CHARO Santos-Concio, chief content officer of ABS-CBN, has said that she is willing to act in “Maalaala Mo Kaya” provided the story will give her goosebumps.
“Siguro if the story will give me goosebumps. I will tell you when I get the goosebumps,” said Santos-Concio, when asked if she was willing to act in “MMK” during an interview on “Tonight with Boy Abunda” on ABS-CBN.
Before she played a powerful role on TV and film production, Santos-Concio has established herself as an actress for her performances in critically-acclaimed films such as “Itim,” “Gumapang Ka sa Lusak,” “Pag-ibig Na Walang Dangal,” “Kontrobersyal,” and “Ms Dolora X.”
In 2016, “MMK” marks its 25th year as the longest-running drama anthology on television.
Santos-Concio also said that one of her favorite “MMK” episodes is “Rehas” which was broadcast in 2007 as a special presentation for the program’s 16th anniversary.
The episode stars Gina Pareño as a mother who takes care of her three mentally-ill children in Aklan. It won awards at the 12th Asian Television Awards and 2008 Seoul International Drama Awards.
“Ako rin paborito ko rin ang ‘Rehas.’ I cried buckets of tears. You can feel the unconditional love of a parent to her children,” Santos-Concio said.
She admitted that there were years when “MMK” was really challenged in the ratings game but they never gave up.
“There were years when our ratings were challenged. We panicked a bit. And we did a similar approach our competitor was doing. Also we have to go back to the original vision of our program which is to feature stories of ordinary people who have gone through extraordinary challenges and how they have surmounted it. We went back to featuring our letter senders,” Santos-Concio said.
Santos-Concio also said that she never thought of pulling the plug on “MMK” despite the challenges.
“I never felt that way and I will never feel that way. I have so much faith in the program. It is only when the viewers say we’re done with it, then I will let go. Free TV is a ratings game. If you don’t have the support of the audience, your advertisers, then just like any other program, it’s time to let go,” she said.
“For as long as there are people out there who will care to listen and be inspired, we will continue ‘MMK,’ “ Santos-Concio added.