I choose to start my story today with a reassuring line from the Perry Como song May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You (sent to me by a friend) that, I hope and I’m sure, will give you a glimpse of that silver lining at the back of every cloud you see and help you find that long-awaited golden day, if not today, tomorrow or day after tomorrow and the many more tomorrows ahead of us — you know: May your troubles all be small ones. And your fortune ten times ten. May the good Lord bless and keep you. Till we meet again.
The optimist that he is, Kim Atienza, the Kapamilya Weather Man fondly called Kuya Kim by everybody, doesn’t consider the ABS-CBN shutdown as “the end” and one day, just like the unpredictable weather that he monitors every day, after the rain follows the sunlight, and the day will be bright and breezy again. Let’s check with Kuya Kim where the wind is blowing and when, how soon, that “long-awaited golden day” will come.
How was the “weather” immediately before, during and after the shutdown?
“Weather was sunny with no hint of thunderstorms or rains. It was perfect beach weather before ABS-CBN lost its franchise...It became a supertyphoon during the congressional hearings when our bosses were subjected to such humiliation in public. It was a very angry typhoon and employees felt hopeless. We were praying for the wind to be still and the sun to shine, we were all praying to God that what we were seeing was temporary. We were hoping the five congressmen were just giving the company a hard time to punish us for ‘wronging’ the president.
“When voting day came, It felt like being in the eye of the storm when everything turned still and calm until the violent eyewall passed. We are still in the eye of the storm now. We still do not know when the violent eyewall will hit as thousands of my colleagues are being laid off as of the moment. It will still get bad. The supertyphoon hasn’t left PAR (Philippine Area of Responsibility) yet. We are still in the strange calm in the middle of its eye.”
How has the shutdown affected your work?
“Took a huge pay cut. I lost two shows, Matanglawin that I’ve been doing for 12 years and has won every award to be won, and my daily Teleradyo morning show on DZMM Sakto with Amy Perez. All my staff have been laid off.”
Having had a heart procedure, do you belong to the “comorbidity” category and how do you deal with it?
“With COVID-19, I take each day as it comes. I am always outdoors working out and going to ABS-CBN for TV Patrol but I am very careful. Being a stroke survivor and a Guillain-Barré syndrome, an auto-immune-disease survivor made me realize that life can turn 180-degrees anytime. We have absolutely no control. God is in control. All things work out well for those who love God and are called according to His purpose and I know that the pandemic will bring out something good when it is done.”
Do you really report to the office every day or you sometimes work from home (WFH)?
“I have become dependent on God’s grace one day at a time. I have to live life as well and dance with COVID-19. I keep myself fit by swimming, biking and running daily, and I eat smart. This has been my lifestyle for the past 10 years and nothing has changed. The more fit I am, the stronger my immune system will be to be able to live as normally as I can with COVID-19 in the air.”
How are your pets (mini zoo at home) doing during this pandemic, are they also affected and how are they showing it?
“My pets have been getting so much attention during the pandemic. The 32 dogs have been giving my family so much joy. I got a lot of sun during ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine) hanging with the aldabra tortoises and the green iguana. I also shared a few dips with the giant reticulated python. Incidentally, since I go to work daily, it gives me a chance to ride my motorcycle or bicycle aside from my triathlon workouts. This daily commute provides much needed therapy.”
Is there life after the shutdown?
“There is life after the shutdown. We have lost the franchise but we are still very much afloat. Buhay pa kami. Maybe God is making us lead the way to total digital TV via gadgets. My kids don’t watch the television appliance anymore. They watch their phones. Maybe this is the reason we lost the franchise so we can lead the way towards this direction.”
Are you a Kapamilya forever?
“The ABS-CBN ship is still afloat and is very much alive. I shall stay a Kapamilya till its last breath.”
TV5 welcomes talents from Kapamilya. If offered, would you take it?
“Many of my colleagues have jumped ship and I don’t blame them because they have mouths to feed. I’ll stay a Kapamilya while the network needs me and is still alive. Not kicking, but very much alive still. It will morph into something beautiful in God’s time and I am excited.
“I have very good friends and mentors who are like family in GMA (my dad is a Kapuso and owns one of the longest-running blocktimers, Maynila.) I also have friends I’ve known for decades in ABC 5. They will not begrudge my loyalty to the station that built me up and supported me.”
(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)