Caritas Philippines Executive Director and ABS-CBN resident priest Fr. Tito Caluag issued a statement today, June 1, addressing the controversial removal of the third episode of the youth debate show YSpeak 2.0 from its social media platforms. The episode featured investigative journalist Christian Esguerra.
During the broadcast, Esguerra drew attention for his candid critiques of several political figures. He labeled Vice President Sara Duterte as “evil” and openly questioned the legislative capabilities of Senators Robin Padilla, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, and Rodante Marcoleta. Following the episode’s sudden deletion, Esguerra criticized ABS-CBN—his former home network—on his podcast Facts First, questioning the media firm’s journalistic integrity and suggesting it bowed to political pressure.
However, Fr. Caluag clarified on his social media account that ABS-CBN had no part in the decision.
He took full personal responsibility for pulling the episode, explaining that the content violated the core principles of Caritas Philippines.
“I wish to clarify that I, as the representative of Caritas Philippines, the producer of the show, was the one who asked that the episode be taken down. It was a difficult decision to make, but there are internal editorial guidelines and basic values of Caritas Philippines I needed to consider. Furthermore, there were other factors I had to take into consideration. I had discussed these with the people concerned,” saad nito.
Fr. Caluag also addressed the program’s sudden absence from free-to-air television via ABS-CBN on ALLTV2. While it will no longer air on that channel, YSpeak 2.0 continues to broadcast on the cable-based Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and its official social media pages.
He explained that this shift is part of a deliberate strategy to better connect with their target youth audience.
“Today people were inquiring why the fourth episode was not aired in ALLTV2 on 30 May. Again, this was my decision in part due to the other considerations I referred to in the previous paragraph. The other consideration was to focus on and strengthen our online presence where most of the youth are,” giit nito.
Caluag assured viewers that YSpeak 2.0 will remain on the air to continue empowering and encouraging the youth to voice their opinions on critical national issues that impact their future.