Saturday, June 25, 2005

kinuyog sa san juan - binasa na, minanyak pa

i dread covering the san juan fiesta. getting drenched at the start of a working day with possibly unclean water isn't really that exciting for me. so when i was assigned to cover the event yesterday, i was surprised to note that i felt a little excitement. it was my first time to cover it. and i went prepared. i brought along a change of clothes, even undies. i wore my good old rubber slippers and brought along a pair of sandals.
while on standby for unang balita, several people from the crowd aimed their water guns at me. sabi ko, "mamaya nyo na ko basain. baka makuryente ako." haller! ang dami kayang wires at plugs na nakapaligid sa kin non.
so after my live, i hied off with my crew to one of the firetrucks - the one which mayor jv ejercito will ride for their parada. after my interview, it was free for all. good thing a fireman lent me his hat. it somehow protected my head from getting wet. but not my back, which was the target of a man whose watergun was filled with ice water.
so my crew proceeded to shoot...
and we prepared to do my standupper. my cameraman positions his tripod where we could easily get a wide shot of the crowd being sprayed with water by a firetruck. as i was walking to him, several "lalaki" (i won't call them guys. they're not cute enough. i won't call them men. they're not mature enough.) started to gather around me. i kept my head down, with my arms in front of my chest and face - hoping to protect myself from getting drenched before i even do my standupper. then it all happened so fast. someone put his arm around me, his fingers digging into my arm. i felt several hands pinching my butt. they weren't accidental caresses. they were deliberate pinches. several people stepped on my slipper and i almost fell. i tried to break from the crowd but couldn't. kuyog ang tawag dito. finally, i got to my cameraman and told him what happened. he faced the crowd and angrily told them not to touch me. "mga pare, wala namang bastusan. puwede nyong basain pero wag nyong hahawakan. bawal hawakan ang reporter."
i told the crowd to go back to where they were - beside the firetruck. no one moved. in fact, they moved even closer to me and my team. several policemen came and pushed the people away. but after the people took just one step back, they left.
so i do my standupper...
as soon as i said the last word, everyone closed in on me and poured water on me again. ok lang yun. but then, people started grasping at me again, someone held me in a tight embrace, i felt 2 hands just under my boobs. i pushed them away. it took a lot of effort but i was able to break free. some of the mothers in the crowd probably saw the look on my face - a mixture of anger and helplessness which was caught on camera but which we didn't air - and apologized for the crowd. "ok lang ho na basain nila ko. pero kanina pa nila ko hinahawakan e."
and so ends another coverage. what people saw on tv was the "fun" part of the celebrations. only reporters, their teams and our newsdesks know of the "other side" of the story - the more interesting side that usually doesn't air.

PS did i mention we were right in front of the munisipyo when all these happened?

20 comments:

tinapa said...

jove, added the ps after reading your comments. haggard!

Overratedbitch said...

my god! grabeh naman ito! hindi mo naman kailangan ng mataas na edukasyon para magkaroon ka ng paggalang sa kapwa mo. lalo na para sa kababaihan (which is not to sound sexist).

i feel sorry for that joke text message i sent you. and yes, you somehow appeared indignant during the last few seconds of your coverage.

yuck, some kind of politics JV runs this tiny town with! i wonder what he'd feel kung ginawa yun kay Patti Bettita. buti na lang maliit lang ang San Juan!

next time, sasamahan kita, Tina! promise! and i will morph into a halimaw to protect you!

tinapa said...

isao, kaloka di ba! though natawa ako ng slight sa text mo. ang morong nga, sabi patunay daw ito na may alindog pa rin ako. o well... akala ko prepared na ko for situations like those. but pag nandun ka na, ala madonna ever - frozen.

Overratedbitch said...

uhm, wala ba talagang taga-Wack wack dun? *sigh*

fried-neurons said...

Sana binayagan mo sila.

