OUR HISTORY

A LEGACY BUILT WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION

A Philippine Story: Twenty-three years ago, the ABS-CBN Network’s popular nightly news program “TV Patrol” began airing a segment called Lingkod Bayan (“Serving the Nation” – translated literally) which was open to audience calls. Not long after its launch, numerous calls for help and reports of child abuse started ringing in. One story was that of an 8-year old boy named Jessie.

Jessie’s case was phoned in by a neighbor who saw through a window – a child in a box, underneath a kitchen sink, his hands bound, his body contorted to fit. The news department assigned a committee to rescue Jessie and as they say, “the rest is history”. With the support of the late Chairman and founder of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network, Geny Lopez, the ABS CBN Foundation was formed.

Crossing Oceans: In 1994, the ABS CBN Broadcasting Network went beyond its borders to find a home in a garage in California. Starting with an 8-man operation, to the success story it is today not only in the USA but in strategic places around the globe -The Filipino Channel (TFC) was launched. With a presence in US cable televisions an immediate, unique connection between Filipino Americans and their homeland was rekindled. Filipinos everywhere always finds a need to send back help to their families in the Philippines.

The growing subscriber base of TFC had the potential to assist in the ABS CBN Foundation’s mission to alleviate poverty and provide a better life for Filipino children and their families. With this, the ABS CBN Foundation International was created and incorporated in California under the leadership of Conchita Taylor.