In the address delivered during GMA 7’s 60th anniversary party on Friday at the Makati Shangri-La, President Benigno Aquino III intermittently went from network fan to head of state and back.
For example: “I remember watching ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’ on this channel. That program sparked in me an abiding interest in the sciences. The untouchables impressed upon my impressionable mind the long arm of the law and the certainty of judgment. This ideal is, of course, something we’re trying to turn into reality.”
It was interesting that way.
“Working under the yoke of a dictatorship, GMA 7 kept the flickering light of truth alive,” said Aquino. “GMA 7 touched my life in a very personal way,” he added, citing the station as the only one that covered the assassination of his father, Benigno Aquino Jr., and the wakes and funerals of both his parents. He said his mother, President Cory Aquino, made her TV debut on Channel 7 in August 1984.
Clearly the proudest about the Presidential thumbs-up were Kapuso chair/ president/CEO Felipe L. Gozon and EVP/COO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr.
P-Noy briefly noted the occasional “debate” about “whether to use more airtime … to strengthen your bottom line or to expose people to socially relevant programming.” His challenge: “Do we grow as a people if we have too much airtime devoted to entertainment? Doesn’t programming that enhances good governance and encourages civic action also contribute to a better bottom line?”
P-Noy concluded, “I’m not just a viewer. As your President, I am your partner. This administration will defend your right to free expression [and] accept criticism from you.”
Expectedly, this brought the house down.
Article by Emmie G. Velarde of Inquirer.net
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