Shot in black and white, bereft of music, using plaintive words in Filipino. The video's tone is quiet, controlled—breathing with anger without bombast, confusion without invective, pain without the scream.
It is a goodbye reluctantly given, and illustrates the struggle one man shares with the thousand others who lost their jobs following ABS-CBN's shutdown.
Not surprisingly, its creator, Paolo Ramos, belongs to the network's Creative Communications Division and is one of the creators of ABS-CBN's much-lauded and iconic station IDs.
Ramos cannot shake off the thought that the shutdown should never have happened in a society where there is freedom and justice. But, in talking political truth the man chooses to use the tenor of poetry and lyrical essay.
He openly says that he wishes he could say his goodbyes in a more personal way, but asks how does one do so?
The full video was shared on Twitter by ABS-CBN North America News Bureau Chief TJ Manotoc. Portions of the clip also aired on TV Patrol on August 28, the same night when 12 of its regional editions bade viewers an emotional goodbye.
For those affected by the retrenchments, including Ramos, August 31 is the last official day at work. But this being National Heroes Day, effectively yesterday, August 29, Saturday, became the day of goodbyes on air.
ABS-CBN has been fully off the air since May 5. Lawmakers, accusing the Lopez-own broadcasting giant of franchise violations, denied on July 10, 2020 the network's plea to have its franchise renewed, triggering layoffs and the company's accelerated shift to digital.
Of course, the whole country knows that denying the franchise was simply a band of legislators towing the line of the President, who has many times publicly announced his unmoving stand that the Lopezes would never get their franchise renewed.
The publicly listed network has informed the Philippine Stock Exchange that it already lost nearly P4 billion in the first six months of 2020, reflecting the twin blows of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown.
With the video, Ramos shows viewers images of studios and hallways now eerily empty, and provides this voiceover:
"Ikaw lang ang alam ko. Kabisado ko bawat sulok mo. Ang sikat ng araw sa 'yo..."
"Kilala kita. Kinilala mo din ako. Ang hindi ko kilala ay ang katahimikan mong ito. Nakakabingi. Nakakarindi. Nakakatakot."
"Hindi kita iniwan. Kasabay ng mga kinilalang higit pa sa kaibigan, paulit-ulit na sinigaw ang iyong pangalan. Paulit-ulit para sa katotohnan. Paulit-ulit para sa kalayaan. Paulit-ulit para sa katarungan.
"Bawat kanto, hanggang dulo, kahit masakit na sa puso dahil wala naman akong hindi gagawin para sa 'yo."
"Gusto ko sanang sabihing mahal na mahal na mahal kita. Gusto ko sanang magpaalam. Ayoko sanang magpaalam."
This is one reaction to the video from a fellow Kapamilya:
????
"Paalam"
Salamat, Direk Paolo Ramos ????#KapamilyaForever pic.twitter.com/zpdKkdqKdn
- TJ Manotoc (@tjmanotoc) August 27, 2020