GMA-7’s Party of Five

Being a TV news reporter can be such a stressful occupation. Everyday, you run after your beat – hoping for a good story.

But aside from putting in hard work, you also have to know how to deal with your co-workers in the newsroom because – in some instances – there could also be some in-fighting within the studio.

Actually, I admire TV news reporters and anchors who manage to forge a deep friendship among themselves. When I was still with ABS-CBN, I remember that the gangmates then were Korina Sanchez, Loren Legarda, Kata Innocencio and Cathy Veloso-Santillan of RPN-9.

To relieve themselves of stress, Loren would sometimes throw lunch for the gang at the Cabalen Restaurant in Megamall. Another time, Korina hosted a Christmas party (and this was in mid-January) at the family residence in Merville Park in Parañaque.

Over at GMA-7 today, the network’s news department maintains about 20 reporters. There is, however, a solid group of five people among the station’s news reporters who get together and unwind after a hard day’s work. No, they don’t call themselves Gang of Five because the House of Representatives already beat them to that notorious tag. Instead, they’d rather be called Party of Five. I’m sure their names are already familiar to you – especially if you regularly tune in to Saksi and Front Page on Channel 7.

For you to get to know them better, here’s a brief backgrounder on each one of them:

Marilen Cawad

Marilen joined GMA-7 six years ago – after tucking in her Broadcast Communication degree – cum laude – at the UP Diliman. She remembers that everything happened really fast. She dropped off her resumé at the station, was called in for an interview with Mike Enriquez and, two days later, was already covering the Congress beat.

Colleagues are no longer surprised that she writes her stories well. After all, Marilen is a 1994 Palanca Awards winner in Literature. Her most memorable stories include the closure of Philippine Airlines, the tragic fire that hit an orphanage in Manila and the cholera outbreak in Davao Oriental.

Marilen was sent to CNN Atlanta twice. The first time was to attend the world report conference and the second time was to complete a month-long international professional program. Today, she covers President Arroyo’s activities in Malacañang.

Raffy Tima

Apart from her achievements, Marilen Cawad also prides herself in being Raffy Tima’s discoverer. It was Marilen, after all, who invited Raffy (then a reporter for IBC-13) to join the GMA-7 family a few years back.

The rest of the way, however, Raffy already worked it out himself. He passed the auditions and was immediately assigned to become a war correspondent. Marilen insists Raffy "has a way with bullets." In fact, it’s almost a miracle he’s still alive after getting caught in a firefight between the military and the Abu Sayyaf in Lamitan, Basilan.

When not dodging bullets, Raffy indulges in water sports: scuba diving or jet skiing in his hometown in Subic. He also lectures to aspiring journalists in Trinity College, his alma mater.

Sandra Aguinaldo

Unlike Marilen and Raffy, Sandra didn’t start out on television. After completing her Journalism degree at UST, she joined print media. As a Malacañang reporter of the Manila Times, she spent a lot of time covering the activities of now-deposed President Estrada. Unfortunately for her, Manila Times wasn’t exactly Erap’s favorite newspaper – and yet, she had to deal with him every day.

The closure of Manila Times proved to be a blessing in disguise. After losing her print job, she found her way to GMA-7. The Sipadan hostage crisis was her first major assignment as a TV news reporter and she was among the very few journalists who were able to interview the hostages and come face to face with Kumander Robot and Kumander Global.

Sandra doesn’t regret shifting careers. She has fallen head over heels in love with broadcasting because – according to her – "in this profession, work doesn’t seem like work – but fun." For real fun, she takes in a good movie or spends time at karaoke joints with friends.

Cesar Apolinario

Cesar didn’t think he’d end up a news reporter for television. After finishing his Communication Arts course at UST, he took up film at UP and worked as an assistant for the likes of Peque Gallaga and Nick de Ocampo.

Later, he worked as cameraman and researcher for I-Witness. It was Luchi Cruz Valdez who inspired him to write and produce for television. One of his early stories was this exposé on morning prostitutes in Cubao. His most unforgettable coverage, however, was the landslide in Payatas. In one of his live interviews in the dumpsite, the woman he was talking to suddenly collapsed in front of the camera due to extreme hunger.

Cesar also produced a documentary – Lupang Pangako which was invited for exhibition in film festivals in South Africa, the United Kingdom and even in the United States. Today, he is "living dangerously" after recently exposing the drug trade within the vicinities of Camps Aguinaldo and Crame.

Lhar Santiago

After covering the entertainment beat for the longest time, Lhar finally realized his dream of covering hard news for television. He got his break during the People Power 2 & 3 – after delivering exclusive interviews on Erap and Jinggoy Estrada.

Lhar says his career on TV took an interesting turn when he decided to leave ABS-CBN where he was producer and segment host of Magandang Umaga Po and, later, as showbiz reporter for TV Patrol. From Channel 2, he moved to Lovingly Yours on Channel 7 where he worked as casting director. Occasionally, he would write scripts and even act in some episodes of Lovingly Yours and GMA Telesine.

Unknown to many, Lhar spent some time teaching acting at the Actors’ Workshop Foundation. Among the actors he handled were Jay Manalo, Vina Morales, Charlene Gonzalez and Anjanette Abayari. At the moment, he is the lifestyle and entertainment reporter of Saksi and Front Page and maintains his own showbiz segment in Unang Hirit. On top of all those responsibilities, he also serves as executive producer (creative) for Rudy Fernandez’ Kasangga.