It happened a long time ago, but broadcast journalist Ces Drilon could still remember it clearly.
Talking about the sexual harassment she suffered during her early days as a reporter.
In a recent interview with Toni Gonzaga, Ces revealed that it happened courtesy of a former superior.
Note she wasn't his lone victim.
Other female reporters also experienced the same fate.
"We were all going to file a complaint. But we all got scared and left only one person to complain," she shared, relating how she still feels quite guilty about it.
"You know that feeling where people say: 'Why didn't you speak up?' 'You waited too long.' But it's true, It's hard for you to say it right away because you were afraid to lose your job. Many reasons," she added.
Ces said that for many years, the smell of the area where the assault happened, stayed with her.
"In the old newsroom, we had a sink in the pantry with old newspapers stacked there; then plates that haven't even been washed - stuff like that. So that smell, like that of smelly insects - that smell stayed with me for a very long time."
But what did the sex-starved culprit did to her, exactly?
Ces related how he forcibly tried to kiss her -- and with tongue, but she was able to run away.
Asked what she learned from the experience, Ces said: "Guilt."
She added, "That the job was more important (to me) than complaining."
Kidnap-for-ransom
In the same interview, Ces also talked about an incident in 2008 with Abu Sayyaf members kidnapping her and her crew in Sulu, keeping them captive for nine days.
The broadcaster cleared assumptions that she was raped while in captivity.
Ces admitted she is "very upset" at the apparent morbid fascination held by many about it.
She said, "Because if I was, what? Are you gonna look at me differently?"
"It's like, people would whisper, 'Ah, she was raped.' The possibility of me being raped was there, yes. But it seemed like people were so fascinated. Well, if I were raped, would they look at me differently? Is it my fault that that happened to me?"
Ces said that more than anything, she learned to appreciate life following the ordeal.
"You realize that life is so short. And sometimes, you know, I feel very guilty because I'm so dedicated to my job that even when I was about to watch a movie with my children, and there's a call saying there's a story brewing somewhere, I would cancel," she said. "So I felt that you know, to really value my family and to stop and smell the flowers. I mean, you don't have to chase after all these stories."
Ces shared how she also learned about "humility" after she was suspended for disobeying a last-minute order to cancel her coverage of the Abu Sayyaf.
She now also appreciates "gratitude" more because of the many people who prayed for her.
"I really believe in the power of everyone's prayers. It really helped, it saved me!"
Ces added that she's now "more measured, more cautious."
"Because I am such a risk-taker. So I have learned to apply that in my life."
Following ABS-CBN's shutdown, Ces was laid off.
She is now into developing all-natural products from her Vagabond Farms.
She is also a "mom" to four Shiba Inus, which her youngest son Andre introduced her to.