The School of Media and Marketing (SCM) hosted a special panel on August 29, 2026, at the Dizon Auditorium. The panel titled “Usap. Kwento. Documentado.” discussed the guidelines and principles of writing unscripted content for 3rd-year Media and Entertainment (MEM) students taking the Writing Non-narrative Content classes taught by Mr. Ronald Padriga and Mr. Jillmer Dy.
The lecture aimed to equip the students with essential storytelling skills and prepare them for their careers in the entertainment industry, not just as writers and creatives, but also as storytellers capable of connecting with humanity.
The program began with a simulation of a morning talk show, featuring esteemed speakers such as TV5 actress and host-anchor Dimples Romana, News 5 anchor-documentarist Nikki De Guzman, and TV5 creative manager Ruth Peña-Padriga. Together, they emphasized the importance of storytelling as a universal medium and its humbling power when grounded in the truth, reminding students of their task as creatives.
As Romana put it, “The best stories we tell are the ones we do not own—more than the technical [aspects] but also [of] the mindset.”
Peña-Padriga shared her expertise as a creative manager for TV5, affirming the personal fulfillment of becoming a creative pillar of the industry. She stated: “When you are a writer, you are also a producer. You have to trust the process because there is beauty in waiting. Do the homework before the hard work.”
After the talk show segment, De Guzman delivered a talk on documentary storytelling, outlining the medium’s field principles and writing guidelines. Among these, she highlighted that the writer’s role is to build the human context and uncover the emotional truth through active listening and authentic trust. She closed the program with a striking reminder: “Build an archive of human dignity—one story at a time.”
After a brief Q&A session with the students, SCM Dean Dr. Jerry Kliatchko thanked the speakers for sharing their insights and reminded students of their invaluable roles not just as creatives in the entertainment industry, but above all, as humans capable of connecting through the power of storytelling.
