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THE PROBE TEAM SUPPORTS
THE FIGHT AGAINST
ENVELOPMENTAL AND
SENSATIONAL JOURANALISM.
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PROBE
December 22, 2005
ABS- CBN
After Insider
Farm of Hope
There are more than 3 million drug users in the Philippines today and the
number is growing. Even more frightening is that 65 to 70 percent of reported
crimes are drug related.
But all is not lost. In the “Wild West” of the Philippines, Masbate, drug users,
alcoholics and gamblers are being tamed in an unusual farm handled by
former volunteer-addicts --- Fazenda da Esperanca or Farm of Hope. Fresh
from Brazil, Germany and Switzerland, the volunteers took on the gargantuan
task of rehabilitating Filipino addicts without knowing how to speak English
and Filipino.
Unlike other rehabilitation centers where patients are kept in rooms or cells
and where relatives have to pay for the rehabilitation of their loved one,
wards of the Fazenda da Esperanca roam free in the 352 hectares of the
farm. It is open and free to addicts who willingly give themselves to be
rehabilitated.
Set among the rolling hills of Masbate, wards are treated to the hard and
often challenging life of running a farm --- growing vegetables, herding and
milking cows and selling their produce in the local market. The staff of
Fazenda and the wards only eat what they grow. Fazenda believes that their
wards can overcome addiction by giving them work on the farm and guiding
them spiritually.
Even more inspiring in this unique rehabilitation center are the stories of the
former volunteer-addicts and the wards. There is a Brazilian banker, Mauricio
Bovo, who was addicted to cocaine. After being rehabilitated in a Fazenda
Center in Brazil, he sold his possessions and took his family to the Philippines
to live and volunteer in the Fazenda in Masbate.
And then there is Nonoy, a 14 year old orphan hooked on rugby. Fazenda
took him in and introduced him to farm life. Nonoy has successfully kicked his
addiction with the help Mauricio and his wife Karla, who have become the
former rugby boy’s surrogate parents.
The Probe Team

Probe reporter, Cheche Lazaro visits and experiences life in the Farm of Hope
during their preparation for Christmas. From the volunteers and wards, she
feels the true message of this season: there is a brighter side to everything
bad, all we need is to give hope and love to those around us.

Don’t miss this Christmas presentation of Probe on December 22, 2005 after
Insider. Catch the replays of Probe on ANC every Saturday 2 am and Sunday
11am.

Read comments about the show.

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The Probe Team

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THIS WEEK
THE PROBE TEAM pioneered the newsmagazine show
format in Philippine television when it aired for the first
time in 1987.

The show was conceptualized by Cecilia "Cheche" Lazaro,

former Probe Team reporter Luchi Cruz-Valdez, and
producer Maria Ressa, both are now executives of ABS-
CBN. The trio wanted to provide the audience with an
intelligent and non-sensational alternative to other public
affairs shows on the air.
CHECHE LAZARO
"The Probe Team delivers what intelligent viewers most
want to know about an issue,” says Lazaro. “It presents the AWARDS

stories behind the headlines in a straightforward, no-

THE TEAM
nonsense manner.”
THE PROBE TEAM
SUPPORTS THE
As a staff, The Probe Team aimed to surpass itself by FIGHT AGAINST
making each episode better than the last. Lazaro says that ENVELOPMENTAL
AND
the essence of The Probe Team lies in the fact that “even SENSATIONAL
if we work separately throughout the day, at the end of the JOURNALISM.
day, we come together as a team."

The show went through many changes and introduced new

formats on Philippine television, one being the shift from
pure English to Filipino scripts in 1997. This move
institutionalized Filipino reports to better reach the Filipino
audience.

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The Probe Team

PROFILE PRODUCTIONS NEWS GALLERY COMMENTS CONTACT

THIS WEEK

THE PROBE TEAM DOCUMENTARIES

Issues, social concerns and features presented in one full

hour. Maintaining the standards that were set by those before
them, The Probe Team continued to delve into what the public
should know more about, tackling issues that were viewed to
be too serious for entertainment-hungry viewers. According to
Lazaro, "Probe doesn't just present social issues. It hopes to
galvanize viewers, especially policy makers, to act and make a
stand on these issues.”
THE PROBE TEAM
SUPPORTS THE
FIGHT AGAINST
ENVELOPMENTAL
THE PROBE MINUTE AND
SENSATIONAL
JOURNALISM.
One-minute tidbits of the latest news and issues, The Probe
Minute with Cheche Lazaro will definitely gave viewers
something to think about, and it only took a minute.

LENTE

For the Election Season of 2004, The Probe Team offered the
Filipino audience a different kind of pre-election coverage—a
12-part docu-drama entitled Lente. A first in Philippine
television, it is an integration of documentary and telenovela
formats, where a fictional story runs parallel to serious and
factual reporting. Unthinkable? So it seems, but reporter
Cheche Lazaro believed that mixing the two will work. “The
telenovela threads the documentary series together. In that
manner, the viewer has always something more to look
forward to in each episode of the documentary,” she says.

Lente is an example of Probe’s brand of truthful and in-depth

reportage with a sprinkle of romance and suspense.

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The Probe Team

I-WITNESS

The I-Witness episodes of Cheche Lazaro were co-produced

with GMA from 1999-2002. I-Witness is the documentary
program of GMA that airs every Monday during the public
affairs time slot.

THE PROBE TEAM

The Probe Team was the country’s first investigative

television newsmagazine. Using an investigative
newsmagazine format, the reporters probed into the issues
that did not often get airtime elsewhere but needed to be
brought to the public’s attention.

The show was divided into three segments: The Heavy Story
(an investigative piece on the top issues of the day), the
Medium Story (a piece on long-running social or
environmental concerns) and the Light Story (a lifestyle, arts
and culture feature).

The show also experimented with different formats. Pasakalye,

for example, revolutionized the way hard issues were tackled.
With the boom mic as her armor, former Probe reporter Love
Añover took to the streets and talked to Filipinos about their
views on the latest social issues and fads. This segment
allowed the masses to hear a more familiar voice… their own.

For a detailed search through our archives, visit the Probe Online Media Library or
send an email to the Probe Productions Media Library Team.

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