Last Wednesday, Nov. 19, an article about our TV show, Ipaglaban Mo came out in the entertainment section of the Philippine STAR written by Miss Bibsy M. Carballo, a veteran journalist and one of the most respected writers in the field of entertainment who has a lot of readers and followers. Coincidence or not, her article entitled “The long legal life of Ipaglaban Mo” is quite timely indeed because the show actually started almost on the same date, Nov. 20, way back in 1989. At that time Ms Carballo was already a well known entertainment writer in newspapers and magazines, so perhaps she knows about this historical fact regarding the show that is why she came out with that write-up last Wednesday.
We really appreciate very much Ms. Carballo’s nice article about the show for its timeliness and vivid description of some episodes already aired. We thank her wholeheartedly for her continued support of our TV program. However, so as not to mislead its large number of regular viewers all over the country and abroad and the avid readers of this newspaper, I have to point out that the show is currently airing on ABS-CBN Channel 2 (or Channel 8 in the Sky Cable), the No. 1 TV network in the country, and not on the TV station she mentioned in her article.
The show now airs every Saturday at 3 p.m. since the first Saturday of June this year after ABS-CBN through its present president and CEO, the multi-awarded female executive of the year Ms. Charo Santos-Concio and Channel 2 broadcast head Ms. Cory Vidanes fortunately decided to take it back, produce and air it again.
Indeed, Ipaglaban Mo acquired a mass appeal and became a hit show when ABS-CBN under then president Gabby Lopez, took over its production and marketing way back in 1992. With the full support of this Kapamilya TV network, the show gained a lot of viewers because of its educational value imparted in the form of enlightening and entertaining drama anthologies of cases decided by our Supreme Court. It is really one of the longest running and top rated public service programs on TV with a common appeal to all sectors of society.
In the short period that it has been airing again both here and in the TFC channel of ABS-CBN in other parts of the world, Ipaglaban Mo has once more become one of the top rated shows in the country now. And this is mainly due to the well directed drama anthologies by top notched directors featuring well known and talented actresses in the country. The episodes are produced by a team of dedicated, hardworking and capable production staff of the network’s TV production head, director Lauren Dyogi, specifically business unit head Ruel S. Bayani, production manager Rizza Ebriega, executive producer Celeste Lumasac, head writer Arlene Tamayo, Associate producers Louver Asuncion and Minelle Espiritu and a pool of well trained and experienced script writers. The show is co-hosted by my son Jopet Sison and myself.
Ipaglaban Mo actually renders public service because it informs the Filipino people down to the grassroots level, of the various laws of the land applicable to their everyday lives as depicted in actual cases already decided by the Supreme Court, thus enabling them to become law abiding citizens and responsible members of our society. While the TV adaption of these cases is entitled Ipaglaban Mo, its message is not really to prod people to fight and file cases in court at the slightest provocation. On the contrary the show’s message is to discourage litigation by making them aware of the futility of their causes based on the episodes presented which depicts what is legal and what is not depending on their outcome.
It is a unique program and a different TV legal show in the sense that the stories are based on facts already determined by the courts from the evidence presented during the trial, and not merely on the different versions given by viewers or parties to cases still pending in court or under litigation. It is also different in the sense that the legal answers given to the stories presented are not mere opinions of the TV hosts but the very decisions of the highest court which is considered part of the law of the land.
Actually, it can be said that the program is the televised column appearing in the Philippine STAR, “A Law Each Day,” pertaining to a presentation of the people’s rights and duties under existing laws as set forth in the various cases finally decided by the Supreme Court touching on the common, day to day true to life experiences of people in all walks of life, and conveying not only legal but also moral and humane messages. This public service cum entertainment TV program has been designed and conceived to reach all sectors of our society so that people will no longer say that they are not aware of the law because, ignorantia legis neminem excusat, ignorance of the law excuses no one.
It started when some colleagues in media saw the potential of “A Law Each Day” also becoming a TV show because of the common touch and easily understandable manner in which the highly technical and somewhat complicated decisions are presented. This potential is manifested by its entertainment value by dramatization of the different cases reported and written in said column.
With the coming out of this column on ABS-CBN Channel 2 again, and with our additional public service free legal advice every Wednesday at the ABS-CBN Tulong Center, one of my dreams in life has become a reality — to be able to help and reach out to as many people as possible by sharing with them whatever knowledge God gave me in my chosen profession.
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Email: attyjosesison@gmail.com