Journalist Charie Villa, our boss in Choose Philippines, has traveled all over the globe. She has worked in Europe, the USA, Latin America and Afghanistan.
When she returned to ABS-CBN, she was assigned to the Regional Network Group, the part of the company that oversees all the different tv and radio stations spread all over the provinces.
Despite the fact she has seen so many places in the globe, Boss Charie has a special spot in her heart for Mindanao. It was here when she was with Reuters news agency that she covered one of the biggest stories of her career- the hostage of several foreigners and Filipinos by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the island of Basilan.
The experience left our Boss with a conviction to someday change the negative image of Mindanao as shown by media. From a place of war and conflict, Mindanao has shown promise- and Boss Charie is working to bring these stories of hope to see the light of day. Admittedly, there are still many problems plaguing the Southern Philippines but if you focus on the solutions then you can start addressing the problems.
Her latest assignment was in Surigao del Sur where she helped gaher volunteers for the "Bayan Mo, Patrol Mo" campaign in time for the 2013 national and local elections. Along the way she saw the beauty of Mindanao which she makes a point to share. This is her crusade.
