Matanglawin leads as children's TV favorite

Erstwhile politician Kim Atienza might have been devastated in losing his congressional bid during the 2004 elections, but looking back, he and his wife Fely possibly saw it as a sign for a career change.

Today, eight years later, Kuya Kim is riding high on the crest of a successful career on TV which began when he replaced Ernie Baron as weatherman of TV Patrol. He then joined the early morning show on ABS-CBN’s Umagang Kay Ganda and then left it to join It’s Showtime. After some years of impressive hosting, Kuya Kim was given his dream show Matanglawin, an educational show focusing on nature, animals and the environment. Since 2008, Matanglawin has consistently won the Anak TV Awards, Gawad Tanglaw, PMPC Star Awards for Best Educational Program, KBP Golden Dove Award and the National Council for Children’s TV-DepEd recognition. He could never have garnered these by being a politician. In addition, the show has been designated a favorite among children, and Kim Atienza is every child’s kuya.  

Kuya Kim as Matanglawin (meaning Hawkeye) takes the young on an adventure of learning, Sundays on ABS-CBN at 9:30 a.m., from the vantage point of a Philippine hawk — inquisitive, vigilant and adventurous (mapanuri, mapagmatiyag, mapangahas).

We joined him on some of these trips and found something new every time. The episodes ranged from simple to heart rending, to out-of-the-country exotic. For a Mother’s Day special in 2011, Kuya Kim went around town with a tarantula, scorpion, gecko, sugar glider and orangutan to show how similar and how different animal mommies compare to human mommies. The “Super Mom” Wolf Spider with 3,000 eggs has this amazing ability to put all those eggs in a sac covered with its spider silk, to carry them away to safety. The closest in the animal kingdom to humans is the orangutan, which explains a lot of similarities in child-rearing habits. They also carry their babies, suckle them, make “nests” so their babies will have a home.

Kuya Kim carrying an orangutan, which is the closest animal to humans...

In one episode in Small Animals, Kuya Kim introduced us to the pygmy gecko which survives in the wet forests of Central America by secreting a type of oil rendering him waterproof and protecting him from the ravages of nature. Then Kuya Kim brought us the degu that resembles a small mouse that leaves scent markings on a track that has various usages mostly for its protection. We also met the minute underwing moth that could avoid being eaten because it can dodge interested bats at the last minute. How can it do so? Kuya Kim reveals that the moth has “ears” near its legs, which helps it detect incoming creatures to avoid them.

Barely an inch big, the waterfall toad and the pebble toad are easy targets for predators like the tarantula. Due to their small size and inability to jump high, they both have different techniques at survival. The waterfall toad has sticky setae under webbed feet it uses in hanging on twigs, while the pebble toad can compress itself into a small rubber ball which lessens the impact of a fall.

After four years of going solo, Kuya Kim shares his adventures for 2012 with Pinoy Big Brother Double Up grand winner Melai Cantiveros. In 70 hectares in Sampran, Thailand, tourists are given a glimpse of life before technology came around. The art of extracting silk from silkworms is demonstrated, and how 300 to 400 meters of silk thread can be produced by a single silkworm. Kuya Kim and Melai say this would be as long as 33 buses end to end when stretched.

Lastly, we signed up on a recent episode humans share with the hyena in Laughter, its various contributions to one’s health where Melai went to town in tickling, doing antics and making faces just to get everyone to laugh. Doctors swear that laughter decreases the stress hormones in one’s body and make him healthier and thereby happier.

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