Boy Abunda discovers digital universe this pandemic

For nearly three years now, King of Talk Boy Abunda has been notably absent on TV, the medium where he ruled for more than three decades. He does not deny that he misses being on TV. However, a new avenue opened for him this pandemic and he discovered the digital universe.

“I landed on digital platform by circumstance and by default,” Boy admitted. “I am not a digital native nor am I a digital expert, but I learned because I wanted to do my interviews. Sa awa ng Diyos, napagbigyan tayo ng malaki. But as to what’s going to happen in the future, a lot of things are going to happen. A lot of movement within or without, wherever I am. I want to go back to television.”

Boy is grateful how he learned to adopt the digital format in delivering shows. “I went to Facebook, I did YouTube, I also learned how to do TikTok a couple of month ago,” he disclosed. “I wanted to do my interviews. I didn’t realize I could do it.”

“I was saying at the start, magkaroon lang ako ng 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers, sa YouTube, I’m okay. Just don’t remove the fact that I want to do my interviews. I want to get the chance to do what I used to do on TV.” To date, he has 1.7 million followers on his YouTube channel.

Boy Abunda: I am not a digital native nor am I a digital expert, but I learned because I wanted to do my interviews.

Is Boy transferring to another network after ABS-CBN closed down more than two years ago? Not that it still matters, since competition between networks has blurred.

“I just want to move,” Boy stated. “I just want to keep on moving. I have not much to say but I want to go back to television. That much I will say.”

Boy’s life in the pandemic was scary for him, especially at the beginning. “I know how many were suffering,” he said. “We didn’t know what will happen next. It was very uncertain. Takot ako. At the start of the pandemic, I said hindi magtatagal ito. Siguro by the end of the year, wala na ‘to. That was my feeling then. July 2020, ABS-CBN closed down. Lalong dumoble ang takot ko. But as the pandemic became longer, the uncertainty was not just about life. A lot of people close to us were dying. Nandoon na ang real paranoia, not just clinical paranoia. What’s going to happen to me? What’s going to happen to my family?”

“My concern was my health, that was why I kept staying at home,” he added. “I went to Samar. I stayed in my rest house in Tagaytay. I farmed in Lipa (Batangas). I was spending a lot of time in places where there were not much people around.”

Surprisingly, Boy became very busy at the time of this COVID-19 pandemic. “There were digital conferences on Zoom,” he said. “Maybe, if there were 100 conventions of pharmaceuticals, I probably hosted 90 of that. Financially, I wasn’t paid as much as I would be paid on live television, but God gave me a lot of blessings. I was very, very busy during the time of COVID.”

“I was teaching online. I was hosting conventions of Philippine Medical Association, Philippine Heart Association. I was hosting virtual awards ceremony,” he shared. “I hosted TOFA (The Outstanding Filipinos in America) digitally twice. That was my life this pandemic. I adjusted to a lot of things. Nadaan sa dasal. I didn’t know how it all happened. Everything was hard, but we all went through that. We survived. Nahirapan pero kinaya.”

Boy does not deny that he has been getting offers from different networks, stations and people. However, there is nothing definite about his transfer to another station.

“I have done conversations with various groups, but I have not signed a contract,” he said. “That will be for another presscon. I am not kidding. I will not deny anything when a contract has been signed. I will go back to TV. I am merely visiting the digital platform.”

“I don’t know how to upload. I only do my interviews. I have my admin. Ayokong mawala ang kinasanayan kong trabaho,” he continued. “Malapit ang mga Kapamilya sa akin. Ang foundation ko ay pamilya talaga. Lahat ng ginawa ko sa buhay, para sa aking ina. So, napaka-importante para sa akin.”

Boy came from New York last September, where his latest endorsement was sealed. “I was surprised when I was in the US, some friends started to try using Sendwave,” Boy shared. “It’s fair. We know how hard it is to earn every dollar in the US, especially with the global inflation. My message is that I know we have a lot of our kababayans who already have their ways to send money to their families and relatives in the Philippines. They can try Sendwave. It is fair, it’s easy and it’s fee free. It’s instantaneous. It’s similar to sending a text message.”

“Sendwave doesn’t charge remittance or transfer fees,” he added. “They merely set a small margin in the exchange rate. They are very forthright about it. You have to experience how is it to use Sendwave. I talked to them with the possibility of being able to represent Sendwave. I went to Manila and shot the material. It was fun doing the material for Sendwave.”

Admittedly, Boy is not a techie. “I’m used to traditional methods. Hindi ako sanay. That was why when I was in New York, we tried to use Sendwave on-the-spot.”

The app works by partnering with traditional money methods like GCash, the micro payment service that transforms a mobile phone into a virtual wallet for secure, fast and convenient money transfer. It can be used to buy pre-paid load, pay bills and send money.

“Sendwave operates exclusively as an app, so there’s no traditional brick-and-mortar ways to sustain or maintain,” said Aicka Macazo, spokesperson for Sendwave. “That’s the main reason they can keep the exchange rate and offer it fee free. That’s what sets Sendwave apart from other apps.”