For ABS-CBN reporters: Perilous field days

The job of a TV news reporter is no walk in the park. They resemble "storytellers" narrating the news as it occurs. The difference lies in the fact that a field reporter has to be right in the middle of all the action. A journalist’s life never runs short of excitement, but it also means having to constantly live on the edge. Each one has had his share of dangerous encounters and life-threatening experiences.

The ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Group aims to deliver the freshest news to Filipinos worldwide with accuracy and integrity. To achieve this, correspondents maneuver through difficult situations to locate sources of valuable information.

There are even instances when a reporter is "the news" rather than on it. This was what Doland Castro, one of ABS-CBN’s most visible reporters, encountered during his typhoon coverage in Quezon. The entire nation was glued to their TV sets when heavy rains and landslides killed thousands and drove Filipino families out of their homes during the series of calamities that struck areas in north and east of Manila last December.

Castro, together with his crew, immediately rushed off to Quezon despite the bad weather. He continued his journey until he reached Camp Nakar. But the journey wasn’t easy. Making his way through floods and landslides, he even came close to losing his life when he stumbled into quicksand. It was his desire to bring the news to the viewers and his faith that kept him going.

A few weeks after, the same passion drove Aladin Bacolodan to cover the tsunami disaster in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Being the first Filipino journalist to make it there, he saw the devastation wrought by the catastrophe. He aired his story live, while the entire city was in total havoc with thousands of dead bodies either floating in the river or buried under collapsed building and debris. By alerting people of the situation, he felt they could solicit more help.

Sol Aragones had also experienced a similar adversity in harsh weather conditions. Sometime last year, she was tasked to cover the retrieval operations of dead bodies during a typhoon in Bataan.

Due to heavy rains, the boat they were on almost sank. And because of zero visibility, she was dissuaded from leaving the boat. But the reporter instinct in her made Aragones more determined to bring the news to the viewers as she got on a small rubber boat and bravely made her way safely to the coast. Though her story did not get in time for the broadcast, her commitment as a jounalist was apparent until the end.

These are only a few among many stories journalists encounter in their daily lives. "May mga pagkakataon na buong buhay ko ay sapat na isugal para sa isang istorya," attest Aragones. The difference they make in people’s lives is more than enough drive to keep them going. Survival is but a byproduct of the desire to tell the tale.