Stars in Sagip Kapamilya

CEBU, Philippines - ABS-CBN Cebu recently flew several members of the Cebu press to its mother network in Manila to cover the participation of the weekly winners of the regional program “Kapamilya Winner Ka” in the national noontime variety show, “Wowowee.”

The other purpose of the trip was to get an inside look at how live entertainment programs of the Kapamilya network during its weekend are done. It turned out the Cebu media would get to witness how its entertainment powerhouse would go beyond the call of duty to mount what could only be described as a star-studded response to the tragic aftermath of typhoon Ondoy, which hit Metro Manila and its nearby provinces last September 26.

One of the first stars to respond right away and who has been credited to have practically started the ball rolling in terms of donations from stars and advertisers was TV host Kris Aquino. Early Sunday morning, she was already manning the Sagip Kapamilya Relief Operations telethon, alongside actor Piolo Pascual, ABS-CBN chaplain Fr. Tito Caluag, and broadcaster Tina Monson-Palma, who is also the Sagip Kapamilya head.

According to ABS-CBN officials, Aquino volunteered her time, donated P1 million cash, among others, and incessantly called on her corporate sponsors and endorsements to pledge their donations. An amazed Tina Monson-Palma had to comment on air, “You (Kris) really have a gift for fund-raising.”

The FREEMAN visited the set of the telethon on its first day of operations, and saw ABS-CBN big bosses on top of everything the night before the telethon went on air the day after the storm. Artists from ABS-CBN’s talent management arm Star Magic took turns in handling the telethon phones to accept donations. This would soon be followed up with actual participation in the relief distribution in affected areas.

As of October 8, according to Sagip Kapamilya updates, the total cash donation has now amounted to P108.23 million, while the total in-kind donation has reached P118.7 million. It was also reported that Sagip Kapamilya has provided food and non-food relief items to 357,660 families to date. Apart from the victims of typhoon Ondoy, Sagip Kapamilya is now also extending assistance to the victims of typhoon Pepeng, which has also battered many provinces in Luzon such as Pangasinan and Cagayan Valley last week.

Tina Monson-Palma has said on ABS-CBN’s primetime newscast “TV Patrol” that while part of the funds raised has already been utilized to buy goods that are lacking in the donated goods, particularly medicines and rice, the rest of it will be used for long-term rehabilitation projects to benefit the typhoon victims. Sagip Kapamilya is already coordinating with government agencies for the assessment report, which they will base upon their expenditure and distribution of the donated funds. —NMT