Covering events where the President of the Philippines is the keynote speaker...

Thursday, 10 December 2015 00:00

It's always exciting whenever we cover events attended by celebrities. But when an event is attended by high-profile personalities - specially the President of the Philippines – it's challenging because we have to deal with security protocol.

Our team has covered a few events attended by former presidents Erap, GMA, and our current president Pnoy along with Senators and government officials. Yeah, nickname basis! But inside the technical booth, we are careful to address them as Mr. President, Mr. Senator, etc. even though we are just whispering their names using our headset com. I just don't know how the head of the PSG would react if we call them by their nicknames. It's not part of the protocol but it's just the professional thing to do, I think.

Setting up Earlier than Usual

Equipment has to be inspected by the PSG and so we are required to come earlier than usual. We can set-up our equipment 3 hours before the roll of an event but when security matters, everything has to be laid out and checked by the PSG hours before the gates of the venue open even though the President will still come in late in the evening. But whose complaining? We get to have those cute blue stickers as souvenirs. The PSG issues a blue sticker as a security/inspection pass for our cameras and it's usually attached to the strap or body of our cameras. I have a staff who collects these and collages them together with ID cards of events we've covered. Cool!

Camera Placement

We always pick the best spot to place our cameras. One camera is always positioned somewhere close to the podium. But security protocol for the President requires that no cameras should be directly in front of the podium or near the stage. So we have to make adjustments just before the President steps in the building. Vacate the restricted areas and look for an alternative to place our cameras.

Rest Time

You would probably think we are up on our toes when the President is delivering his speech. We are actually relaxing.

The Office of the President has a media coverage team, the RTVM, that tags along with him wherever he gives a speech. It's either an On-Broadcast van parked outside the event building or a booth dedicated to media people. So as soon as the President walks in the room, we are given a feed of the RTVMs live video coverage. Their cameras take-over. Whatever is fed in the LED walls or projector screens are coming from the video feed of RTVM. And so we actually only have to worry about our own video documentation. Let them worry about what camera angle to show the audience.

integrity summit 2

Integrity Summit 2015

4-HD-camera video coverage and livestreaming of the Integrity Summit 2015 held last December 9 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Makati City.

President Benigno S. Aquino III served as the keynote speaker in a gathering of business leaders, anti-corruption and good governance experts, key representatives from the government, church, youth, and the academe to continue to highlight the progress of the private sector in promoting ethical standards in business.

Events Organizer: The Thirdline Inc.

HD Video Coverage and Livestreaming: Digibox Audio Visual Productions

Video Coverage Director: Rem Floresca