‘It wasn’t just a job, it was a life’: Ging Reyes retires as ABS-CBN news chief
“It wasn’t just a job, it was a life” was how REGINA “Ging” Reyes described her 36 years with ABS-CBN, where she began as production assistant and rose from the ranks to become news and current affairs leader in the last 12 years of her broadcast career.
On the last day of 2022, Reyes (who turned 60 last Nov. 24) officially retired as the Kapamilya network’s longest-serving news chief.
In a statement, the media company said of the World Association of News Publishers’ 2022 Southeast Asia Laureate for Women in News Editorial Leadership: “(Reyes) leaves a remarkable legacy of excellence and service” and “successfully transformed ABS-CBN News into a fully integrated news organization that delivered news and public service to Filipinos worldwide across different platforms even during the pandemic.”
The STAR recently caught up with Reyes while on a break from clearing out her office. It has been a “bittersweet” process of saying goodbye for the woman who rallied the news organization, especially through major upheavals in recent years. These included what she described in an interview as the company’s “worst crisis.” She was referring to the shutdown of the free-to-air broadcast operations after the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise.
“People ask me if I’m excited about being free from the chaos, stress, the 24/7 (news cycle), but it’s actually bittersweet for me. It was 36 years of my life. It’s the only life I knew,” Reyes admitted. “It wasn’t just a job, it was a life.”
“Sweet because you feel you’ve accomplished something,” she continued. “Bitter in the sense that there is a sadness because I’m leaving the newsroom in such a state, we don’t have the reach, we are financially challenged and of course, the shutdown and having to let go of people in the news. That was really painful. To this day, we have not fully recovered from that trauma. So yun, ang pakiramdam ko.
“But I know naman when to let go and it’s really, probably, the right time.”
She now plans to spend more time with her family, reconnect with old friends, read books, watch films and travel.
‘Mother of dragons’
In a tribute piece by reporter Jeff Canoy, Reyes was recognized for nurturing many of the network’s “iconic, leading and ‘fiery’ journalists” that she was called “Mother of Dragons.” News anchor Karen Davila noted how Reyes not only mentored news people, but also stood by them throughout the darkest of times.
On Instagram, former ABS-CBN anchor Ces Drilon also praised her former boss for keeping “the newsroom together” and that as occupant of the “hottest seat in the house,” she had to make the toughest decisions, including calling out friends.
“I’m not used to being part of the story and I get embarrassed when they do that,” Reyes said of the tributes. “Baka sabihin naman ng mga tao, napaka-self-serving natin.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise though as The STAR was told that in her 12 years as news chief, she shied away from talking about herself or avoided being the story. It’s maybe because she started her career behind the scenes — first as PA of then newly-launched newscast TV Patrol in 1986 to executive producer and headwriter of The World Tonight. She only began going on cam when she launched ABS-CBN News’ North America bureau in 2002.
All her past roles prepared her for the eventual job of running the entire news organization. “I was very hesitant at first but I can say that the responsibility of being a news head came at the right time because I was in my late 40s at that time. If it was offered to me when I was younger, I would screw it up. I was more mature and more evolved by the time I took on the job,” Reyes also shared.
And when “divas and egos” get in the way of work, she said, “My guideposts were always transparency and the greater interest. When I’d talk to say, an anchor, who’s famous but whose attention needed to be called, I would just say, that’s not a good exercise of your power as a journalist and as anchor. Perhaps, you should take a second look and do it in a different way. Remember, we have a code of ethics. Palagi mong sasabihin yung policy and then finally, it’s for the good of the organization. I don’t have a personal agenda, it doesn’t matter whether we’re friends or not, we have to go by what the policy states… and we have to look after the interest of ABS-CBN. No one can be bigger than the institution and news organization. That’s all I would say.”
Coping with challenges
Needless to say, the last three years brought her unimaginable challenges. In 2020, while ABS-CBN was “dealing with the COVID crisis, our world as we knew it came crashing down on May 5,” she wrote in a Philstarlife article. It was the day of the shutdown and according to her, it would remain her most unforgettable memory even after retirement.
