Veteran news anchor Ces Oreña-Drilon announced last night on ABS-CBN’s news program Bandila that it was her last day on the job.
“This is an out of the ordinary night for me because it is my last night on Bandila, which became my home here in ABS-CBN for over a decade,” she said in Filipino.
Drilon was one of the program’s original news anchors together with Korina Sanchez and Henry Omaga-Diaz when it was launched in 2006.
She assured though that she will not be leaving the ABS-CBN network but will instead take on a leadership position in the company’s lifestyle vertical.
“New challenges are calling on to me and it is time to change the path I’m on. From being in front of the camera to being behind it.”
Drilon will take on the role of content acquisition head of ABS-CBN’s lifestyle ecosystem where she said she will focus on stories that will give the audience joy.
While talking to co-anchor Omaga-Diaz on air after her announcement, Drilon said that the biggest stories she has done as a reporter were all for Bandila.
She also posted about her departure on Instagram yesterday.
“My #lastnightonbandila! Thank you for watching and staying up late with us on @bandila.official for more than a decade. I’ll be facing new challenges and will have new responsibilities in ABS-CBN, this time behind the camera. I will still and always be your #kapamilya,” her caption reads.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-B3EjjHVK/?taken-by=cesdrilon
Drilon also shared a throwback photo from when Bandila premiered.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc8eNYFDucS/?taken-by=cesdrilon
Drilon is an award-winning journalist who in 2010 was named broadcaster of the year by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (Association of Philippine Broadcasters).
In 2008, she and two cameramen were kidnapped in Sulu province in the island of Mindanao by al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants, after ABS-CBN told her not to go. She was then suspended for three months.
