TV PATROL @ 20

TV Patrol World (The National-Global Edition)

With the reopening of ABS-CBN Manila (and eventually the whole ABS-CBN) in 1986, the post-EDSA 1 edition of Balita Ngayon (its Filipino-language newscast in the 1960's)--with actor Robert Arevalo and radio anchor Mel Tiangco as anchors--was launched. After few months, people in ABS-CBN Manila proposed an all-new newscast to replace Balita Ngayon, which was viewed by a few people then. ABS-CBN Manila was in 5th place in viewership levels among all the Manila TV channels.

Planned in January 1987 and launched on its premiere telecast on 2 March 1987, TV Patrol was an innovation and a sensation that time--it combined news with public service and entertainment. And TV Patrol history became ABS-CBN history--it became the number 1 night-time show in Metro Manila after few months, as it took the entire Philippines by storm later on; so is ABS-CBN. It was able to serve not only the people in Metro Manila but also the entire country. For the launch, Robert and Mel stayed; they were joined in by another radio anchor Noli de Castro and an actress-TV personality Angelique Lazo. Noli was soon joined by other anchors as the original anchors left--Robert in 1987 (to be replaced by Frank Evangelista, another legendary TV Patrol anchor), Angelique in the early 1990's and Mel in 1995. When one anchor cannot arrive, another has to take place--giving rise to replacement anchors. 

1988 saw the launch of regional flavors of TV Patrol to serve the people in various locations of the country--from Northern Luzon, Central Visayas and Southern Mindanao to Laoag, Iloilo, Tacloban and Socsargen. The launch of ABS-CBN's global Filipino TV channel TFC (The Filipino Channel) in 1994 was also the launch of a special global edition to serve the overseas Filipinos, eventually including reports from the network's global news bureux. 

Events covered from 1987 by the national/regional/global edition include the Philippine fiestas (among them the annual Quiapo fiesta), international events like the meetings of the United Nations (one in Egypt in 1990's) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (one in Manila in 1996), coups against President Aquino (the worst was in 1989), assassinations of Cory-era personalities (Lean Alejandro, Rolando Olalia, Joe Pring), the May 1987 senatorial and congressional elections, rebel Rizal Alih's dramatic Zamboanga attack, rebel soldier Alexander Noble's Northern Mindanao revolt, the 1990 Northern Luzon earthquake, 1991 Southeast Asian games in Manila, the Mount Pinatubo explosions (1991 onwards), the Philippine national elections (1992 and 1995), the 1994 Tawi Tawi solar eclipse (that caused the rift between news teams of ABS-CBN and NBN-PTV then, and Noli’s publicized emotional outburst), the 1990's blackouts/oil price hikes, the 1993 Mayon Volcano explosion, events related to the controversial General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/GATT, the 1994 Manila film fest awards night scandals, the 1995 nationwide protest versus the Pacific atom bomb test, the cases of Filipina workers Victoria Suller (early 1990's in India), Flor Contemplacion (1994 in Singapore) and Sarah Balabagan (1995 in the Emirates), the 10th anniversary of EDSA Revolution 1 (1996), the visit of Pope John Paul II (1995) and Mexico's number 1 actress-singer Thalia (in 1996), the 50th anniversary of the final battles of World War II in the Philippines (1994-1995) and the 50th anniversary of Bolinao Electronics Corporation-the predecessor of ABS-CBN Manila (1996).

1997 saw Noli as the national edition's solo anchor until 2001 when he left ABS-CBN to serve the people as Philippine Senator (and in 2004 as Philippine Vice President). The show covered events like the situation of Filipinos in Hong Kong during its handover from United Kingdom to China (1997), the 100th Anniversary of Independence of the Philippines (1998), the 1998 Philippine National Elections, the Nationwide/Worldwide New Millennium Midnight Celebrations (Year 2000), 2000 government war with Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the 2000 President Estrada Impeachment Trial-a first in the country and in Asia-that led to the second EDSA Revolution (2001).

By 2001, Korina Sanchez (replacement anchor for Mel Tiangco and Kata Inocencio, 1995-1997) took over with Henry Omaga Diaz (Noli's, 1997-2001) and Aljo Bendijo (anchor of the ABS-CBN Davao City edition). TV Patrol covered the 2001 Mendiola Bridge Siege, the 2001 national elections, 9-11-2001 and subsequent global terror attacks and the Philippine government’s war versus terrorists, the 2001 war in Afghanistan, 2000-2001 Abu Sayyaf kidnappings and attacks, the 2001 Abu Sayyaf kidnappings, the 2001 Fil-Aussie family massacre at Australia, the death and funeral of ABS-CBN stars Nida Blanca (2001) and Rico Yan (2002).

By 2003, Julius Babao (Noli's another long-time replacement, prior to 1997) joined Korina. They covered the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, 2003 Attack on Iraq, US President George W. Bush's visit to Manila (2003), the 2003 coup versus President Arroyo, the 50th Anniversary of Philippine TV and of ABS-CBN Manila (2003), the 2003 fever by ABS-CBN's first daily Taiwanese drama-comedy series Meteor Garden bundled with the year's visit of the Meteor Garden stars, the top-rated 2003 publicized controversy of Kris Aquino, the 2004 national elections, and the 2004 abduction, miraculous release and homecoming of OFW Angelo dela Cruz from Iraq (that caused rift between news teams of ABS-CBN and GMA).

Soon special editions of the newscast for the weekends were in place to give way for ABS-CBN's special coverages of national and global news, eventually paving way for the regular run of the weekend editions in 2004--with anchors Henry Omaga Diaz and Ces Orena Drilon (Korina's replacement, 2001-2004).

2004 saw Korina's announcement of her resignation from the national edition to make way for the fusion of the national and the global editions-now named TV Patrol World. For the daily edition, Julius stayed and had co-anchors in Ted Failon (Frank Evangelista's replacement, prior to 1997) and Karen Davila (ABS-CBN's late night newscaster since 2001). Nina Corpus, and eventually Phoemela Barranda, anchored the news on the local and international entertainment scene. Henry and Ces stayed for the weekend edition to be replaced in 2005 by Bernadette Sembrano (Ces' replacement, 2004-2005) and in 2006 by Alex Santos (also anchor of the ABS-CBN Davao City edition).

The World edition has covered the 2004 Asia-Arabia-Africa Tsunami disasters, the emotion-filled deaths and funerals of actor-presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr (2004) and Pope John Paul II (2005), the 2005 installation of Pope Benedict XVI, Hello Garci (2005), the impeachment attempts versus President Arroyo via Philippine Congress (2005 and 2006), the typhoon disasters of 2004 (in Quezon) and 2006 (in Leyte, Metro Manila and Bicol Region), the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, the Asiad 2006, the first Filipino ascent to Mount Everest (2006), the recent Middle East conflict (2006), the 2006 Philippine nursing exam scandals and the the ups and downs of Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao (2005-2006). Now, the newscast covers the 2006 national elections and continues to improve and reinvent to serve the global Filipino.

Sources: ABS-CBN @ Wayback Archive, ABS-CBN TV Manila/DZMM Manila Radio Broadcasts, Wikipedia, Pinoy TV-The Story of ABS-CBN (ABS-CBN Publishing), Kapitan: The Story of Geny Lopez and ABS-CBN (ABS-CBN Publishing)