Jing Castañeda was “stunned, hurt, upset, and puzzled” by the closure of ABS-CBN’s broadcasting activities, which she has considered her “home and comfort zone” for the last 21 years.
As she hosted Kapamilya Konek on dzMM Teleradyo late Sunday afternoons with Susan Afan, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc, the two hosts stumbled on the topic of ABS-CBN as a family.
Castañeda shared how ABS-CBN’s shutdown has hit her and how losing ABS-CBN is like losing a home, “ABS-CBN has been our home, our comfort zone. Most of us were naturally stunned, hurt, frustrated, confused, and scared to leave our home given so many uncertainties.”
She also recalled the late Gina Lopez who gave a motivational phrase that is really helping her now with the sadness that she felt on the network’s franchise denial.
“But after reflecting on this phase in our lives, I feel a renewed sense of trust in the Lord, in our company, and in our individual capacity to rise like a phoenix from the ashes. As Gina Lopez, my boss in Bantay Bata, had said, ‘Always choose love and forgiveness over hatred and vengeance.’”
Also instead of sulking, Castañeda didn’t lose her passion to help but rather it ignited with the franchise denial. It made her more inspired to do her job.
“The non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise ignited the fire in me and made it stronger. I felt inspired when I joined the network in 1999, and I feel even more inspired and determined now to continue the ABS-CBN brand of public service. Sabi ng philosophy professor namin noon na si Fr. Roque Ferriols, ‘Kapag nasabi na ang lahat ng masasabi, ang pinakamahalaga ay hindi pa rin masasabi.'”
But what did the former program director for the network’s Bantay Bata 163 learn from ABS-CBN?
“My years in ABS-CBN taught me many things — resilience, work ethics, excellence, good camaraderie, patience, persistence, humility — but most of all, gratitude.”
“As the former program director of Bantay Bata 163, there were long waits when you humbly convinced donors and partners to collaborate on child welfare programs and long talks when you wait for troubled children and stressed social workers to confide in you.
