AnakTV award vindicates advocacy for young viewers

DECEMBER 8 was a special day for us in more ways than three: First, it was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so we joined other Marian devotees in thanking God for the gift of His mother, Mary, to mankind. We have tried to honor Mary by way of several musical productions, and Dec. 8 was no different—we started our day with a 9 a.m. performance of “Magnificat” at the Ateneo Grade School.

After rehearsing our singer-actors at the Ateneo’s Irwin Theater, we rushed to the Soka Gakkai auditorium on Timog ave., QC, for the 2011 edition of the AnakTV Awards for child-friendly TV shows. A total of 110 programs were honored with the prized AnakTV seal, and a number of TV personalities deemed worthy of emulation by children were inducted into the roster of Makabata stars.

Significance

Personally, we were honored to be chosen as the recipient of AnakTV’s special Broadcasters’ Award, for what the citation described as our (and the Inquirer’s Saturday Special section’s) “significant contribution” in espousing child-sensitive, quality television programming.” The award’s significance has increased, because it has previously been given to Soka Gakkai head, Daisaku Ikeda, among other distinguished recipients.

The award’s citation reads in full:

“The officers and trustees of Anak TV present the AnakTV Broadcasters’ Award to the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Nestor U. Torre (section editor, Saturday Special, and Viewfinder columnist)—

“For having earned the enduring trust and respect of readers and viewers, as well as the esteem of Filipino broadcasters who defer to him and his impartial assessment of the industry;

“For generously sharing his ideas and suggestions for the improvement of the broadcasting industry in general, and television programming, in particular, with the goal of ensuring a healthy television climate for the Filipino family and the vulnerable child;

“And for having fearlessly espoused that TV programs, tastefully conceived and responsibly produced, deserve popular patronage over shows that only promote banality, gratuitous sex and extreme violence.”

The AnakTV Broadcasters’ Award means a lot to us, because it is a vindication of our sometimes lonely mission to help make parents, educators and the Filipino youth themselves more aware of how TV can help or hinder minors from attaining their full potential, and not be adversely affected by program content and visuals that they are still too young and unformed to adequately and safely process and deal with.

Adding to the honor was the fact that no less than AnakTV Foundation heads, Ed Roces and Bob del Rosario, presented the award to us. Also greatly appreciated by us was the supportive presence of other AnakTV officers like Mag Cruz Hatol and Elvira Go, and former president Joseph Estrada and Susan Roces, whom we’ve known and looked up to for years.

We also caught up with Julius and Tintin Babao. Julius was one of the five TV personalities who were being elevated to the Makabata Hall of Fame (along with Mike Enriquez, Korina Sanchez, Mel Tiangco and Gary Valenciano). Also honored were Jessica Soho and Ted Failon, who topped the Boto Ko ’To survey of the on-cam personalities who were deemed by viewers to be “most credible and worth emulating by the youth.”

We also made sure to touch base with AnakTV spokesperson, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, because we’ve held her in high regard ever since we directed her in the musical, “Sino Ka Ba, Jose Rizal?,” where she played Leonor Rivera.

The most kilig-worthy part of the awards show as far as the audience was concerned was the Boto Ko ’To section, especially because some of the personalities cited were relatively young faves like Gerald Anderson, Coco Martin, Kim Chiu, Anne Curtis and Angel Locsin. It’s a good thing that on-cam TV people are being made aware of the positive and negative effects of their work on young viewers.

We trust that, as AnakTV keeps winning both industry people and viewers over to its view of responsible work on the tube, more on-cam personalities and behind-the-scene workers will do better and more enlightened work, following this key rule of thumb: I will say and show on TV only what I consider safe and beneficial for my own young children or family members to view.

When you watch TV these days, it’s clear that quite a lot of the material it exposes kids to does not measure up to that standard. That’s because the TV set in our living rooms is so comfortably and ubiquitously present that it has become “invisible,” just another part of the “inert” furnishings.

But, TV isn’t inert—it is full of potent sounds, images and influences, so it cannot be taken for granted, and has to be used wisely by parents, for their vulnerable children’s sake.

—With AnakTV’s help and constant reminders, it eventually will be.