Man at the helm

(First of two parts)

I’ve never been comfortable around the big bosses. In their presence, I grope for words – fearful that I might say some tactless remark that may even make me lose my job.

When I was with ABS-CBN, the only big boss I felt at ease with was Charo Santos-Concio. Maybe it was because we had been friends and neighbors in La Vista before I joined the network. Besides, Charo is not the stiff and eternally prim and proper corporate person others perceive her to be. A beautiful person inside and out, she is also given to giggly fits when she hears a funny joke during private conversations.

Now, I’m not saying that Freddie Garcia and Gabby Lopez were monsters that ate ABS-CBN talents when their shows didn’t perform well in the ratings game. On the contrary, both men were very charming and approachable. But in their company, I didn’t know what to say. (At least with Charo, we could talk about the water pressure in our area.) I didn’t want to look like I was buttering them up because I am so transparent and you can easily tell if I am sincere with what I am saying or not.

Whenever I would be in ABS-CBN on an office day and there’s a chance I would bump into them, I’d dash off to the nearest side door. It even came to a point when I asked network management to stop the formal contract signing during renewal time and just leave the documents in the pigeonhole.

I don’t know why but I get fidgety in the presence of top executives. During the recent wedding of Febe Borras (Pepita Smith on Startalk’s Tigbakan portion) to Parokya ni Edgar’s Buwi Meneses, I bumped into Gabby Lopez again and his lovely wife, the former Panjee Gonzalez, and I felt a lot more comfortable in his presence (maybe because he is no longer my boss?). Exchanging small talk with him, I realized what a wonderful man he really is – and an equally fine boss, too.

When I moved to GMA 7 five years ago, the only big boss I knew was Wilma Galvante. Prior to that, I knew her as the creative genius who put up the most successful show previously in RPN-9 and, later, in Channel 7.

Although I hold her in high esteem (I’ve always had great respect for great minds), I still feel comfortable around her because being straightforward in her ways you know where you stand with her. She’s the type to tell you what she likes and what she doesn’t – to your face.

But other than Wilma Galvante, I didn’t know any other big boss personally in GMA during my first few years there. I knew about Butch Jimenez and Jimmy Duavit, but I identified them more with GMA Films when it was producing those award-winning movies like Jose Rizal, Muro-Ami and Deathrow. Of course, I knew that Mr. Menardo Jimenez was sitting on top of things in the network but I never met him and I never knew where his office was (my guess was that it was in Makati).

A couple of years later, I heard Manny Pangilinan was coming in. But since I’ve always been ignorant of corporate affairs, I never found out what happened there.

And then I started feeling some movements within the network (and those movements must have been pretty strong in intensity for me to feel it since I am in the station only once a week – on a Saturday at that when there are no offices). All of a sudden, I was being signed up to an exclusive contract, which I found strange because during my first two years there, I didn’t have one and was coasting along just fine on a week-to-week basis. Although I had to say goodbye to my extra hosting jobs in the ABS-CBN cable network, I wasn’t exactly left out holding an empty bag because with the exclusivity clause in GMA 7 came a salary increase.

After that came more developments in the station. All of a sudden, everyone was being aggressive. In Startalk, gone was the relaxed pace. We were more selective when choosing our guest personalities. They all had to have an issue before they could appear in the show. And we had to rate and – mercifully (knock on wood!) – we did. The pressure to perform well was tremendous – and we are still on our toes week after week.

When I asked around why the sudden changes, I was told that there was a new management that took over and on top of it was Atty. Felipe Gozon. He was supposed to be very strict and exacting. Ohhh!

In one of the few network parties I attended last year (it was at The Fort), I first looked for Wilma Galvante, who – in turn – asked me to say hello to Atty. Gozon a few tables away. "But he doesn’t even know me!" I protested. "That’s why you have to introduce yourself to him," Wilma shot back. "And don’t forget to tell him," she continued, "na ikaw ’yung host nung pinaka-pasaway na show!" (Startalk had always been known for its notoriety within the station.)

Nervously, I inched my way to Atty. Gozon’s table, but even in the dark, it seemed like he managed to make out my approaching figure and he waved his hand and said, "Hi, Butch!" That was enough to warm the cockles of my heart and put me at ease. My boss recognized me, I said, trying to collect myself so that I didn’t melt on the spot. That was enough to put away the fear in me.

About a month ago, I found myself again face-to-face with him for this interview and in his presence I felt very relaxed – to the point that I was even exchanging banters with the boss. That afternoon, I managed to trace the roots of this man with a vision who put GMA 7 in the No. 1 position in total day average starting December 2003 up to April 2004 – as verified by the AGB and AC Nielsen research companies. (The same research groups are still working on the ratings sheets of the networks from the month of May to the present.)

Raised in Malabon, Atty. Felipe Gozon was born on the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 19839 at Philippine General Hospital. Since he was still very young during the Japanese Occupation, he was spared from the horrors of war.

What he remembers was a loving home with three other children (he is the third): Benjamin Jr., Carolina, who was named after their mother and Florencia, who was named after their paternal grandmother.

Redundant names, I remarked to him. "Wala kaming imagination, eh," laughs Atty. Gozon. He could only agree with me because his given name Felipe also came from his paternal grandfather.

His mother at 90 is still around. A Lapus, she comes from a landed family in Pampanga. His father, on the other hand, was born poor but honorable. When the elder Benjamin, in fact, joined government service – when big-time corruption was still unheard of in this country – his wife had to engage in various businesses (one of which was patis-making) to bring a little more comfort to the family.

And when Atty. Benjamin Gozon, Sr. was appointed governor of the Land Authority (today’s equivalent of DAR), the first thing he did was to expropriate the farmlands inherited by his wife in Nueva Ecija. "My mother was so mad!" Atty. Gozon recalls. His father also served other branches of the government and became cabinet secretary during the time of the late President Diosdado Macapagal.

Like his father, the young Felipe showed brilliance even in his early school life. After his primary years at Malabon Elementary School, he moved to Union School (a Protestant institution) where he finished valedictorian.

During his secondary education at UP, he belonged to the créme de la créme and was recruited to be part of the UP Preparatory High School that had an advanced curriculum in preparation for college. He finished with third honors.

After completing his Associate in Arts also at the State University, he earned his Bachelor of Laws and ranked No. 10 in the graduating class. He placed 13th in the 1962 bar examinations.

For his post-graduate studies – Master of Laws – he went to Yale. Before that, he worked for an American law firm in new York and bought a car with his earnings and was embarrassed a bit driving around in the schoolyard because, well, he was there supposedly on a fellowship.

When he returned to the Philippines, he joined the Ponce Enrile, Siguion Reyna, Montecillo and Belo law firm as associate/junior partner. In 1970, he became vice president (for legal) of the Philippine Airlines.

It wasn’t until 1975 that he joined the exciting world of television.

(To be concluded)