Singer-songwriter Daryl Ong has broken his silence on why he’s no longer a Kapamilya artist along with Bugoy Drilon even before ABS-CBN’s shutdown.
Daryl started off his vlog released June 15 on his YouTube channel by thanking the people and shows responsible for all the opportunities he had when he was still at the Kapamilya network.
The OPM singer said that even before the ABS-CBN shutdown due to the lapse of its 25-year congressional franchise, he was already out of the Kapamilya network for a comment on the issue.
Daryl shared that he along with fellow singers Bugoy Drilon and Michael Pangilinan, also collectively known as the R&B pop trio BuDaKhel, were waiting at the airport for their show in Iloilo when they had a conversation with a former employee of ABS-CBN.
Part of their conversation touched on the ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal issue where Bugoy brought up the online petition aiming to collect a million signatures for the network’s franchise renewal and they had a little argument about it.
“Parang sabi ni Bugoy, 60,000 na lang yung kulang para mabuo yung one million. Ako naman nakita ko rin yun. Ang pagkakakita ko naman 60,000 pa lang yung nagsa-sign. So sabi ko kay Bugs (Bugoy) hindi, hindi 60,000 na lang, 60,000 pa lang at anong petsa na… May deadline po kasi yun eh nung time na ‘yun,” narrated Daryl.
“Tapos nagdagdag ako ng comment na, sabi ko, mahirap ‘yan, naku malabo na yan, mahirap yan, kalaban ba naman nila ang gobyerno, si Presidente ba naman ang kalaban, so malabo na yan,” he further recalled.
Daryl was referring to President Duterte’s past pronouncements that he would block the renewal of the media giant’s franchise after the alleged non-airing of his 2016 presidential election campaign ads.
After they finished their Iloilo show, Daryl said that they got a phone call from their manager who said that their whole conversation at the airport was secretly recorded by a guy seated beside them and that it reached one of ABS-CBN’s big bosses.
“Yung guy na nag-record sa convo namin about franchise issue, nagkataon na kaibigan pala ng isa sa mga big boss sa ABS-CBN. So apparently, pinarinig ‘yung recording at ang dating sa kanila wala kaming utang na loob or parang pinag-uusapan namin yung franchise issue and it seems na wala daw kaming concern,” alleged Daryl.
When they returned to Manila, Daryl claimed that they were informed by their managers that they were no longer allowed to appear in any ABS-CBN show.
“’Daryl banned kayo ni Bugoy sa ABS-CBN.’ Meron ng batas na bawal na kami lumabas sa lahat shows ng ABS-CBN,” he further claimed.
“Ang dating sa akin personally, ang impression sa kanila is kumakampi kami sa fact na hindi mare-renew yung license. So, hindi na kami nabigyan ng chance magpaliwanag,” he added.
According to Daryl, he felt a “sense of urgency” in revealing the “true reason” why he’s no longer a Kapamilya after reading certain comments on BuDaKhel’s guesting in Eat Bulaga last March, alleging that they already transferred to the rival network.
“Yun nga po. Hindi po ako ang umalis sa ABS-CBN. Tinanggal po ako. Banned po ako. Dahil nga dun sa insidente na napagkwentuhan namin ang franchise issue and nakarating sa isang boss, at ang impression sa kanila e may kinakampihan kami.”
Daryl admitted that he got dismayed for not being given the chance to explain, however, he said he will always be thankful to his former network.
“Nakakalungkot lang na hindi kami nabigyan ng chance magpaliwanag or hindi man lang kami kinausap ng boss na nag-ban sa sa amin,” Daryl said.
“Wala na po ako sa ABS-CBN. Wala na po ako sa Kapamilya network. Pero wala po akong galit sa Kapamilya network. Wala po akong karapatan na hindi maging mapagpasalamat dahil sila naman talaga ang nagbigay ng opportunity sa akin bilang artist na makatawid sa mainstream. Kaya habang buhay kong ipagpapasalamat yun.”
ABS-CBN has yet to issue a comment on the statement of its former talent.
