Just My Opinion: The Sudden Resignation?!

3/11/2015 12:01:20 PM

Screengrab from Youtube

It was a random speculation that was confirmed by a former-DZRH radio announcer yesterday: Mr. John Gemperle, much known as the popular radio personality Papa Jack, resigned from being a decade-long job at 90.7 Love Radio as its DJ. 

Surprising as it seems, right? Well, maybe for me; considering I last heard him a week ago (a late Friday midnight/very early wee hours of Saturday, to be exact). What I was actually wondering then is why Chico Loco wasn’t on-air for his station Yes FM? Considering these two have a weekly program every Friday nights from 9pm – 3am. Plus the latter himself used to run solo on the same timeslot.

I used to listen to Papa Jack – though not regularly – from 2009 until late last year. His slot comprises of the three-hour True Love Conversations (TLC), followed by a sensual-yet-funny Wild Confessions shortly after midnight. 

So to say the least, there was a time where I can notice what his style on both as a on-air personnel and his programming.

He’s got the wits, the looks of a celebrity (though reports claimed he never wanted to be tagged as one), and even brains (by the way, he used to be a professor in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines for some time); and despite his voice pitch and even if he’s helluva-straightforward when it comes to giving love-related advices, to the extent where his listeners hated him for being too blunt in expressing contrasted thoughts, you can never deny his program became one of the modern-day pioneers of FM radio programming. It’s no joke for him to put up several talk sessions for most of the five hours he sits on-board – perhaps the most any station can offer to a certain jock in recent era.

Say, how on earth did this resignation happened?

A friend of mine, who happens to be an “insider” on those off-the-air happenings beneath the broadcast media shores, posted the news on his Facebook account. Much to my delight, the topic ignited series of conversations, which also prompted one of my friends – a a music news writer – to pick up the scoop.

Much for gathering details, former DZRH announcer “Pangga” Ruth Abao Espinosa broke the news – including the resignation of Chico Loco on Yes FM last March 2 via her Facebook page. 

A few weeks back, Abao withdraw from her post on DZRH – and is now part of the DWIZ network.

And prior to the resignation, there are ‘premonitions’ on social media; which includes a timeline photo, and his sudden change of profile and cover photos over his Facebook and Twitter accounts

Say. Aside from the impact he brought both to the station, the overall contemporary radio programming, and even out pop culture, what else will be considered a “loss” following his resignation?

As far as my insider’s insights are involved in this talk – his advertisements will be a huge loss for its company. Imagine the dilemma of losing a treasured guy that racks up 8 million pesos in endorsements? That’s considered a huge revenue for MBC if that’s the case. Say, eight million pesos might be very hard to earn for a radio mogul, be it on the upper-hippy side or on the “masa.” You can’t earn six to seven digits in no time.

You can never deny his contributions off the air, too; as a photographer for one of their website's gimmick named Girl of the Week. Thus, proving that Papa Jack is more than just a love adviser on-air; but a talented personality as well, something that most radio DJs have nowadays (if you noticed, aside from being a jock, some of them apparently do hostings on events and TV shows, as well as modelling and sports coverages).

Moreover though, the insider also told yours truly that there was a certain incident involving him and a station executive which possibly triggered the incident to even worsen; considering MBC already had two of their prized talents departed over the first quarter of this year.

And rumors added that days before his resignation, he allegedly received a ‘memo.’ 

Another potential plot twist: there are also words saying Papa Jack’s exit was a “graceful exit” as per formality; the same with Pangga and Chico Loco.

Now, what could be another story for this? Considering that according to the currently DWIZ radio anchor, "Papa Jack loved the company so much he did not even care if he will get a raise or something."

With Papa Jack remaining silent for that matter; here's something that Chico Loco posted via his Tumblr site.

Photo credit: NEWS 5 Everywhere

So if that’s the case, though I wish I could say it here, I don’t think I could put any appropriate word to observe this case angle at all. I know, bloggers in general doesn’t hold any kind of ethics (though no evil intended here); but at the same time each and every single expressive human being should learn the word responsibility; even for opinion-makers like me. Sometimes, branding the management on one side in this incident with words could be libelous. Besides, it’s easy to point one finger while we never even know the real story behind of this.

There's another side-dish question to this course though: is it because of his television show with TV5 titled Call Me Papa Jack? Some opinion-makers also speculated that during his stint with GMA-7 some few years back, the popular DJ already acknowledged the movement to the MBC management which on the other hand, gave its nod of approval. In this case with CMPJ, Papa Jack allegedly did not inform the management of such project. That's actually another angle to check on this dispute; but again, a speculation is a speculation. Neither anyone can tell what's the real score here unless you're involved with any of the parties.

However, if anyone of us persists, the presented objection might not be the 'reason' at all. Considering this: it's not Mr. Gemperle who just left MBC over the short span of time. There were also Ruth and Chico; so this angle can be considered taken out of the context,

I guess, at the end of this post, all we can hope for is one thing: let the guy speak. Wait for Papa Jack to speak up (though it will definitely take time). That could actually be a missing piece to this puzzle. Something his patrons could ever comprehend well. 

Sometimes, though, I was wondering if I'm asking the same question as Gigs Manila does: did Papa Jack (really) resigned? Or is he taking a break from the broadcasting world? Well, either way it resulted into hiatus. But of course, there should be a clearer answer.

However, if he opts to remain silent despite the issue, there’s nothing the public can do but to respect it. He may be a public figure after all of these years, but he is still deserve to use his right to privacy.

Now, if it's confirmed, or as far as rumors surface the social media shores, now what? What will happen to him? Or moreover, where will he go? Sure, there are lot of radio stations which he can board with. You have a prized name, with a prized brain, and with a lot of fishermen catching today’s big fish, what more can they lose?

Also, could this stood a chance for the other radio broadcasters to grab their break? I suppose. Papa Jack may have left Love Radio for that matter, which means talent-wise, others have the opportunity to step up to the plate. Besides, the fact that he's gone? He's already a rockstar in this industry. Again, he could go anywhere, and in case he wanted to step into a broadcast booth again, other stations will just come after him; and disregard the monetary right there (though the higher the pay, the better of course!).

But if he prefer to stay off the broadcasting shores, again, we have to respect that. He deserved a break after all.

If you ask me though, I can sense he can go to this particular radio station where the nighttime spot’s been pre-occupied with a simulcast of their late news program (which runs from about half-hour) and automation from near-midnight ‘til 3AM. But who knows? Whichever he goes, so does his tons of followers, or "jacklers" as he coined them.

With all that, I am now resigning, too... from jackling, err, (sorry if it sounds gross or something,) writing and dealing with this post.

(Update: As of April 2015, Papa Jack returned to 90.7 Love Radio.)

Author: slickmaster | © 2015 september twenty-eight productions

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