On May 5, Vice President and Head of GMA Network Corporate Affairs and Communications Angel Javier Cruz revealed why they chose Kapuso stars Barbie Forteza and David Licauco as the “faces” of their public awareness campaign with Bank of the Philippines Islands.
At the media event for GMA New Media and BPI PSA campaign, which LionhearTV covered, Cruz highlighted how financially independent youth are vulnerable to cyber scams.
She shared, “We have a lot of youth, mga members na at that age group who are now very independent and have their own accounts. And masyado ng matatalino ang mga scammers so inaaral nila kung saan nila pwedeng ipasok ‘yung mga modus nila.”
Cruz added, “If you could see one of the ads, ‘yung kay David, ina-attack nila ‘yung tao habang busy siya, habang ‘yung focus niya is on another thing. So what do you do pag busy ka, press ka na lang ng press, accept ka na lang ng accept, because you want to focus on your game.”
She then affirmed that they wanted young people like Forteza and Licauco to represent the youth who may have encountered or been targeted by these online scams. She explained, “So this is why we got Barbie and David, yung mga mas bata bata, because we want to show the public, na hindi lang mga mommy, hindi lang mga matatanda, hindi lang workers, even students who have their own accounts, sila rin ay nabibiktima ng ganito.”
The PSA campaign, airing on GMA Network’s free-to-air channels and streaming on Kapuso digital platforms, features stars Barbie Forteza, David Licauco, Betong Sumaya, Martin del Rosario, and Maey Bautista.
Jonathan John B. Paz (BPI Enterprise Information Security Officer and Data Protection Officer), Catherine P. Santamaria (BPI Chief Customer and Marketing Officer), Angela Javier Cruz (GMA Vice President & Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications), and Dennis Augusto Caharian (President of GMA New Media, Inc.) were in attendance at the media event.
