Pinoys in Hawaii see RP reality through TV
By M.C. Hatol
Alex Cinco is a Filipino dentist who will not forsake his roots in Samar for anything, even if life in O’ahu has been treating him royally since he relocated five years ago. He is the quintessential Pinoy new migrant of Hawaii: Nothing has changed but his girth and taste for quiet, laid back living. His pleasures are still simple despite the red Eclipse which faithfully brings him to his lab and the gleaming credit cards that now pad his once lean wallet. The karaoke parties still beckon, he longs for Filipino food and will not pass up any riotous Pinoy celebration as long as his schedule allows him.
He is also an avid follower of Pinoy television.
Back in Manila, he claims to have faithfully tuned in to ABS-CBN. In Hawaii, however, he has chosen to subscribe to GMA’s Pinoy TV. He minces no words when saying that the Kapamilya programs have become generally predictable and crass, complaining that he still sees the same stars except that they are now cosmetically altered and the same shows, except that they were rehashed to look new.
His wife Ruthie enjoys Captain Barbell and rushes home to catch the series, while 13-year-old son Rasleigh loves Asian Treasures and can’t have enough of Robin Padilla. The boy finds the actor funny and has even adopted the action star’s rough ways.
Younger sister Audrae prefers Supertwins and adores Jennilyn Mercado. Both kids have also switched from ABS programs, which they became accustomed to while in Quezon City, to Kapuso shows, which they said they were not too fond of before.
The family favorite is 24 Oras, their chief source of news from home. Their Pinoy neighbors in Kapolei district are also Mel and Mike fanatics, they say. (Incidentally, last year’s Anak TV Boto Ko ‘To poll catapulted 24 Oras to the number one slot as the most watched and favored TV program in the country.) When told that a number of Philippine TV channels now claim to reach Pinoy viewers in America via satellite, they wonder how because they only seem to get ABS-CBN and GMA programs.
The Cinco couple decries the pathetic state of children’s TV fare in the country saying that when they were in the throes of migration, there were more imported kiddie programs than there were locally produced ones. In their almost yearly visit to the homeland, they witnessed with disappointment how Batibot made its unceremonious exit and how other kiddie shows sprang with a bang and left with a whimper.
Being away from the Philippines has made them more critically objective. There is a physical detachment from the realities of the land of their birth but emotionally and spiritually, they remain inextricably chained to it. Like many Filipinos trying their luck elsewhere, they see the Philippine horizon with less bias. Cable television from Manila affords them that connection to the homeland. From a distance of thousands of miles, they are able to see where the country is indeed headed.
(If interested in the advocacy for family-friendly television, visit anaktvweb.com or email the foundation at anaktv@skyinet.net.
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