ABS-CBN Journeys to the Heart of Northern Luzon

It was a motorcade with a cast of hundreds and an audience of thousands stretching all the way from the bustle of Metro Manila into the heartland of the Cordillera — Baguio City. More than 50 talents, 40 vehicles and 250 production staff comprised the biggest Summer Caravan, the first of its kind in Northern Luzon, mounted by ABS CBN last Sunday as a way of thanking the kapamilyas up north for their unwavering support to the network.

ABS-CBN’s pre-eminence as the national network is the theme of this regional Kapamilya tours that the Network has launched this summer which started off with this caravan to Baguio. The one in Cebu started yesterday and continues today. Enrico Santos, ABS-CBN vice president for entertainment and creative synergy whose team was the one who spearheaded the Caravan, said that the Northern Luzon giant motorcade had this added feature of "pure synchronicity," — when events themselves seem to come together to make the idea operationally possible.

He explained that summer, being the season when people normally want to go out of town to enjoy and have fun, provides the perfect setting since it is usually during this time when shows of ABS CBN go out of town for location taping. "It just so happens that two of our shows, Stardance and Nginiig are taping in Baguio and we got a call from the Baguio Tourism Council who offered to partly sponsor the event," Enrico said. The idea snowballed from there and the logistical preparations of putting together the people and equipment proved to be quite daunting. The long motorcade with event-stops in major cities up North was unprecedented and the staff had to master hundreds of details to get the caravan on the road so to speak.

"The Summer Caravan is part of the overall campaign of the ABS-CBN to bring its programs and talents closer to its provincial audiences and our way of saying thank you for making ABS-CBN the number one broadcast network nation-wide, "says Enrico. The series of provincial exposures that started with the Manila-Baguio run was also "our attempt to let our provincial audiences feel, touch, see and smell what Metro Manila audiences experience when they see our talents in the flesh" he adds. Certainly, there are big plans in the offing as the giant network lays out more extensive promo campaigns outside Metro Manila in the months ahead.

The Caravan bevy of Kapamilya stars like Rica Peralejo, Toni Gonzaga, Marvin Agustin, Dominic Ochoa, Vanessa del Bianco, Bianca Gonzales, Ogie Diaz, Vhong Navarro, Archie Alemania, Spencer Reyes, JC Cuadrado, Jhong Hilario, Danila Barrios and a lot more wowed the crowd with their production numbers. The first stop of the Caravan was the Luisita Mall where the crowd numbered more than 1,500. "People here started converging as early as 7 a.m. even if the show starts at 10," Janice Guarin, RNG marketing officer for Luzon said. Even Tarlac Mayor Genaro "Aro" Mendoza was on hand to welcome the stars from Manila.

Next stop was Dagupan City where two shows were mounted: one in Dagupan City Plaza and the other at the Nepo Mall. It gathered thousands of fans in both venues. The Dagupeños got this double treat as it coincided with the first day of the weeklong celebration of the Bangus Festival. Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez personally delivered his thank you message on behalf of Dagupan, which he said is "definitely solid Kapamilyas."

In Baguio, people lined up along the Session Road and waved to their favorite stars who had a motorcade going to SM Baguio where the Caravan culminated in a mall show. The crowd in SM Baguio was the biggest so far that has gathered in the mall, according to Baguio resident Lydia Reyes, who, together with her family, was at the mall since a little past noon to be able to get a front seat to the show. "It was worth the entire wait," she enthused.

After the show, the cast proceeded to Aresi restaurant where the local press was waiting to interview some of the talents. After a hectic day on the road, the cast and crew decided to unwind as they danced to the hits of the ‘80s in the cool summer breeze of Baguio. The misty cold of the City of Pines provided the fitting close to a full-day of close intimacy with the Kapamilya fans.