Lolo Kiko visits Ph

 

Photo by: Janine Perea

                Several days prior to the visit of the Holy Father, police officials announced that the attendees will not be permitted to camp out the event area but this notice seemed to be of no use after hundreds of people stayed overnight outside the gates of University of Santo Tomas (UST), January 18, 2015.

                Hundreds of people flocked UST hours before the coming of Pope Francis. On January 12, police officials made it clear that the public is not allowed to stay near the event area hours or even days before the coming of the pope.

Photo by: Janine Perea

 The security inside remained strict and guards won’t allow the public to enter without identification cards although some non-volunteer Thomasians were able to enter the campus grounds. Supposedly, only the picked youth volunteers would be allowed to stay the night inside the campus but several students were able to camp in and wait for the Pope’s arrival.

“Patience is a virtue talaga. Maaga pa ko dun at nagbunga naman ng maganda ang paghihintay.” Rio Deluvio, a 4^th year UST student and said.

                Youth volunteers are required to bring transparent bags for easy inspection but this rule was not followed. In addition, monopods or selfie sticks were also prohibited but two outsiders were able to bring it inside the campus entering the gate at Dapitan.

 Cameras without the identification stickers are also banned but this policy was not observed during the visit of the Holy Father. Hundreds were able to take a photo of the pope using their digital cameras and even DSLR’s which are not registered with the stickers.

                The supposed to be peaceful visit of Pope Francis turned into chaos after there was a fear of stampede at Gate 6 of the University. In order to catch a glimpse of the Pope, people lining up at the gate of Lacson Street pushed and elbowed each other to secure a safe spot. Students were disappointed with the police who surround the area because the crown control was poor and the designated places for the public and the students were not followed.

                “Wala naman akong hinanakit sa mga pulis.Sila pa nga nagbigay ng tip sakin kung saan dadaan si Pope. Pero na-disappoint ako sa mga volunteers outside the barricades mismo. Sila yung nasa labas tapos lakas maka-selfie nung dumaan na si Pope. Di tuloy na-maintain yung pila.” Deluvio added.

Photo by: Janine Perea

                                In preparation for the possible rain, UST sold raincoats at the Tan Yan Kee building. These raincoats were enclosed in a plastic ball and priced 30 Php. The students referred to it as ‘Pokeballs’ because of its resemblance with the famous children’s game Pokemon.

                Pope Francis wore the same raincoat as the students showing the meaning of equality and simplicity.

                As the oldest pontifical University in Asia, it is not new to UST for papal visits.Pope Francis, or as Filipinos refers to him as Lolo Kiko, is the third pope who made a trip to the university following Saint John Paul II and Pope Paul VI’s visit.

                 

Writing her own story

Being a journalist means a person get less sleep and more stress. While others are escaping the danger, a journalist is charging towards it. Journalists are like those super heroes who would go where the action is even though they are risking their lives just so they could serve the public.  Not by saving the public's lives but by saving their minds from ignorance and waking up their senses in knowing the truth. 

Not just her beauty but also her skills in writing and reporting made her success possible. Mrs. Mariz Umali-Tima, a reporter and anchor of GMA news and public affairs, started from the bottom and now has risen up to be one of the most trusted and idolized reporter of the country. Despite all the pressures from her work, the genuine smiles of Mrs. Tima proved that Journalism is not just about getting scoops and getting stressed but also about learning other cultures and meeting a lot of people.

 The Calling

Mariz, coming from a medical field of family never believed that she would be where she is now. She was originally taking up BS Pharmacy as a pre-medical course at the University of the Philippines Diliman and she shifted her course to BA Broadcast Communication after she already finished her three semestral periods. To be a journalist was already in her subconscious and as a three-year old kid, she already pointed out to her parents that she wanted to become a newscaster. 

Having no background at the media industry, Tima admitted that there was a struggle to cope up with her new environment. But her skills are already qualified for the job which is why GMA Network already called her while she was still studying. Aiming to finish her studies, she denied the offer and told the network that she must graduate first.

Straight after graduation, she was already approved as an an intern at the said network.  She started out as a researcher/writer. Even without proper training, she made a good impression to her bosses and after a while, she was promoted to become a reporter and finally, an anchor of news programs. Her skills in talking in front of the camera also made her a host of various programs and documentaries.

 Behind the scenes

At morning, she do anchoring and from noon to night, she do live reports. If there are no coverages assigned to her, she would pitch her own stories. Tima would gather as many information that she could through interviews and during this process, she would already have an outline of the story in her mind. 

The draft would then be submitted for fact checking and grammar correction. After the final script comes out, she would do voice over and check whether the news report is good to go. All this hard work only sums up to a 2-minute airing but these crucial minutes can already mold the public into knowing the truth.

Different rules apply for live reports. Here, the journalists do not have the time to revise the script and check the gathered facts. Again, she would conduct interviews and she always makes sure that every information given is factual. 

For breaking news reports, she does not even have the time to do her script. She would just type in the flow of her report using her phone and annotate the story as the cameras are rolling. Sometimes, questions will be asked by the fellow reporter for clarifications and she makes sure that every question has an answer.  

As for her documentary projects, it normally takes them 10 days for a whole moth of airing or 3 episodes. Tima is often assigned to underwater adventures where she normally needs to dive for three days straight. Unlike people, they need to wait long hours for the sea creatures to come out just so they can take videos. 

Live.Pray.Serve

Because of the media industry, Tima was able to travel to different places not only here in the country but also abroad. She was able to conduct interviews with some of the hottest names in the globe and discover different cultures. 

Two of her most unforgettable coverage were the Nida Blanca murder case and the Balikatan exercises that happened in Mindanao. During these times, she was just a rookie and according to her, covering these two events was a different type of high. She has never been to Mindanao before and because of her line of work, Tima was able to explore the world. 

Her dream of covering the canonization of Pope John Paul II was also fulfilled just this year.

During calamity coverage, there is still a need for their crew to do their report even if the road was already blocked with rocks. They continued the broadcast although they are mentally and physically tired. 

With the need to do interview a reporter can meet a lot of people. Tima added that every journalist should deal well with people since they are the main source. 

With all the bad news that pops up in every part of the world, Tima said that at the end of the day a person should still be thankful for all the blessings that she receives. After a day of pressure, a journalist would realize how the world really works behind all the lies. 

One must be open-minded and know the two sides of the story. Even though a journalist gets all sides of the story, it is inevitable to be biased in a way. Even unconsciously, the way of writing and reporting always has its own path to lead to.

Being a journalist is surely stressful but the public service rewards it all. The reports that every journalist writes will serve as an eye opener for the people in knowing the truth and making an action. 

"Hold on and pray for your dreams." 

Even if there are a lot of setbacks, never let go. Instead, one must stay and fight for it.