A weekend to remember

DAVAO CITY – If there was a weekend event that toppled all other happenings in the city two weeks ago, it would be GMA 7’s Kapusong Dabawenyo Weekend, which reportedly sent over 25,000 locals to the SM City grounds. Local media believe it gathered the biggest crowd for an affair of this kind.

It was said that Dabawenyos set aside their daily tasks to catch the fanfare of the Kapuso activities. Some briefly forgot to root for their kababayan from being booted out in a reality show. Her mom was caught on cam fanning herself with a Kapuso souvenir on hand.

Meanwhile, the men and women of GMA 7’s News and Public Affairs were there for the Serbisyong Totoo public service effort that initiated a job fair and free dental mission and other services.

S.O.P. regulars and GMA stars graced the Grand Kapuso Fans’ Day.

Not only celebrities but fantaserye heroes and villains like Darna (Angel Locsin) and Valentina (Alessandra de Rossi) of Darna, Amihan (Iza Calzado) and Perena (Sunshine Dizon) of Encantadia and Miguel/Amante (Richard Gutierrez) of Sugo had a day filled with fun and entertainment. Their presence made the event doubly memorable and star-studded.

For the past few months, GMA 7, the most preferred and watched TV station in Mega Manila, has been all-out in conquering regional territories through Kapuso weekends, which disseminate information on its news and entertainment programs.

The station has brought its biggest stars to increase local viewership and touch base with audiences. Activities like Grand Kapuso Fans’ Day took off from Cebu to Iloilo to Dagupan. The station literally hopped from one place to another – and from one event after another.

Call it promo blitz or marketing stunt. Others, however, think it’s one way of improving the network’s services to more Pinoys nationwide. This is true with Dabawenyos.

GMA TV-5 Davao will soon be provided with new digital cameras to cover the city’s daily grind. A new studio complex is expected to rise soon. In time for the launch of Quality TV (QTV) on Channel 11, GMA 7’s new VHF, on Nov. 11, Davao will have a 40-kilowatt transmitter and a new antenna system.

With that, plus the existing 30- kilowatt transmitter and antenna system, over 276,000 TV households and even double will experience the best program offerings of GMA 7 24/7. The city also has a newly-built transmitter building.

For these developments, the network spent at least P50 million and P23 million for the recent Davao event.

Also that weekend, Kuyaw!, a local entertainment TV show, was launched to put in local flavor. The show features the hottest young talents of Davao. Stars under GMA Artist Center will guest weekly in the show.

Kapuso stars sampled and treated the locals to their own brand of entertainment and service through specialized booths and a concert-TV party courtesy of S.O.P. and S.O.P. Gigsters.

Seen enjoying the festivities were Rhea Santos and Ivan Mayrina of Pinoy Abroad, Regine Tolentino, Arnold Clavio and Eagle of Unang Hirit, Susan Enriquez of Kay Susan Tayo!, Vicky Morales of Wish Ko Lang, Mel Tiangco and Mike Enriquez of 24 Oras, and Ethel Booba and Paolo Bediones of Extra Challenge. At the live S.O.P. show, Jennylyn Mercado, Mark Herras, Angel Locsin, Isabel Oli, Yasmien Kurdi and Richard Gutierrez received the loudest applause and shrieks from fans even during commercial gaps.

Of all the fun activities set for Dabawenyos, the Saturday event (Serbisyong Totoo) caught the fans’ attention the most. They went to booths with their favorite news anchors and hosts waiting for them. There was no proscenium arch which separated them so to speak. It was meet and greet upclose.

Locals enjoyed Emergency and At Your Service’s free tooth extraction; Imbestigador’s Sumbungan ng Bayan; Wish Ko Lang’s fortune-telling and "wish" drop box; Pinoy Abroad’s job fair; Art Angel’s art workshop and drawing contest; Lovely Day’s folk games and puppet shows; Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho’s free family portraits; Debate’s trivia questions; Susan Tayo’s free haircuts; Unang Hirit’s karaoke singing; and Extra Challenge’s wall climbing and rappelling.

Applicants of Pinoy Abroad’s job hunting signed up and got free bio-data with a list of working sites to choose from like U.A.E. (Abu Dhabi and Dubai), Qatar, Kuwait and Algeria.

If there’s anything the Davao weekend event indicates, it’s the fact that the former rainbow network has finally found the proverbial pot of gold.