'Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko' reaches out to online Pinoys

“Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko," GMA Network’s longest running public service program, has tapped the online medium to reach more Filipinos, especially those who need medical assistance. Former Senator Orlando Mercado, the program’s host, officially introduced the show’s new website (www.kapwako.org) to the media on Thursday as part of his team’s effort to utilize the Internet to interact with more people. Mercado said that the show’s website was changed —with less images of patients needing medical help and more positive side stories— to “provide some hope" to those who will visit it. “We decided to redo it [the website] and to make it more visually pleasing and congenial," he said in a press conference Thursday. The website also provides two ways for donors to extend help to the show’s patients—either via bank deposit or via PayPal. Portions of the show and appeals for help are also available on the website and on YouTube so that Filipinos, specifically the youth, can watch them online. Mercado said he personally wants to introduce the show to the youth “to get them interested in philanthropy." “After 35 years of being on air, the people who know us are mostly old already. We are trying to get the interest of the younger generation through the new media," he said. The program also set up its accounts in social networking sites Facebook and Twitter last December “to broaden its appeal" to younger audiences. Mercado thanked GMA Network and Filipinos for their “continued trust" on the show. He likewise said that he hopes the show will be able to help more patients in the coming years. “Hindi tayo mawawalan ng mga kababayang kailangan ng tulong until the problem of poverty is solved, and I don’t think it will be completely solved, so we will always be relevant," he said. The show has helped 33,656 patients—including three children with hydrocephalus—through its various medical missions nationwide during the first half of 2011, according to Mercado. “Kapwa Ko, Mahal Ko" airs every Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. over GMA 7. — TJD, GMA News