Asked how she was able to hold herself together during this period, even cutting a picture of calm and composure when she was thrust into the news spotlight, Reyes looked back: “I think I steeled myself early enough. You know when ABS-CBN News would be attacked and bashed as a result of the franchise issue and the hearings, or anything that we reported that was critical or unfavorable to some… nung umpisa masasaktan ka talaga.
“In the beginning… you feel physically affected by it. The heart beats faster, you feel a little bit cold, and you know you are physically reacting to what you are seeing. That happened to me.
“But I guess, you get used to it and start to say, ‘I’m going to steel myself and try not to be affected by this.’ Otherwise, you will just be depressed, you will be derailed in your work.”
Unknown to many, over the pandemic, Reyes also had to deal with deep personal loss. “I lost my mother and my husband, magkasunod. My mom was already ill and on palliative care in my house when the pandemic happened and my husband was diabetic… it got worse because his kidneys failed in 2020. He was on dialysis for months. It was manageable for a time until he got oxygen dependent…,” she opened up.
It was her husband, a former broadcast engineer at ABS-CBN, who had looked forward the most to her retirement. They were planning to travel and divide their time between the US and the Philippines.
“He had long wanted me to slow down,” she further shared. “You know, when he was alive, he would wait for me for our late dinner. I would usually get home before or around 9 p.m. because I would finish TV Patrol before I’d leave the office. He got used to that.”
So, when her husband passed away in 2021, Reyes shared that “medyo nadiskaril ako, alam mo yun? I felt a bit lost. In fact, I told some friends that, ‘I don’t know what to do now that he’s gone.’ That’s a pain that stays with me. In that sense, I’m kind of winging it.”
Asked if she found time to grieve, she said, “After my husband died… I had a few days of leave and I went to the US, and worked from there for a few months, with my son, and that helped, too. And (my husband and I) had common friends who comforted me during that time. It helped that mas maluwag duon, I could take walks. I would retrace steps where my husband and I would take walks. That helped me in my grieving period. I am still grieving, you never stop doing that. But I learned to distract myself so that I couldn’t be too sad and heartbroken that the work would be affected.”
Somehow, years of heading the newsroom also prepared her and helped her compartmentalize and develop a strong sense of focus while she went through these trying times. “That also partly helped me navigate these last three years with all its challenges — both professional and personal — and come out still standing. Kung didibdibin mo talaga, you would not be able to get out of bed.”
No regrets
Reyes can say she’s retiring without an ounce of regret. “Looking back on everything, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything else. Maybe I was meant to be the one at the helm when all these happened,” she said.
“Di ko alam, I just tried to act and respond to crisis the best way I knew how… To me, it was part of the job to protect and defend my team, and to make them accountable for mistakes whenever that would happen. But I’ve always believed in the news team. We’ve been through so much together. We’ve celebrated triumphs but we also suffered and struggled together during the dark times,” she further recalled.
“I’ve seen how dedicated they are to their work. During COVID, a lot of our reporters wanted to go out there. We gave them the option to work from home for some time. But many of them decided to go out there and cover. That’s a big sacrifice. For a time, news was the only team working in ABS.
“Being with my team during the early days of the pandemic also made me realize how journalists would really risk everything for this calling.”
That journalism is a calling is also what Reyes would tell any young person looking to join this field. “It’s not going to be a walk in the park. You don’t enter this profession because you want to be famous,” she said.
“You choose journalism because you want to do public service, you want to make a difference, you want to seek the truth, and you want to tell stories. And that comes with a lot of challenges these days. And if you choose to do hard news, other people will not always be happy with your stories. Be prepared with trolling or bashing because now that comes with the territory. I don’t mean to sound pessimistic about it, I just want them to know the encounters with reality that are waiting for them.
“But that said, I think journalism is still a noble calling. It’s still a good career choice if you want to make a difference in the world, and if you want to pursue something that’s not just for your own growth or your own ambition, but to benefit others,” she said.
As for fellow journalists, Reyes reminded them to be mindful that “we are here because of our audience” so they have to be responsive to their needs.
“I’m just convinced that after all that I’ve experienced and seen in this industry, the audience behavior, distractions coming from social media and technology development, I really believe that there is still an audience for news. But you just have to find the right balance in giving them what they need and finding ways to serve them what they want and what we think they need,” she said.
- Latest
- Trending
