Few women can combine glamour and grit, pursuing fashion trends as fast as they can run after a news subject in the jungles of Mindanao or the concrete jungles of Manila.
In the last 30 years, broadcast journalist Ces Oreña-Drilon has done both. Ces has made her mark for her fearless reporting of many dangerous subjects — from the 1989 coup attempt, the Joe Pring ambush, the 2007 Peninsula Siege, her own kidnapping by the Abu Sayyaf in 2008. But she’s also made a dent with her style and fashion sense, her ability to morph from a beat reporter in sooty jeans to a fashionista in dressy slacks as part of a day’s work.
Volvo Philippines recently bestowed on Ces the Ironmark Award, which recognizes an individual’s success in both personal or professional endeavors, “especially if he or she has set such high standards, provided industry benchmarks or pushed the envelope in innovative ideas and programs.”
Since 2012, Volvo Philippines has been giving the Volvo Ironmark Award to a very select few, including Sen. Manny Pacquiao on its first year and game-changer and dermatologist Vicki Belo last year.
“This discerning accolade recognizes the achievements and notable contributions of an individual in his or her field,” says Volvo Philippines president and managing director lawyer Albert Arcilla. “Ces, whose career in broadcast journalism has spanned over three decades, embodies these qualities. Her unquenchable thirst for truth has spurred her not only to deliver the news but also to pursue information that digs deeper into issues.”
Volvo also noted that aside from having an accolade-studded career, Ces is also a dedicated mother to four young men and an icon for strong women.
Volvo, through its longtime partner PeopleAsia, has taken notice of Ces’ drive to pursue excellence in her field. The Ironmark, Volvo’s symbol of strength, durability and quality is also a stamp that delivers the Volvo vision and mission of making life less complicated for people, while strengthening its commitment to safety, quality and the environment.
* * *
Ces did not originally plan on being a journalist. Like me, she took up Business Administration at the University of the Philippines. Reaching a crossroads during her sophomore year, she says she was encouraged by a bold move I took to shift to Journalism. She, too, followed her heart and her instincts and shifted to Communications Research.
Just before EDSA, she landed a job at the government-owned Channel 4, and was subsequently given a better offer at ABS-CBN. It was shortly after she transferred to ABS-CBN that she landed a big scoop that set the pace for the rest of her career as a news reporter.
“I had this big scoop where Colonel Honasan [Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan] was caught. I was the only one who had that story. It was a big story because he was caught hiding under the bed of the helpers in the house. It was really just plywood. I was very lucky; that was my first on-camera moment. I was called by Bong Lapira, who said, ‘Tell your story’!” Ces, said in an interview with PeopleAsia, which also honored her as one of its People of the Year 2017.
Ces concedes that aside from hard work, she also benefitted from being in the right place at the right time.
“I was lucky, actually. I’m very lucky when it comes to these things, like witnessing the ambush of Joe Pring [Jose Pring]. I like to think that it’s because I worked hard. Like at the time (the Gringo capture) I was leaving the Senate really late. There were very few reporters to call. In the case of the Joe Pring ambush, I was going to the coverage early.”
Then there was the infamous Peninsula Siege led by now Sen. Sonny Trillanes.
“Trillanes walked out of the courtroom in Makati and started the Peninsula Siege. We were a few journalists who decided to stay on (at the Peninsula). My assessment at the time was that in the past, when there were coup attempts by the military, they could settle among themselves; it ended with one side surrendering. It was a wrong assessment because then President Gloria Arroyo seemed more determined to end it. There was an APC that rammed into the door of the Peninsula and they were really going to get them out by force. She really wanted to finish that Peninsula takeover. But I felt that we needed to be there. We wanted to see how it would end. We needed to be the eyes there to see how they would end the takeover,” Ces recalled.
That siege left Ces shaken.
“I was more traumatized by that than by my kidnapping. I would have dreams about people in fatigues trying to run after me. After I was kidnapped, it wasn’t really so difficult. I didn’t have much post-traumatic stress disorder,” she told PeopleAsia.
The kidnapping was unforgettable because it showed her iron core as well as her humanity.
“There were many important life lessons that I got from that experience. Of course, I was suspended from work, but I didn’t protest that because the reason we’re here is to call people in power to account and I also have to be accountable for my actions. If I wanted to return to work, I should abide. What’s really important in life — in a blink of an eye, you can just die. After that, it taught me what really was important in life. A few years after that, I started to slow down.”
* * *
These days, while being one of three anchors of Bandila, doing more special reports, and taking a stand with her Tweets, Ces is still exploring ways to make a mark on earth — literally.
“I want to get my hands dirty and do something with the land. I really wanted to do an agriculture show. Maybe instead of doing a show, I’ll just really work with the land first. I want to have something more tangible in my life than writing a new story and hoping that you can change the world. Sometimes, you think that you’re here to save the world and you can’t stop because you feel like if you stop, the world might become worse. You have these Superman kind of tendencies when you’re in the thick of things. I’m at that stage in my life when I’m really looking for more meaningful things to do other than what I’ve been doing for 30 years.”
(You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com.)