They deserved as much.

tinapa said...

kaloy, with so many hands all over you, i dont think you'd be able to do anyting. the person with his arm around me was holding me too tight and they had all closed in around me so i couldnt' move my arms to shoo them away. sabi nga ng isang friend ko, konti na lang, rape na. and i guess it's better to protect the front than the back.

fried-neurons said...

scary naman. what's even sadder is that those "mothers in the crowd" apparently saw what was happening and yet did nothing to intervene. anong silbe ng sorry kung meron sana silang chance to do something but sat idly by anyway? kaya tuloy asal aso ang mga anak nila...

Anonymous said...

nakakagalit!! yon ang totoong storya, mga depraved individuals na ginagamit yung chaos ng festival crowd to feel up professionals who are just trying to do their work. shame, shame, shame.

Kiwipinay said...

pasensya na at makikisali lang ako ng kaunti. di ko lang matiis na hindi mag-react.

i feel for you. ang babastos naman ng mga halimaw na yun! parang mga manyakis na ang dating nila to think that you are only covering the news for their festivities. ganyan ba ang mga klase ng taong sinasakupan ng mga estrada?

sana next time, the network will ask help from the police to protect the media especially female reporters during this kind of coverage. nag-iinit ulo ko.

tinapa said...

thanks for all the messages of concern. kaloka di ba? the only good thing about it is that i don't think i'll ever be assigned to cover the said event again. whew!

Austin said...

grabe tins! ganyan na ba talaga ka-grabe dyan? i swear that festival is getting more and more stupid and pointless every year. i covered that basaan twice when i was still new in the news, and the most i got was a whole pailful of dirty water. sabagay matagal na yun, circa late 90's. at kasabay ko pa nun si jove (who was i think wearing a raincoat.) :) sana nga wag ka nang ma-assign dyan, esp since wala na silang respeto sa mga reporter na nagco-cover. it's times like those when m thankful m out of the business. :P

tinapa said...

austin, kaloka di ba? at least, di ka namanyak nun.

Austin said...

yeah well ... di pa yata manyak mga taga-san juan nuon. lahat kasi ng kamanyakan pinakyaw ni mayor jinggoy :)

Anonymous said...

tina,nakakalungkot naman ang kwento mo,iba na kasi ang panahon ngayon,buti pa dito sa province di pa gaanong animalistic ang mga tao. next time tawagin mo ako bago ka punta sa ga ganyang assignment,ako ang magiging HAWI boy mo, for free!sa laki ng katawan ko hindi ko lang alam kung may mkakalapit pa sayo!

tinapa said...

austin, jv encountered ivan last fri. jv ang lumapit to tell ivan to relay to me how sorry he was. he wants dub of sitners. link kita ha.
ross, maraming salamat. bodyguard... naks!

tinapa said...

cesar, manyak ka talaga...
sabi ko nga sa kanila, ok lang basain nila ako. wag lang nila akong hawakan. at di lang hawak. pisil, akap, lamas, damba mula sa likod. haaayyyy...

Anonymous said...

grabe naman yan to the superlative degree!!!wala na bng mas matino at mas gentleman na tao sa san juan?noong nagsabog ba ang diyos ng kamanyakan, puro taga san juan lahat ba ang gising?...no wonder, the estradas have bunch of children to different bunch of women!all of them...don't wori, every filipino knows that.next time, wag ka ng mag cover doon...c susan enriquez na lang!hehehehe o kaya c mike enriquez!cguradong, D NIYA CLA TATANTANAN!!keep up the good work..take care!

Promdi said...

Naiinis ako, ang pagsaludo ko sa iyo ay tila nabubura dahil sa galit sa mga taong nambastos sa iyo. Napapaisip lang ako, ang kababuyan ba ng taga-San Juan ay sumasalamin sa namumuno nito mula noon pa?
Ganunpaman, nakakabilib ka pa rin!!

YupkiGirl said...

Mare, I am so angry for you. Grabeng bastos naman ng mga taong yan and I agree with Jove. The mentality of those people is a reflection of the Estrada ideology -- if ever there was one.

YupkiGirl said...
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