ABS-CBN’s Abner Mercado named Aquino Fellow

The recent selection of ABS-CBN News senior correspondent Abner Mercado as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Aquino Fellows couldn’t have come at a better time as Abner and his family are in the middle of a crisis. Abner’s 76-year-old father, Santos Mercado, is confined at the ICU of St. Luke’s Hospital which practically has become a second home to the Mercados since the elder Mercado’s confinement some weeks ago.

I learned this sad-bad news from my Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre who is a good friend of Abner.

“I think this is my toughest personal battle,” Abner said. “I don’t mind spending all my savings. I know our family can survive this. Bro (The One Above) and I believe that friends who are helping me and who believe in me will not fail me.”

Last Nov. 14, Abner put up a brave (and happy) front when he attended the conferment of the award at a luncheon ceremony at the Charles Parsons Ballroom of the US Embassy. It was personally handed by U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr.  and presidential sister Ballsy Aquino-Cruz. Mayor Daisy Arellano Sayangda of the Municipality of Santol, La Union, was also a recipient.

The Aquino Fellows program was created in 1988, in collaboration with the Aquino Foundation, to commemorate Sen. Ninoy Aquino’s contributions to the fields of journalism and public service. After Pres. Corazon Aquino’s passing in 2009, the fellowship was renamed “Ninoy and Cory Aquino Fellowship for Professional Development” to honor Mrs. Aquino’s lifelong contribution to strengthening democratic institutions in the Philippines.

Aquino Fellows are specially selected for the US Embassy’s annual International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the premier professional exchange program of the US Department of State that seeks to build mutual understanding between the US and other nations. Launched in 1940, the program involves carefully-designed short-term visits to the US for current and emerging foreign leaders.

Above: Abner during a coverage in Palawan and (with cameraman Jimmy Dasal, below) in New York City

In his acceptance speech, Abner said, “This distinction will serve as a safeguard that will uphold the integrity of my journalistic works. This is a pledge, paying tribute to two of the greatest heroes in our history, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and Pres. Corazon Aquino. I have never compromised and never will compromise my journalistic works or do something that will stain this reputation.

“This recognition will serve as a reminder that there is no room for any temptation that will betray this profession, despite the many forms of corruption that sadly, and cannot be denied, exist in the industry. And above all, my profession as a journalist will be my instrument to continue keeping a watchful eye on our country’s freedom that Ninoy and Cory fought for.”

The fellowship will formally begin in Washington D.C. on Dec. 3 and will be concluded in New York City on Dec. 14. Abner has to be in the US two days before the program starts. With his father’s condition, Abner will be leaving, if ever he does, with a heavy heart.

Abner’s family is proud of his latest feat and wants him to go and take on the challenge. Everyone tells him his father will be too happy to see him conquer his dreams, enjoy the fruits of his labor and broaden his horizons.

Edmund said that in the US, Abner and Mayor Sayangda will, among other things, attend meetings with their American counterparts, examine American systems of government at the national, state and local levels, visit American academic institutions, and experience American culture and society, while broadening their expertise and contacts within their fields. 

According to the US Embassy, Abner was selected because “his work as a societal influencer echoes Ninoy Aquino’s significant contributions to establishing a free and responsible media despite the odds.”

Abner’s TV programs over the years — including the now defunct The Correspondents and the current Krusada, along with the nightly newscasts TV Patrol and Bandila, and his “specials” — “inform and encourage Filipinos to contribute their share in providing solutions to pressing social concerns,” the Embassy also said.     

Added the Embassy, “Abner’s participation in the IVLP will, in the long run, be of potential benefit to the Filipino audience and foster continued commitment to press freedom and responsibility in the Philippines.” (Abner is a part-time lecturer on environmental journalism at the College of Mass Communications in UP, his alma mater.)

Meanwhile, Mayor Sayangda was chosen because “she represents the new face of Filipino leadership,” the Embassy said. “She earned the respect of her constituents and partners in the national government by quietly working to address her municipality’s challenges, and her courage and resolve echo those of Cory Aquino who bravely faced the dictatorship despite grave threats to her person and family.”

(Postscript: The condition of Abner’s father continues to improve. By the time this story is out, he should be back home.)   

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