Filipinas, Ahora Mismo

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Filipinas, Ahora Mismo
Filipinas Ahora Mismo logo
GenreCultural, Informative, Educational
Running time60 minutes, Mondays to Fridays (airs without commercial)
Country of originPhilippines Quezon City, Philippines
Spain Cádiz, Andalucía, Spain
Home stationDZRM Radyo Manila 1278 Khz
StarringMain Anchor:
Bon Vibar (Seasons 1-3)
José Ricardo Molina (Season 1)

Segment Hosts (Season 1):
Teresa José
Camille Tan
Christine Cruz Rávago

Segment Hosts (Season 2):
Armis Obeña Bajar
María Mendoza
Mónica Rodriguez
Mark Jason Villa
Christine Cruz Rávago

Segment Hosts (Season 3):
Richard Allan Aquino
José Juan Ramirez de Cartagena
Fernando Gómez de Liaño
Stephanie Palallos
Christine Cruz Rávago
Created byLa Asosación de la Prensa de Cádiz
Proyecto de Cooperación Radyo Manila
Bureau of Broadcast Services
Original releaseMarch 2007 –
March 2009
Websitehttp://www.prensacadiz.org

Filipinas, Ahora Mismo, or Pilipinas, Ora Mismo, (English translation: Philippines, Right Now) is a 60-minute, cultural radio magazine program in the Philippines broadcast entirely in Spanish, the only one of its kind in the country. It is hosted by veteran radio announcer, and stage, television and movie actor, Bon Vibar.

Background

Created by the Press Association of Cadiz (APC) primarily for Filipino listeners who can speak and understand Spanish, the program is a mixture of cultural, informative and educational reviews of various topics ranging from literature to cinema to history to geography to cuisine, all interspersed with traditional and modern music sung in Spanish. It aims to promote the Filipino culture and its ties with Spain, who ruled the nation for 333 years. Currently, there are no commercials during each episode as the show is fully-funded by APC and the Government of Andalucia, Spain until March 1, 2009.

The show was first broadcast in March 2007.

Scholarhip Program

Unknown to many, the show is just one of three components that make up a project called "Proyecto de Cooperación Radyo Manila" of APC in coordination with Manila-based Fundación Santiago, a Filipino organization that advocates cultural diversity and integration. In essence, the radio show, the project's second component, creates a venue for the practicum of the scholars who act as the production staff, writers, translators, and segment hosts. The scholarship program, named "Curso Teórico-Práctico del Periodismo Radiofónico", is targeted to develop the skills of Filipino mass media practitioners and students. It runs for two years, from March 1, 2007 to March 1, 2009, and is divided into four semesters, each lasting six months, or 432 hours. The third component of the project is the development of the facilities of the Bureau of Broadcast Services (BBS).

Training

The training is conducted by members of APC in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes in Manila. The one-week training, dubbed "Curso de Radiodifusión en Español", or "Radio Broadcasting in Spanish Course", serves as an intensive 15-hour workshop for applicants who are pre-screened based on language and vocal skills. In those sessions, the participants are introduced to the world of radio broadcasting, where they perform several exercises to prepare them for a possible stint in the radio. Similar to popular talent reality shows on television such as American Idol and Pinoy Dream Academy, there is an elimination process that culminates in the selection of the top four participants who are granted the six-month scholarship program after careful deliberation among the project coordinators. The chosen scholars then become part of the production staff of the radio program called Filipinas, Ahora Mismo. At the end of the semester, a formal graduation ceremony is held, still at the Instituto Cervantes, where they also announce the names of the new batch of scholars who will carry on with the radio program for its new season.

A scholar may only be granted a scholarship once and it may not be renewed. Thus, there are no repeaters in the course of the original two-year program.

Sponsors

Aside from APC, the BBS, Fundación Santiago, and Instituto Cervantes, Filipinas, Ahora Mismo is also sponsored by the Junta de Andalucía, Diputación de Cádiz, and the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional of the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación of Spain.

Broadcast Information

The show is pre-taped a week before the actual broadcast, and airs daily from 7:00pm to 8:00pm (UTC+8) on DZRM Radyo Manila 1278 Khz. The recording is done every Tuesdays and Thursdays in the BBS studios at the Philippine Information Agency building in Quezon City in the nation's capital, Metro Manila. Bon Vibar is the "voice" of the program.

