VICE
PRESIDENT NOLI “KABAYAN” DE
CASTRO
NOLI
DE CASTRO’S ASCENDANCY TO THE SECOND
HIGHEST POST IN THE REPUBLIC COULD
RIGHTLY BE CALLED,
AS ONE NEWS REPORT PUTS IT, “THE
PINOY
DREAM.” HE TRANSCENDED HIS
FAMILY’S POVERTY AND NOW
HOLDS THE MANDATE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE.
MORE
POPULARLY KNOWN AS “KABAYAN
(COMPATRIOT) NOLI”,
THE VICE PRESIDENT WAS BORN ON JULY 6,
1949 IN POLA, ORIENTAL MINDORO. AT THE
AGE OF TEN
(10), HE EXPERIENCED A GREAT LOSS WITH THE PASSING OF HIS FATHER. TO
EASE HIS MOTHER’S BURDEN IN RAISING HIM AND HIS FIVE
SIBLINGS,
KABAYAN LEARNED EARLY ON TO EARN A LIVING BY RAISING
PIGS
AND SERVING AS AN ALTAR
BOY IN THE LOCAL PARISH
CHURCH. ALL HIS STRUGGLES STARTED TO PAY OFF WHEN HE EVENTUALLY
GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE EAST
IN MANILA IN 1971,
WITH A BACHELOR’S
DEGREE IN COMMERCE, MAJORING IN BANKING AND
FINANCE.
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BROADCAST JOURNALIST IN THE ANNALS OF LOCAL MEDIA
STARTED HIS CAREER IN 1976 AS A FIELD
REPORTER
FOR MR. JOHNNY DE LEON, A POPULAR RADIO ANNOUNCER
OF RADIO
STATION DWWW. HE BECAME A RADIO ANNOUNCER FOR THE SAME STATION IN
1982 UNTIL 1986. WHEN TELEVISION BROADCASTER ABS-CBN RESUMED
OPERATIONS FOLLOWING THE 1986 EDSA REVOLUTION, THE FILIPINO
PUBLIC FOUND KABAYAN TO BE A CREDIBLE AND MARKETABLE TELEVISION
PERSONALITY AS HOST OF THE MORNING SHOW, “GOOD MORNING,
PHILIPPINES”. LATER, HE
HOSTED SEVERAL OTHER
SUCCESSFUL SHOWS, SUCH AS MAGANDANG UMAGA” (GOOD MORNING),
“OVERSEAS UNLIMITED”, AND THE LONGEST RUNNING
MAGAZINE PROGRAM, “MAGANDANG
GABI…BAYAN!” (GOOD
EVENING… NATION!). IN 1987,
HE STARTED AS AN EXECUTIVE
ANCHOR OF “TV PATROL”,
A PRIMETIME NEWS PROGRAM THAT KABAYAN STEERED TO UNPRECEDENTED
SUCCESS AS OVERALL HEAR OF PRODUCTION.
IN
RADIO, HE WAS THE HOST OF THE POPULAR DAILY MORNING PROGRAM
“KABAYAN”
ON DZMM. HIS SUCCESS IN RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING, AS WELL AS
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT DID NOT COME UNNOTICED. IN 1999, KABAYAN WAS PROMOTED VICE PRESIDENT OF ABS-CBN
DZMM.
THE RADIO STATION ACHIEVED TOP RATINGS UNDER HIS WATCH.
AS
A HOST, NOLI DE CASTRO
WAS AN EFFECTIVE
LINK BETWEEN POOR
FILIPINOS AND THE GOVERNMENT. KABAYAN
WAS INSTRUMENTAL
IN BRINGING HOME NEEDY OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS, ASSISTING INDIGENT
PATIENTS, HELPING LOCATE MISSING PERSONS AND REUNITING THEM WITH
THEIR FAMILIES. ON “MAGANDANG GABI…
BAYAN” AND “TV PATROL”,
HE EXPOSED NUMEROUS SCAMS, SCANDALS AND INCIDENTS OF CORRUPTION. HE
WAS ALSO AN ADVOCATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND OTHER SOCIAL
CONCERNS. THROUGH CONSISTENT MEDIA FOCUS AND CONSEQUENT PUBLIC
AWARENESS, HE MADE THOSE RESPONSIBLE OR INVOLVED ACCOUNTABLE FOR
THEIR ACTIONS.
