A Narrative report of Budyong

A two-day event was held on November 23 to 24, it was the “Budyong: 2nd Regional Congress
for Media and the Arts”. It was handled by Marc & Joseph’s events in partnership of the
University of Sto. Tomas – Legazpi and was sponsored by different stores and facilities. The
event was mainly for Mass media students and aspiring journalists in the future. There are nine
lecturers coming from different places who were invited to talk and share their experiences about
their own paths in the media institution, one of them was Mrs. Korina Sanchez – Roxas who is a
Filipino broadcast journalists, television news anchor, Chief Correspondent for the Integrated
News and Current Affairs Division of ABS-CBN Corporation. Budyong was an eye opener and a
very informative event for each of us, may it be an aspiring journalist or not as the topics were
about proper use of social media, aiming for your goal, embracing your passion and being your
true self.

The event started at around 10 in the morning. The very first speaker was Ms. Karen Davila who
discussed about how she started her career as being a jornalist for 25 years and what were the
challenges that she faced throughout her career. She also pointed out the problems of the society
nowadays such as: unemployement, poverty, political freedom and instability, education, safety
and security, corruption, religious conflicts, wars and climate change. She left us with her
motivational words telling us to don’t be afraid to stand alone in a world that tells us to go this
way. The second speaker in the afternoon was Ms. Stacey De Jesus who is a head of the Digital
Communications and Civic Engagement (MovePH) units for Rappler. She talked about the truth
and how we can identify truth in all aspects, also the proper use of social media and how
powerful it is, fake accounts and fact checkings. Following her was the Senior Photo
Correspondent of Philippine Daily Inquirer Southern Luzon Bureau, Mr. Marc Alvic Esplana. He
taught us how take a good a shot of picture and how we can enhance the use of our cameras even
in our mobile phones.He gave us tips such as: For me, he is one of the lecturers who I learned a
lot while I’m not getting bored because how he talks and present is indeed fun. The last speaker
for Day 1 was Ms. Anna Patricia Malay who is a Vice President and General Manager. She is a
into Public Relations and she talked about being successful in PR. You should be updated with
the trends and that you should know how to deal with different kinds of people. So for Day 2,
which is also the last day of Budyong, it was opened by Congressman Joey Salceda by
presenting the Economic Situation and Data informations of the Philippines in this current year.
It was stated that the Philippines is one of the countries who suffers from large numbers of
unemployed citizens leading to poverty. So after the opening program, Mr. Christian Esguerra
who is a a veteran journalist and currently the ANC’s Political Correspondent, shared us about
his career and how we can get tips about the field of journalism such as the ethics of how the
informations travel from the journalists to the public and vice versa. That journalism is about
seeking and telling the truth for the good of everyone. And just after Mr. Esguerra was one of the
important speakers of this event, Mrs. Korina Sanchez-Roxas. She is a Filipino broadcast
journalists, television news anchor, Chief Correspondent for the Integrated News and Current
Affairs Division of ABS-CBN Corporation and she has been in the field of journalism for 30
years already. I learned a lot with her experiences especially when she told us that she failed lots
of exams and expectations in the past when she was just starting. She followed her passion and
not just what she ought to do, so this inspired me to do and be able to spend my life with the
work that I really love so that I won’t be regreting it later. Because as she said, you won’t get
tired of your work as long as you love it and you have that compassion in what you do. That you
must work hard for you to be successful because your intelligence won’t help you when you
don’t have the willingness and hardwork to be successful. She also gave empowerment to the
women telling us that what you show to others is what defines you. After her was Mrs. Ireen
Perol-Jaymalin who is a South Luzon News Cluster Head of ABS-CBN Integrated News &
Current Affairs. She shared with us what they do as a Regional Broadcasting member of ABS-
CBN news,
how news were transferred before from Legazpi to Manila and how different it is from before to
this modern year. Next to her was a Calligrapher and a Mural Artist also known as the “Camsur
Princess”, Ms. Marianne Yvette Ducut. She informed us about the difference of typography,
lettering and calligraphy and she also taught as how to do calligraphy by giving us samples and
drills of basic strokes. I also learned a lot with her. And lastly, Weeko Gan, a vlogger here in
Bicol shared with us her experiences and her journey throughout her vlogs and how she be able
to handle the bashing and negativities about her passion. The event ended by Awarding the
members of the Marc & Joseph events, the sponsors and also giving us, the participants, our
certificates. So all in all, I learned a lot and at the same time I enjoyed Budyong, I hope the youth
will apply all of what we have learned in our daily lives so that we will be able to make a change
and improve our society.

For the conclusion, I am indeed overwhelmed to be a part of “Budyong: 2nd Regional Congress
for Media and the Arts”. As a STEM student, even though I will not take up a Mass
Communication course in my tertiary education, I learned a lot especially in using the social
media properly and also, I am inspired to do what I want to do, to stand on my own feet and to
work hard in order to achieve success in the future. I will surely apply everything that I learned
in the event. It was an opportunity and an honor to be a part of Budyong.