TFC 20th anniversary show salutes the Filipino

MANILA, Philippines - It was in the ’80s when ABS-CBN Corp. chairman emeritus Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Jr. articulated the expansion of his vision: “We will serve the Filipino wherever he may be — worldwide.”

Fast forward to April 23, 2014 at the Elizabeth A. Hangs Theater of Santa Clara Convention Center, in the heart of Silicon Valley, ABS-CBN through The Filipino Channel (TFC) marked a milestone by celebrating its 20th year of continuous service to Filipinos all over the world via a glittering formal gala.

Before leaders from various sectors in the Filipino-American community and cable and satellite industry execs, ABS-CBN North America managing director Olivia de Jesus acknowledged three Filipinos who road-mapped the realization of Don Geny’s vision: His two sons, ABS-CBN Corp. chairman Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III and ABS-CBN Global COO Rafael “Raffy” Lopez, and former ABS-CBN International manager of network operations and director Jose Ramon “Monchet” Olives.

“Without their persistence, tenacity and vision, we would not be enjoying the stories from people back home, get the news as it happens back home, and bring home just a little bit closer every time we turn on TFC,” De Jesus said.

Lopez honored all the “TFC pioneers” and paid tribute to everyone who worked for TFC, a channel that started in 1994 with just eight employees in a garage in Daly City. Now with a global employee workforce and offices in North America, Asia, Australia, Europe and Middle East, Lopez credited the employees, the organization’s ability to evolve and the purity of his father’s vision and mission as anchors that helped TFC navigate through the challenges in the last 20 years.

But just as its founding vision, the TFC story is more about the Filipino that it has committed to serve. It is the stage that showcases with great pride the best of the Filipino, his or her greatness or as they say in Filipino, the “galing.”