December 5, a Wednesday, would be a very special day to me personally and professionally. That day would mean two things, a realization of a dream and a birth of something special.
Indeed, after more than a year of planning, my dream episode, so to speak, for my radio show OkRyan over station dyLA 909 khz, will finally be airing with two of my very good friends and prominent local TV personalities as guests. I’m talking about Jude Bacalso of ABS-CBN’s defunct “Jud Morning” and Yuri of GMA-7’s “Oi! Show Nato Ni.” Surely, they have guested on OkRyan before, but separately. Thankfully, I was able to finally gather them two for a recorded episode that had them asking each other questions they wanted to ask in the past, but never got the chance to due to the neck-to-neck competition of their respective shows. I would say the banter between the two was controversial, juicy very intriguing, that Jude was overheard as saying right after our recording, “Maintriga na pud ang taga-ABS ani.”
Truly so because one of the questions Yuri asked Jude was how come there was no Jude Bacalso to formally say good-bye to everybody who has followed him and supported his show for more than two years? And I tell you Jude answered everything that Yuri asked. Straight from the “horse’s mouth,” so to say, Jude revealed the real reason why he decided to quit. Another question: Should there be an offer from GMA-7, would he accept? I tell you, his answer to such a question was different compared to the one he told me right after he stopped doing “Jud Morning.”
As the recording went on, there were lots of funny and serious revelations and admissions. Jude told Yuri how hard it was for him not to utter “Oi,” being his favorite word, while Yuri also admitted how difficult it was for him not to be able to use “jud” in his sentences. Funny thing was, at the height of their competition before, intrigues from some quarters surfaced to supposedly bring the competition to a personal level—but it failed.
Unknown to many, Jude and Yuri have been very good friends for many years now. In fact, Yuri admitted that he used to just watch Jud on TV and never thought that the time would come when they would be pitted against each other. Jude also has a colorful story to tell about their friendship. Even before they found their way to television they have shared the stage countless times already in various hosting gigs. Now it can be told that they have known each other too well that no intrigue could destroy their good friendship.
By the way, much as I love to elaborate and divulge details on that recorded episode, which I consider my best so far after doing the show for a year and a half, I simply can’t, as you will not listen to OkRyan anymore. Mark your calendars and hear our laughter and engaging exchanges by tuning into OkRyan on Wednesday, December 5, at 3-4pm. Where else but only at the station that recognizes my potentials and allowing me to discover myself more as a showbiz-oriented person—dyLA909 khz.
Did I say Wednesday would also be the birth of something special? Yeah, that’s right. On this day too, I will be starting a column in Banat Hugyaw, the entertainment section of our sister publication Banat News. Not to brag about it but since last year, friends have been asking me why I’m not writing a column in Hugyaw and my constant reply then was it is not yet time. But few months ago, Sir Archie Modequillo, whose style of writing in this paper’s Lifestyle Section always awes me, brought up the idea again of me writing a column for Hugyaw, saying I should title it as OkRyan, the print version. He had listened to one of my episodes, and thankfully, he gave me a passing grade. For an Archie Modequillo to take time to listen to me has a very humbling effect on me because he is not only a prolific writer but also a multi-awarded director who is affiliated with the likes of Discovery Channel. Wow!
So I told myself, yeah why not? I really think that now is the perfect time for OkRyan not just to be heard but also be read as well. I hope I don’t appear like I’m hard-selling myself but let me just share that a few months after I started the program in May 15, 2006, some teased me that instead of titling it OkRyan, it should be called Off Ryan because nobody was listening. Of course, I know it was meant as a joke but I have to admit that I feel slighted and hurt because for me it was like saying that I’m no good at all. In fact, I had lonely and sleepless nights and I even cried over such jokes. Let me make it clear though that I don’t blame them because you really can’t please everybody. And in the first place, I was a nobody, but an ambitious and gutsy islander who only relies on the will of my God; an optimist who always believes that when you fail it does not mean you are not good, but that God has prepared something bigger and better for you.
I also think that now is the time for OkRyan to be on print because after proving on air that yes I can do it by being natural and real, people from Visayas and Mindanao and some parts of Luzon (Pampanga and Lucena City) who love me for what I am despite my many bloopers, mistakes and shortcomings as I host the program Mondays to Fridays, now love to call themselves OkRyanians. Also now is the time because my dream of having Jude and Yuri together in my program was finally realized.
Why on a Wednesday when there are other days to choose from? I say this could be destiny because when I was transferred to this section from Lifestyle (where it all began for me on May 7, 2004; a never-ending thank you Mdm. Mayen Tan for the break), I first came out on a Wednesday. What a coincidence it is that December 5, also a very special day for me, falls on a Wednesday as well. To those who have wasted their time reading this crap every first and fourth Saturday of the month, please welcome me in your hearts again by grabbing a copy of Banat News on Wednesday for the birth of OkRyan in the Hugyaw section.
Now what’s with December 5? It’s something only people who consider me as their friend would know…
React@ Banatentertainment@hotmail.com or text me @0928-6252596.