#ThankfulThursday: Three Years of PANAHON TV

“Weather is a great metaphor for life–sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.” ~ Pepper Giardino

In a country prone to natural disasters, community awareness and preparedness serve as keys to survival.

On September 10, 2012, Panahon TV, produced by UBE Media in cooperation with the Philippine Communications Operations Office (PCOO), People’s Television Network (PTV), PAGASA-DOST and Air21, was first aired on national television.

From Day One, the team has grown bigger, fulfilling bigger dreams for the show and its viewers. But aside from the weather updates that the program offers every day, Panahon TV has its own stories to tell – stories also symbolized by weather.

Storms
In the past three years, Panahon TV monitored a lot of weather disturbances, including tropical cylones from the exterior to the interior of the Philippine boundary. These include Pablo, Quinta, Maring, Yolanda, Glenda, Ruby and Chedeng, just to name a few. Together with PAGASA, Panahon TV has been doing its best to help save lives by providing accurate and timely weather updates to inform and aid citizens in making necessary preparations.

Sunshine
Through the years, Panahon TV has been consistently recognized by different organizations due to its outstanding efforts on public service.
Awards include the Wind Vane Award, Gawad Scriba and Anak TV Award. Panahon TV was also acknowledged by the Department of Education (DepEd) for its BERT (Batang Emergency Response Team) Workshop, which aims to make students and teachers disaster-ready. Just recently, Panahon TV became a part of the 3rd United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan.

Rain
They say when it rains, it pours. True enough, Panahon TV now has various partners in multimedia platforms such as the radio, newspaper and the web. Our radio partners include DZIQ and DWIZ, while print partners include Business Mirror, Manila Times, Business World, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, Cebu Daily News, Inquirer Catalyst Media, United Daily News,United Daily Press, Inquirer Golf, Bandera, Libre and Pilipino Mirror.

On the web, Panahon TV makes its presence felt through its regularly updated website and feature articles that tackle a variety of topics on health, disaster preparedness, environment, among others.

Rainbows
Rainbows comes after storms in the same way that Panahon TV not only provides information, but also monitors the aftermath of natural disasters, and helps rebuild lives.

On October 15, 2013, Panahon TV flew to Bohol to produce a special segment on the first year anniversary of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that shook Bohol. The team witnessed how Boholanos recovered and continued to rise above the impact of the powerful quake.

A few days after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), considered as the strongest cyclone to make landfall in 2013, smashed the region of Visayas, Panahon TV immediately paired up with Tacloban’s First Response Radio to disseminate weather updates to the affected communities. The team also participated in donating and promoting recovery plans.

In 2014, Panahon TV revisited Tacloban, one of Yolanda’s hardly hit areas. This short visit aimed to assess the progress and share stories of hope from the people who survived the catastrophe.

Three years and counting
As we, at Panahon TV, celebrate our 3rd Anniversary today, we reminisce our humble beginnings and thank everyone who continuously support our program. The weather may be unpredictable, but one thing is for sure: we will continue serving the public – “dahil sa Panahon TV, walang pinipiling panahon ang pagbibigay impormasyon!”