A grand entrance?
This was what some social media users thought when they saw a previous report of a morning show about Bulacan residents being inconvenienced by the floodwaters in their area.
Twitter user @colomaisaacjeff on Wednesday, July 26 reposted a TikTok clip of “Unang Hirit,” GMA Network’s long-running morning show, featuring a segment about a flooded neighborhood in Sitio Nabong at Barangay Meysulao in Calumpit, Bulacan.
The report was aired on July 20, five days after Severe Tropical Storm Dodong (international name: Talim) left the Philippine Area of Responsibility.
“Dodong” mainly traversed northern Luzon but it also enhanced the prevailing southwest monsoon (locally known as “habagat”), bringing rains and thunderstorms over different parts of the country.
This resulted in flooding in some low-lying areas, including Calumpit.
Their circumstance was reported by weather presenter Anjo Pertierra of the morning show, who was standing in the middle of a flooded road.
Behind him, there is a group of people tending to a small canoe.
As Pertierra delivers his report, the canoe moves in his direction. It is being pushed by another individual.
The passenger, a woman, alights at the exact moment he says that he will interview some of the neighborhood’s residents for his report.
She also approaches Pertierra without questions.
Meanwhile, the canoe is then slowly moved away by the person who pushed it in Pertiera’s direction.
@unanghirit Mga residente ng Sitio Nabong sa Brgy. Meysulao, napeperwisyo pa rin ng baha #UnangHirit #AnjoPertierra ♬ original sound – UnangHirit
The moment amused some Filipinos who commented that it appeared the subject was making an entrance.
“NAIIYAK AKO, BAKIT PINAG-ENTRANCE [NANG GANOON] SI ATE FOR INTERVIEW,” Twitter user @colomaisaacjeff exclaimed with loudly crying emojis.
The tweet earned 26,500 likes, over 3,100 quotes and more than 4,000 retweets so far.
NAIIYAK AKO BAKIT PINAG ENTRANCE NG GANUN SI ATE FOR INTERVIEW 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/LQLvoseqqR
— Isac (@ColomaIsaacJeff) July 26, 2023
The video also went viral on TikTok, where it has gained 29,300 hearts and 1,210 comments.
“Gusto ko ‘yung may grand entrance si ate! HAHAHHSHAHSHHAHAHA,” a TikTok user wrote.
“Taray, kabog ang entrance ni antehh [ate],” another TikTok user commented.
“Pang ASAP prod [production ‘yung] entrance ni ate, haha,” wrote another online user.
Others asked why she had to descend from the canoe since it made her wade and stand in floodwaters after being ferried with effort.
“Lumusong,” a TikTok user commented with loudly crying emojis.
“Maiiyak na ‘ko kakatawa sa pa entrance ni ate, tapos biglang bumaba,” another online user wrote with crying and laughing emojis.
“Nag-bangka pero bumaba,” observed another TikTok user with a loudly crying emoji.
It was not the first time an interview clip amused social media users.
Last year, a report of a student being interviewed during the first day of the face-to-face classes after years of distance learning went viral.
The student answered positively when asked if she was “happy” that physical classes had returned.
However, online Filipinos noticed that her expression remained neutral. The reporter also noticed this and quipped, “Okay, masaya na parang nalulungkot si ate.”
RELATED: ‘Mood si ate’: Interview clip of elementary student on first day of F2F classes goes viral
Meanwhile, a barangay captain previously said that four sitios in Calumpit are the catch basins of floodwaters from Pampanga and some other areas in Bulacan.
San Miguel Barangay Captain Dave Braian Sambila said that the topography of San Miguel and Meysulao — where Pertierra conducted his viral interview — had drastically changed since Mount Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption.
According to him, the rice farms of the two villages had since disappeared and are now underwater.
