First UNTV Cup: Excitement builds up as the opening tip nears

Excitement builds up over the 1st UNTV Cup, a project spearheaded by UNTV-BMPI CEO Daniel Razon, prior to its opening tip on July 29 at the Big Dome. One of the more talked about development is that future boxing hall of famer Manny Pacquiao, a basketball enthusiast himself, is invited to play with his co-public servants on the event.

This will be a big opportunity for Manny to showcase his basketball skills to the thousands expected to attend the basketball for a cause tournament at the Araneta Coliseum on the 29th – if the Sarangani congressman finally decides to participate.

Pacquiao is known for his heroics in the boxing ring but his fondness of basketball is well documented as well. He has even integrated basketball games in his previous trainings before a fight.

Blogs, news sites, as well as online social networks have been showing excitement as the opening ceremony of the UNTV Cup nears. ABS-CBN News, InterAksyon, and Philboxing.com were some of the agencies that have covered the story of this charitable sports event.

Additionally, online blogs have shown interest in the said tournament. The blogger at dievolger.blogspot.com says:

"Leave it to Mr. Public Service Kuya Daniel Razon (Chairman and CEO of UNTV) to come up with a charity project and he'll gather co-public servants, local government officials and celebrities for a tournament that will surely bring triumph to all no matter who wins or loses the game." 

Blogger of paperchases.wordpress.com has this to say:

"Whether the country’s kamao will indeed come to shoot some hoops for a cause this coming Sunday, we hope all our kasambahays and everyone else out there will support this wonderful initiative from our very own public service channel, UNTV."

 Social network users have expressed eagerness to witness this unique tournament.

The teams of public servants and celebrities will compete in the tourney and the champion will have the 1 Million peso cash prize for the charitable institution of their choice. The runner-up will receive 500,000 pesos.

This is an initiative by Kuya Daniel to promote unity, camaraderie, and healthy living upon the public servants and all of these coupled with a noble cause.

UNTV Cup is just one of the public service projects by Daniel Razon. He was the man behind the successful Isang Araw Lang Untity Run, to help fund the free college education at La Verdad Christian College. He also spearheaded the Sing and Shoot Concert which is a concert type event with a basketball game also for the La Verdad students.

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UNTV unveils plans on carrying out its 9th year theme: "Inspiring Change, Building Better Communities"

UNTV-BMPI CEO Daniel Razon revealed some of the TV station's projects in fulfilling the theme of the station "Inspiring Change, Building Better Communities".

(Ineexpand natin ang ating ginagawang public service at gusto natin mas marami ang ating maaabot. Kumbaga nagsimula ka sa maliit na scope, ngayon community na ating pinupuntahan.)

"We are expanding our public services, we want to reach out to more people. We started out on a smaller scope, now we are already going to the communities." said Razon.

One of the focus of UNTV this year is to improve its free public health services by distributing UNTV Philhealth coupons to indigents in remote communities of the country.

UNTV Philhealth coupons will be distributed to indigents in remote areas of the country.

With this project, there will be no need for people in need of medical assistance to travel to Metro Manila just to avail the free check ups and medicines provided by UNTV. Participating hospitals in various parts of the country will already grant them service upon showing the coupon.

This project is in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units.

(So we will coordinate with the DSWD and the local government para mas ma-identify natin kaagad ang indigents na maaaring mag-avail ng UNTV Philhealth coupons na magagamit nila sa mga areas na nila.)

"So we will coordinate with the DSWD and the local government to quickly identify the indigents that could avail the UNTV Philhealth coupons which they could already use in their respective areas. " said Daniel Razon.

In addition to that, UNTV will also sponsor families that cannot avail of Philhealth services by providing  UNTV Sponsored Philhealth Cards. The TV station will pay for the premiums of the health service instead of the families.

Another new public service of UNTV is Rescue Cab (Tulong Muna Bago Pasada) which will tap to the thousands of taxis roving around Metro Manila to assist in case of road accidents.

New public service from UNTV termed Rescue Cab taps taxi drivers
 to provide help in an event of an accident.

This project is adapted from Tulong Muna Bago Balita, which is another brainchild of Kuya Daniel.

(Kaya natin tinatawag na Rescue Cab ang ating naman ngayon dito itina-tap ay yung mga taxi drivers.. Tayo ang nagte-train sa kanila, tayo ang nag-o-augment ng pangangailangan nila para maging qualified din sila sa pagre-rescue.)

