala namang mayamang politiko sa likod ng partylist na ito — na tanggapan ang nominasyon ng Kapamilya ng Manggagawang Pilipino, at umaasa sa taguyod ng kapwa-manggagawa, kapuso, kapatid, kapamilya”
Umiyak si Mama when she learned na tinanggap ko ang nomination as rep ng KAPAMILYA Partylist.
Pa’no yan, wala ka nang trabaho.
Ma, nauna nang nawalan ng trabaho mga kasama ko.
After the drama she says: Benta ko kaya lupa ko sa Samar para sa kampanya n’yo?
Ako naman naiyak. pic.twitter.com/PzW37AyfNN
— Jerry B. Grácio (@JerryGracio) October 4, 2021
He also received support from his fellow Kapamilyas through social media, such as Andoy Ranay, Antoinette Jadaone, and John Lapus.
https://twitter.com/andoyranay/status/1445200644369879043
https://twitter.com/tonetjadaone/status/1445201891487404032
https://twitter.com/KorekKaJohn/status/1444921110236000258
Gracio was a senior writer in ABS-CBN before he announced his resignation from the network, following his acceptance of the second seat in the Kapamilya Partylist.
In 2020, around 11,000 Kapamilya employees suffered the impact of ABS-CBN shut down after Congress denied the network’s franchise.
Politicians accused the network of tax evasion, unfair labor practices, and violations of its franchise as grounds for its non-renewal. Congress still pushed through with its decision not to renew the media giant’s franchise despite the lack of evidence against the network.
ABS-CBN had to retrench several of its employees to cope with the financial blowback of their shutdown.