Presently, it is broadcast simultaneously on five other AM radio stations in the Philippines where there is a considerable number of Spanish-speakers: Iloilo, Laoag, Naga, Zamboanga, and very recently, in Cebu. For international listeners, the show streams live on the web through the website of APC. Future plans of the program's creators include broadcasting it through DWBR Business Radio 104.3 Mhz on the FM band and a possible expansion to a television adaptation and/or webcast after the original two-year contract.

Segments

Covering various topics, the one-hour program is divided into 12 segments:

  • De Película -- Movie review
  • ¿Sabias Qué? -- Trivia
  • Vamos a Leer -- Literature
  • Tu Salud al Día -- Health
  • De Isla en Isla -- Geography
  • Aprendemos Español -- Spanish tutorial on air
  • Camino de Cádiz -- Constitution of Cadiz
  • Ventana al Pasado -- History
  • Dichos y Refranes -- Philippine folk wisdom
  • Mundo Mujer -- Women's issues
  • Fogón de Maria -- Cuisine
  • Deportes -- Sports

Companion Show

Riquezas de España, or the "Richness of Spain" is a 45-minute companion program of Filipinas, Ahora Mismo and airs every Saturdays, 7:15pm to 8:00pm (UTC+8) on DWBR Business Radio 104.3 Mhz. It showcases the rich culture and legacy of Spain through various reviews of sights, sounds, and trivia. Bon Vibar also hosts this show, but the scholars do not appear in it. The scholars, however, still act as translators for the show.

Seasons

Season One

Carlos Juán Juán is the first representative of APC to train the pioneer batch of scholars from the Philippines. He also recorded the official introduction of the show in Spanish, while the Tagalog version was done by Evelyn Ágato of BBS, both of which are still being used by the current season.

The Scholars:

  • Camille Tan
  • Teresa Jose

Fundación Santiago head José Ricardo "Chaco" Molina was the original coordinator and initial anchor of the show, and he was part of the first few episodes. Christine Cruz Rávago then took over as coordinator on behalf of Molina, and Vibar was chosen as main host. Molina's voice is still heard on the program introducing some of the segments and remains its editorial director.

Season Two

The training was conducted by the famous radio and television personality from Cádiz, Begoña Lucena, who also guested on the show as segment host in a few episodes.

The Scholars:

  • Armis Obeña Bajar
  • María Mendoza
  • Mónica Rodriguez
  • Mark Jason Villa

After a thorough assessment involving all the project heads and coordinators, the show underwent a major restructuring during this period, and the current segments were established. Some of the changes included shortening the sections and expanding the scope of the program. The scholars were also given an option to interview personalities outside the studio, which were edited in during taping. Because of these innovations, there was a need to record new segment introductions, for which Molina's and Rodriguez's voices were used. The program also premiered in Zamboanga City after its launching in September 6, 2007 with Lucena and Molina as project representatives.

Season Three

The third season staff was formally announced on March 1, 2008 and began taping two days later, with the airing of their first show on March 10, 2008 introducing the new segment hosts who were selected from the third workshop held from February 25 to 29, 2008. The new batch was trained by Carlos Juán Juán, who returned as trainer from Season One. Rávago is still the coordinator of the scholars/segment hosts, as well as anchor for the trivia section ¿Sabias Qué?.

The Scholars:

  • Richard Allan Aquino - De Película & Camino de Cádiz
  • José Juan Ramirez de Cartagena - Vamos a Leer, Ventana al Pasado & Fogón de María
  • Fernando Gómez de Liaño - De Isla en Isla, Dichos y Refranes & Deportes
  • Stephanie Palallos - Tu Salud al Día & Mundo Mujer

This season marked the launching of the show in Cebu on March 17, 2008. While the show kept the format of the second season, a slight change was made in that the section Aprendemos Español was now to be hosted by the scholar on the days which he/she translated and musical-directed. Carlos Juán Juán acted as guest host on two episodes of Filipinas, Ahora Mismo and once on Riquezas de España. He also performed as guest segment host on several occasions in the first two weeks of the season.

Season Four

The fourth (and possibly final) season will commence on September 1, 2008, when the scholars of the previous batch will have graduated. According to Juán, training and selection process for this group will be handled by Carlos Funcia, a high-ranking official of APC.

Production Staff

  • Editorial Director - José Ricardo Molina
  • Coordinators - Christine Cruz Rávago (Fundación Santiago), Evelyn Ágato (BBS)
  • Technical Directors - Meynard de la Cruz, Julius Ungab
  • Technical Support - Bert Espinosa, Nap Labao, Noriel Pineda (DZRH)
  • Musical Directors - the scholars

External Links

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