KABAYAN
WAS A RECIPIENT OF THE CATHOLIC MASS MEDIA AWARD, AS WELL AS THE 7TH
AND 9TH KBP GOLDEN
DOVE AWARDS.
HE ALSO
RECEIVED AWARDS AND CITATIONS FROM OTHER MEDIA GROUPS, GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, SUCH AS: THE DANGEROUS DRUGS BOARD,
CRUSADE AGAINST VIOLENCE, THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE, THE BOY
SCOUTS OF THE PHILIPPINES, AND THE ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA.
DESPITE
BEING AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE, NOLI
DE
CASTRO EMERGED NUMBER ONE IN THE 2001 SENATORIAL ELECTIONS WITH A
RECORD OF MORE THAN 16.2 MILLION VOTES.
IN THE
PHILIPPINE SENATE, HE WAS CHAIRMAN OF THREE IMPORTANT COMMITTEES:
TOURISM; SOCIAL JUSTICE, WELFARE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT; AND CULTURAL
COMMUNITIES. HE WAS THE PRINCIPAL AUTHOR AND SPONSOR OF REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 9257, OR THE EXPANDED SENIOR CITIZENS ACT; REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9285
OR THE ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACT; REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9288 OR
THE NEWBORN SCREENING ACT; AND REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9271 OR THE
QUARANTINE ACT. IN HIS THREE YEARS AS SENATOR, KABAYAN FILED MORE
THAN 140 BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS, INCLUDING A RESOLUTION CALLING FOR AN
INQUIRY IN AID OF LEGISLATION INTO THE CAUSES OF THE MASS EVACUATION
OF FILIPINO RESIDENTS IN SABAH, AND 25 EDUCATION BILLS THAT SOUGHT TO
UPLIFT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION, GRANT SCHOLARSHIPS TO DESERVING
STUDENTS AND UPGRADE THE SALARIES OF SCHOOL TEACHERS.
ON
DECEMBER 29, 2003, THE POPULAR SENATOR ACCEPTED THE NOMINATION AS THE
COALITION RUNNING-MATE OF PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL-AROYO FOR THE
2004 NATIONAL ELECTION. EVEN THOUGH
RESULTS FROM
SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY REPUTABLE POLLING FIRMS SHOWED THAT HE WAS
ALWAYS WELL AHEAD OF HIS RIVAL CONTENDERS DURING THE RECENT CAMPAIGN, KABAYAN STRESSED THAT
“EVEN AS I CONSISTENTLY TOP THE
SURVEYS, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE ELECTION FOR VICE PRESIDENT IS
ALREADY OVER. I STILL CONTINUE TO
REACH OUT TO THE
PEOPLE AND PRESENT TO THEM MY PROGRAMS SO THEY MAY BE ENLIGHTENED
ABOUT MY PLANS SHOULD I BE ELECTED.” WHEN ASKED WHY HE DID
NOT RUN
FOR THE PRESIDENCY WHEN THE SURVEYS ALSO SHOWED (AND PRESIDENT ARROYO
HERSELF PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGED) THAT HE MAY WELL HAVE WON HAD HE
CHOSEN TO STAND FOR THAT POST, DE CASTRO ANSWERED THAT HE WAS NOT YET
READY FOR THE HIGHEST OFFICE. THIS
HUMILITY IS A MARK OF THE BOY FROM POLA – SOMETHING WHICH,
TOGETHER
WITH THE PASSION AND COMMITMENT OF THE MEDIA PROFESSIONAL AND
SENATOR, THE FILIPINO PEOPLE CAN BENEFIT FROM THEIR NEW VICE
PRESIDENT,
WHO IS HAPPILY
MARRIED TO HIS “BEST
FRIEND” ARLENE SINSUAT AND BLESSED WITH THREE CHILDREN.
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