Filipino viewers expressed their gratitude to TV Patrol for its decades-long public service after it announced the final airing of its Regional Network Group (RNG) across the country on August 28.
ABS-CBN management previously announced that they will lay off workers in its businesses and subsidiaries effective on August 31 following the non-renewal of its congressional franchise, which permanently shut down its television, radio and digital services.
In separate statements, ABS-CBN announced that TV Patrol’s 12 regional programs will air their final newscasts after more than three decades of serving the Filipino people.
The post on TV Patrol’s page also featured the photos of their longtime anchors who provide their viewers in the provinces local and national news and information in their own dialects.
“Magpapaalam din ang mga regional morning show na gumigising sa iba’t ibang probinsiya hatid ang mga balita at saya,” the post read.
“Maraming salamat sa paglilingkod, mga Kapamilya. Baunin ninyo ang aming paggalang at pagmamahal,” it added.
Aside from TV Patrol, ABS-CBN RNG will also stop producing new episodes for its nine morning shows and its public service initiatives.
TV Patrol’s 12 regional stations that bid goodbye to their viewers are:
- TV Patrol North Luzon (Baguio, Dagupan, Ilocos, Isabela and Pampanga)
- TV Patrol Bicol (Naga, Legazpi)
- TV Patrol Palawan
- TV Patrol Southern Tagalog (CALABARZON)
- TV Patrol Central Visayas (Cebu, Dumaguete, Bohol)
- TV Patrol Negros (Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental)
- TV Patrol Panay (Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, Guimaras)
- TV Patrol Eastern Visayas (Samar, Leyte)
- TV Patrol North Mindanao (Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental Lanao Del Norte, CARAGA, Dipolog)
- TV Patrol South Central Mindanao (SOCSKSARGEN, Cotabato)
- TV Patrol Southern Mindanao (Davao), and
- TV Patrol Chavacano (Zamboanga)
The programs subscribers and supporters in these areas later expressed their gratitude to ABS-CBN RNG for their hard work in keeping them updated with the current and national affairs.
Others continued to hope that they will soon get back on the air.
As they go on air for the last time, ABS-CBN RNG members took to social media to bid goodbye to their viewers and likewise paid tribute to the teams behind their news programs.
Job cuts after job cuts
Several notable ABS-CBN reporters were also retrenched following the permanent closure.
In a tweet on August 26, ANC anchor Christian Esguerra announced that he will only be working with ABS-CBN and ANC until September 30.
“Will be with ABS-CBN and ANC only until Sept. 30, having been shown the door. In the meantime, we’ll continue with some real, no-BS journalism,” Esguerra said.
In a three-minute video on August 25, veteran reporter-TV host Bernadette Sembrano also shared that she received a call that she will be laid off as a field reporter.
The video also featured photos and clips of Sembrano’s memorable experiences in her fieldwork and she also stated there her thoughts on the situation.
“I remain grateful. Thank you for my many years as a field reporter and I am a changed person because of my fieldwork,” she said.
Last July, veteran journalist Ces Drilon was among the first who informed the public that she also lost her job.
“I lost mine, too,” Drilon said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN reporter Jervis Manahan also paid tribute to the cameramen he has worked with who are also on their last day with the broadcast giant on Friday.
Economists have previously warned the government against the impact of ABS-CBN’s franchise denial on the economy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In a landmark ruling last July 10, 70 lawmakers declined the network’s application for a fresh franchise to operate for the next 25 years, which caused the jobs of thousands of workers across the country.
Following reports on the country’s recession last August 6, Dean Ronald Mendoza of Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Government specifically cited ABS-CBN’s shutdown as among the main causes of it.
Some journalists have also shared stories on how closing the country’s largest media network affects Filipinos in far-flung areas which only ABS-CBN’s signal can reach.
‘Virtual hug, Kapamilya’