Mariz Umali: Broadcast Muse

MANILA, Philippines - Growing up, she was pampered by her parents. If she wanted a doll, she easily got one. She enjoyed her dancing classes and even joined a choir group. She wanted to become a doctor so she initially took up a Medicine-related course.

When she started out with her broadcast career, she wasn’t given the VIP treatment. If she wanted a story, she had to patiently wait for long hours to get one. She had to cancel dates at the last minute to join fellow newsmen on a coverage. She wanted to reach out to more people so she made use of her profession as a venue to help others.

“News has become my passion. I live and breathe news,” declares Marie Grace Michelle “Mariz” Umali, one of GMA 7’s respected news anchors. “I love what I do even if I don’t really earn much from it; even if it’s stressful and I can’t regularly meet my friends.”

Mariz reveals that she wanted to follow in her parents’ footsteps. But as a Pharmacy freshman at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Mariz heard a different calling. She shifted to Broadcast Communications (from where she graduated cum laude) and never looked back.

Barely 21 then, Mariz joined the network as researcher/news producer for the election coverage in 2001 when another life-changing opportunity came knocking at her door. A top official at the News department asked her if she wanted to become a reporter. “But at the time, I wanted to finish first my commitment with the election team. I didn’t want to leave a bad impression,” relates Mariz. She started with the weekend reportorial duties and reveals she had to work seven days a week for the first two years. All her efforts eventually paid off when she had her first big reporting break when she covered the murder case of veteran actress Nida Blanca in 2001. The reporting newbie was able to get an exclusive interview with the crime’s primary suspect even before he was presented to the public. 

Mariz, 31, now enjoys a comfortable spot in the network’s stable of newsmen. She anchors Flash Report and the weekend edition of Balitanghali. She hosted news and current affairs shows like Hired, May Trabaho Ka and Pinoy Meets World (Spain). Mariz also enjoyed working on documentaries through Reporter’s Notebook, where she became a finalist at the New York Festival. She was also once an Anak TV Seal awardee.

“You have to be responsible in your reporting,” says Mariz. “I’ve also learned through the years of being in this profession that no story is worth your life,” she says matter-of-factly. Since she also had her shares of dangerous coverages in Mindanao (Sipadan hostage taking), the Peninsula Manila siege and the typhoon Pepeng coverage in Northern Luzon, Mariz says that one can get a story without risking one’s own life. This is also something that boyfriend and fellow reporter Raffy Tima constantly reminds her of.

Mariz, who’s proud she’s part of one of the country’s most credible news organizations, exclaims, “I love my job and I can see myself doing this for a long, long time!”