THRILLMAKER: Ces Drilon turns 'probinsyana'
By Joee Guilas
She is known to be one of the most fashionable female news personalities in the country, who not only dishes out the day’s top headlines but also hobnobs with the biggest and the most influential CEOs for her truly insightful business features. She is a woman who exudes natural grace and class that others might find hard not to be envious of, after all, she is the perfect balance of both style and substance (the stylish bit seems to be in the blood that runs through her veins, being the sister of Joyce Orena, a top model of her time). Ces Drilon is everything a modern city girl would dream to be: beautiful, sophisticated, smart and constantly, upwardly mobile. Until her retirement from ABS-CBN fairly recently, she has remained to be an icon for a lot of women especially to those who look up to her as a model of being empowered. Her ascent to the top leadership of The Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service (TOWNS) is testimony to her being the representation of such space. This image that people have of Ces, therefore, makes it quite shocking to see her in a totally different light.
Just a few days ago, Ces Drilon announced her official on-air comeback via a radio program entitled “Basta Promdi, Lodi,” something that she will be co-hosting with Ang Probinsyano Party-list representative, Congressman Alfred de Los Santos. The show airs Mondays through Fridays, 1:30pm to 2:30pm on RMN-DZXL 558 with livestreaming on RMN’s official Facebook page. It serves as a public service program that aims to address pressing concerns in the country’s many provinces and advocate for rural development.
“I am excited to go back to doing radio after many years, and with a millennial government official partner in Rep. Alfred, I know the work we do will be able to reach a wide audience. I think it’s time that we put the spotlight on our kababayans in the provinces, to highlight their stories and show that they are ‘lodis’,” Ces said in a virtual presser launching the new radio show.
The radio program, which carries the tagline “On-air aksyon at solusyon,” is comprised of segments such as Promdi Patrol (for updates and reports in the provinces by local correspondents); Promdi Lodi (which highlights outstanding heroes that hail from the provinces); and Promdi Aksyon (reserved for actions and solutions to complaints), among others.
Congressman de los Santos says, “I am looking forward to reaching out to more kababayans and further building stronger ties with local government units through the show, as what we have also been consistently doing at Ang Probinsyano Party-list. The focus of the radio program is aligned with our current projects - be more accessible to our kababayan. The show will have a supplemental role in how we tackle and provide resolutions to promdi issues and concerns.”
When asked how she would reconcile her image of being a highly-recognizable style icon to the show’s principal target audience of simple-living provincianos, Ces stressed that she does not see the two as being contradictory with each other. She also revealed she has a provinciana side to her: ““My father grew up in Villasis, Pangasinan and we would always go there as a child. His father was a farmer. My love for farming probably stemmed from there. Manghuhuli kami ng manok na gumagala at saka iihawin. A few years ago, I started planting malunggay and then I started imagining myself living in a farm, and eventually, I want to live in a farm. I am at heart, a promdi. Recently, we have been seeing a lot that shows a return to simplicity, going back to nature, getting healed by nature, tapping resources around us.” True enough, even in her recent business ventures, Ces has been developing products, mostly from organic materials she sources from her farming activities.
For his part, Congressman de los Santos expressed great pride in his being a true blue provinciano, saying, it has actually helped him in delivering better and a more responsive service to the publics who voted him to his post: “I’m from Albay studied there too. Kailan lang talaga ako nag-Manila. Magkaiba talaga culture ng mga taga-probinsya at laking metro manila. May characteristics na iba. Mas may attention for service and love, mas simple and mas caring. I use these in my work in public service.”
Officially listed as the Alyansa ng mga Mamamayang Probinsyano, “Ang Probinsyano Party-List” is a political organization which presently has two seats in the House of Representatives and seeks representation of farmers, fishers and other marginalized groups in the provinces or rural areas in the Philippines.