Jolina Magdangal once said, “Kapag Christmas specials, mga ball, magkakasama ang mga artista ng ABS-CBN. Bakit sa ganitong pagkakataon, wala ang iba?”
Now, isn’t it ironic? When everything is doing good, celebrities were there to support ABS-CBN. But when the Network shut down, most of them hurriedly took off to other networks?
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about loyalty: “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkness.”
Think about how ABS-CBN would have felt after their prized stars such as Piolo Pascual, Maja Salvador, Bea Alonzo, Julia Baretto, and others transferred to its rival networks?
It’s natural for anyone or any institution to feel bad toward those stars whom they nurtured for years but chose to depart because of money. As the saying goes in showbusiness, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.
Bea Alonzo even broke her silence to defend herself from the criticism she received after she left ABS-CBN.
She said, “Ang akin kasi, everyone has been loyal to ABS. And, sa totoo lang, ABS was so gracious in giving us jobs, giving us our careers.
“But, siyempre, we also worked hard to have our careers. We also made sacrifices to get here. It’s not like it was just handed to us, di ba?”
Sadly, the reality in showbusiness–the pandemic and ABS-CBN’s shutdown brought out the worst in people. That’s the nature of this business.
Some chose to stay even hope is kind of bleak for ABS-CBN. Names like Angel Locsin, KathNiel, and other surprising talents were willing to make sacrifices for the home studio that cradled them and made them the big stars or in-demand celebrities of today in the pandemic.
Locsin stuck with ABS-CBN and managed to do an inspirational show called Iba ‘Yan. KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla) volunteered to their Big Bosses by asking what they could do to help.
Surprisingly, Michelle Vito chose to stay, too. She may have offers from other networks, but took the high road and stayed.
That’s loyalty. These celebrities did not abandon the sinking ship, but they tried to save it. Such acts of faithfulness will not go unnoticed.