"The reason we call it Rescue Cab is because we now tap the taxi drivers. We train them, we are the ones to augment their needs, for them to be qualified in rescue." he said.

New television programs are also expected to debut in the coming weeks at UNTV Channel 37 to provide worthwhile shows to its viewers.

More projects are expected from the public service station on the coming seasons as promised by Daniel Razon.

(We will expand sa bigger pa, God wiling sa mas malaki pa na scope. Nagumpisa ka sa pamilya, smallest unit of society, then you go to the community, dirediretso na yun with God's help.)

"We will expand, God willing, to a larger scope. You started from the families, the smallest unit of society, then you go to the community, that will keep on going with God's help." said Kuya Daniel Razon.

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UNTV, Nine Strong Years of Public Service

To witness a random act of kindness is a very heart warming experience. A person showing love to another without expecting anything in return is something that can touch the heart of even the most hardened of people.

Feeding a homeless guy, or giving a few bucks to a beggar, may not only help them through the day but that simple act could give them hope and motivation to continue despite the the difficult situation that they are in.

But what if instead of randomly helping, we make it a regular part of our lives?

That's exactly what TV Station, UNTV, has been doing for nine years now. Through its charity oriented programming, they were able to touch the lives of thousands upon thousands of people who have needed help and hope in their lives.

This July, UNTV, under the leadership of Kuya Daniel Razon, is celebrating its 9th year of broadcasting and public service. Not with a typical TV station format, UNTV's orientation is to provide meaningful shows and public service oriented programs to the public.


A glimpse of UNTV's Humanitarian Efforts 

Although UNTV has always been a public service oriented station, the most influential advocacy of the station came on February 2009, when the campaign 'Isang Araw Lang' emerged at Kuya Daniel's very own show Good Morning Kuya. Daniel together with a few veteran broadcasters was talking about the predicament of poor Filipinos and how and who should help them.

There, Daniel Razon asked “What if a doctor or lawyer gives just one day of his service to his fellowmen for free? What if any Filipino who has the capacity to give sacrifices just one day for his fellowmen in need?”

Thus the campaign was born. A call to action for everyone to do something good, and exert effort to help others even for just a day.

The advocacy for change has generated a lot of support. Some of it include Bread Society's "Brigada Eskwela", a project that successfully cleaned more than 44,000 public schools.

In one day, youth groups from Metro Manila cleaned Sapang Alat River at Caloocan City which is the 30th dirtiest river in the world.

Youth groups cleaning the Sapang Alat River in support of Isang Araw Lang campaign .
(Photo embedded form kuyadaniel.wordpress.com)

Isang Araw Lang Unity Run, which is a fun run to raise funds for free college education, is also a product of the said campaign.

Participants of the Isang Araw Lang Unity Run for college education
(Photo embedded from kuyadanielrazon.wordpress.com)

Government institutions also partnered with UNTV to serve our countrymen. Together with DepEd, UNTV launched 'Dunong Gulong', a mobile classroom that provides basic education for out of school youth and students from far-flung areas in the country.

Kuya Daniel Razon (middle), together with Sec. Armin Luistro (Razon's right)
during the launching of Dunong Gulong.
(Photo embedded from kuyadaniel.wordpress.com)

Add-a-tree project, in cooperation with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is also a fruit of Isang Araw Lang.

When the Maguindanao massacre happened in 2009 (where some 30 journalists were killed in a politically motivated ambush in Mindanao), UNTV was one of the first to reach out to the families of the victims and gave them support.

In 2010, UNTV launched Tulong Muna Bago Balita (Rescue First, Report Later) an advocacy that puts life-saving first on top of news reporting. This meant UNTV reporters became rescuers ready to respond to emergencies in a moment's notice.

Aside from the said projects, there are other charitable efforts spearheaded by UNTV. These include Libreng Sakay (Free Ride), Transient Home, Tulong Muna Bago Pasada, Munting Pangarap, Law Center ni Kuya, and Home for the Abandoned Babies project.

UNTV's public service efforts in the span of nine years are already difficult to enumerate. In those years, UNTV has imprinted its own brand of programming to the Philippine media scene.

For its 9th year, the theme of UNTV is "Inspiring Change, Building Better Communities." The theme is really descriptive of what the station do for their advocacies are not only limited in helping individuals but they are changing whole communities with their service programs.

So job well done to Kuya Daniel Razon and to everyone that comprises UNTV for their 9th year of public service.

May they continue their strong public service for years to come.

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