MANILA, Philippines - Last March, TV reporter Doris Bigornia announced on her Twitter account that she’s returning to ABS-CBN (after a seven-year absence). “Please watch TV Patrol 6:30 tonight. Ako ay nagbalik na. In English, I am home,†Doris tweeted.
Except for that simple message, she returned to field reporting without fanfare. She left ABS-CBN in 2006, but after being away for quite a while, Doris returned to news reporting (via TV Patrol), something that she really loves to do and does best.
Doris does not say no to any assignment that’s right along her line of work. She’s diligent and hardworking. A single parent, she’s also brave and strong-willed. She has covered calamities, war in Mindanao, demolition of squatter’s shanties, shabu laboratory raids and other important stories that made it to every home every night.
Recently, she was given her weekly show, Mutya ng Masa, a moniker familiar to her fellow ABS-CBN reporters and viewers who really know her. Mutya ng Masa was coined by news executive Cheryl Favila, when Doris was then doing the remote coverage for the late-night show, Dong Puno Live.
Now, Mutya ng Masa has been elevated as the title of her show and Doris cannot be any happier. She deserves the break. She’s a TV reporter who works with no qualms in covering news stories. And it shows.
Mutya ng Masa is very apt for Doris because she can really understand and deliver the plight of the masses. She certainly knows how to deal and mingle with the simple people without any hesitation. However, the show does not attempt at giving anything grand, but simple joys, needs and happiness of common people.
“I’m so afraid to disappoint people,†Doris said in one of her TV interviews.
To promote Mutya ng Masa, Doris has guested on The Buzz (where she was interviewed by hosts Boy Abunda, Charlene Gonzales and Toni Gonzaga), appeared in It’s Showtime (with street kids from Divisoria) and was featured on the late-night news, Bandila’s Ikaw Na.
She completed her TV guestings in the showbiz-oriented programs, but admittedly not without much tension and nervousness.
After those appearances of Doris, TV host Vice Ganda even tweeted that he wanted to guest Doris in Gandang Gabi Vice. That is perhaps not far from happening, so watch out for Doris in Vice Ganda’s show soon.
In one of her TV guestings, Doris gamely belted out a portion of her favorite song, The Script’s If You Could See Me Now. “I was expecting this,†she joked wearing a red lipstick. “Feeling ko ako si Anne Curtis,†she said without batting an eyelash. “(Pero) hindi ako sikat.â€
Mutya ng Masa delivers light stories that are reality and “happiness,†assures Doris, who prefers wealth over love. No hard-hitting reportage but only positive accounts that can brighten the day of simple people.
Mutya ng Masa airs every Tuesday afternoon and is part of the documentary-news program Pinoy True Stories. Other shows throughout the week are Bistado with Julius Babao (Mondays), My Puhunan with Karen Davila (Wednesdays), Tapatan with Anthony Taberna (Thursdays) and Hiwaga with Atom Araullo.