“PAYONG KAPAMILYA SA FORECLOSURE” ON TFC INQUIRER.net
March 30, 2009
First-ever Filipino on-air foreclosure prevention workshop reaches out to kababayans affected by housing crisis
REDWOOD CITY, Ca –- (March 27, 2009) – In a sustained effort to respond to the rise of foreclosures and job loss affecting many Filipinos in the U.S., The Filipino Channel’s (TFC) flagship program, Balitang America, launched recently the first-ever foreclosure prevention workshop on air.
Payong Kapamilya Sa Foreclosure is an ongoing segment on Balitang America, the only nightly Filipino news program in the U.S. that offers direct, free, no-strings attached advice and information to Filipinos facing the grim possibility of losing their homes.
The first two segments featured the following expert panelists: Faith Bautista, president and CEO of Mabuhay Alliance, a San Diego-based non-profit organization and HUD-approved Housing Counseling agency; Chito Desuasido, CEO of GDE Holdings, Inc. and project manager of Bay Area Mabuhay Alliance; Robert L. Gnaizda, co-founder of and consultant for the Greenlining Institute, a Berkeley-based research and advocacy group that works on racial equality issues; and Joe Ohayon, vice president of client and community relations of the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage’s default and retention team.
As the audience always plays an important role to Balitang America, the segment entertained questions from viewers that were answered by the panelists. The questions touched on loan modifications, refinancing, foreclosure prevention and how the Obama administration’s Housing Rescue Plan impacts homeowners.
Balitang America has been deluged by hundreds of phone calls, emails and texts from troubled homeowners needing advice. Bautista commented that Mabuhay Alliance received over 300 calls the day after she first appeared as a panelist on Payong Kapamilya Sa Foreclosure. Balitang America received letters of thanks for the segment. Lucy Pamplona from Las Vegas, Nevada wrote: “Ako po ay nagpapasalamat nang marami dahil marami akong natutunan sa mga tinatalakay ninyong isyu tungkol sa problema ngayon ng ating bansa, lalo na sa housing market. Salamat po at mabuhay kayong lahat” (I’m very grateful because I learn a lot from the topics that you discuss that pertain to our national problems, especially in the housing market”).
“Payong Kapamilya Sa Foreclosure is resonating among Balitang America viewers because many property owners throughout the nation face the real potential of losing their homes,” said ABS-CBN International News Bureau Chief Ging Reyes. “For many of them, their home is the largest investment they will ever make. Foreclosure has a significant impact on their quality of life and on the Filipino community in general.”
Reyes added: “Payong Kapamilya Sa Foreclosure is in keeping with Balitang America's mission of providing the Filipino community with news and information that matter to their lives in North America. We continue to be a venue for discussion and a part of a collective brainstorm to find solutions to various issues affecting all of us in the community.”
To see all installments of Payong Kapamilya Sa Foreclosure, please visit www.youtube.com/TFCbalitangamerica.
