Unang Hirit in Pulilan

By 5am, I had reached the 5-Star bus terminal in Cubao, Quezon City.

Chief and I had slept late last night. We watched Robin Williams swap stories and deliver punch-lines at the “Late Show with David Letterman.”


It has been nearly ten years since I met up with Donald Tapan. I had first met him when I was with CITEM. Our creative team worked with several known photogs for our requirements. But this Thursday, I didn’t have a Job Order or Creative Brief for him. It was really just a simple out of town leisure photo coverage of a famous festival, the Carabao Festival.

One of my students had expressed interest to do a photography thesis and I had introduced Jenna Alejandro to Donald Tapan by SMS. Jenna had secured her parent’s approval and was joining this trip.

I tried to catch some sleep during the bus ride, but the excitement kept me awake most of the strip. The bus ticket cost only 59 pesos!

By 7am, we were in Pullilan. Took a tricycle ride to the front of the Pulilan Church. We quickly saw the production team of “Unang Hirit” already preparing for the features. Between "Umagang Kay Ganda" and "Unang Hirit," can you guess which one serves me the local news in the mornings?

Here are some “behind the scenes” pictures from the Thursday feature of “Unang Hirit” on the Carabao Festival.