Renowned broadcast journalist Kara David revealed she had planned of resigning from her job in the early 2000s.
During her guesting on the Tunay na Buhay show last January 29, 2020, Kara was asked by Pia Arcanghel if she thought about leaving her job and moving to Mindoro.
Kara said she was disheartened after knowing that her case studies in one of the I-Witness documentaries ‘Buto’t Balat’ died.
Kara said,“Namatay ‘yung mga case study ko sa ‘Buto’t Balat’ tapos I felt na parang, ‘Bakit ako nandito sa mundo, ‘yung mga ini-interview ko, namamatay?’”
She added, “Parang gusto ko maging social worker na lang or health worker.”
Though the said case studies were from Bicol, Kara treats Mindoro as a special place for her. Among of her best I-Witness documentaries like ‘Gamugamo sa Dilim,’ ‘Ambulansiyang de Paa,’ and ‘Liwanag sa Dilim’ were shot in the province.
‘Yung mga stories ko sa Mindoro ang pinaka-special sa akin,” Kara shared.
“’Yung first I-Witness documentary ko ay sa Mindoro, tapos mula doon sa dokumentaryo na ‘yon, ‘yung ‘Gamugamo sa Dilim,’ nanganak siya.”
Kara shared that she became fond of a certain community in the said place.
“’Yung community na ‘yon, nagkaroon ako ng parang special relationship with the community, with the Mangyan Tribe.
“Seven years later bumalik ako, sila pa rin, kinumusta ko sila, pero may iba pa silang problema: health. ‘Yun ‘yung ‘Ambulansiyang de Paa.’ It’s the same community.
“Pagkatapos ng ‘Ambulansyang de Paa,’ bumalik kami, nagpatayo kami ng health center, that’s ‘Liwanag sa Dilim.’”
Ambulansyang de Paa merited the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award.
Kara David is the news anchor of News to Go on GMA News TV, as well as a host and writer for i-Witness at GMA Network. She also hosts Pinas Sarap.