“ I have seen the value of helping others. I believe that the most rewarding part of my job as a broadcaster is not exposing the wrongdoings of others, but the smile and acknowledgment we get from people whose lives we have touched and changed in some wonderful way.” − REYSTER LANGIT
It has been years since I lost my son, Reyster Langit. Like most parents, I found that losing a child, and losing him in such a tragic manner, is almost more than a father can bear. It should not have happened, parents do not normally outlive their children. But here I am. Throughout Reyster ’ s brief life he has been more than my son — he has been my friend, my colleague in the industry, my sparring partner, my Kasangga. I cannot even begin to explain how much losing him has changed my life forever.
However, no matter how debilitating my loss is, I take comfort in knowing that he had lived his life meaningfully, always putting others’ needs before his, and as a result, has died in much the same way, in trying to save other people ’ lives from malaria.
Because of this, I have dedicated the rest of my life in keeping his memory and mission alive in everything that I do. When I do this, I know that he is with me, if not in flesh, but in spirit. The greatness of his short life serves as my inspiration and it is this that gives me the strength to continue what he started.
Reyster has been my director for our two television programs for several years now and today, I feel that he is directing me still from his seat in heaven.
--REY LANGIT
THE BIRTH OF A VISION
Reyster Langit has always been committed to serving the public through the broadcast media. When he entered the industry years ago, he felt that merely documenting issues and people is not enough and that going that extra mile in helping make a change in someone ’s life is the broadcaster’s ultimate mission.
Before he passed away, he was able to establish the Kasangga Mo ang Langit (KMAL) Foundation which, unwittingly, became his legacy. He put up the foundation to assist people who might want to help other people but do not know how or where to channel their good deeds.
In May 2005, Reyster, along with other members of the Kasangga team, went on a treacherous mission to Singnapan, Rizal, Palawan to investigate a mysterious disease that is supposedly killing off the members of the indigenous tribe Tau ’t Batu residing in the area. Reyster was able to conclude that the disease that was claiming the lives of the Tau ’t Batu was in fact, malaria.
Upon coming down from the mountain, Reyster quickly mobilized the Kasangga Mo ang Langit Foundation to look for donors who would provide the anti-malarial medicines, basic food necessities, items for personal hygiene, and clothing for the natives. He even went to the United States in search for donors and succeeded in getting pledges of donations.
Reyster and the Kasangga Mo ang Langit Foundation he put up embarked on this mission to save the lives of several hundred natives in the said province. This endeavor ended tragically, wherein Reyster, in his quest to fulfill his duties not only as a broadcaster but more so as a public servant, succumbed to the disease he was fighting against.
His death triggered a vision, unleashing goodness in helping the needy from place to place, especially the most remote areas in the land. The foundation will continue to breathe life into his most cherished dreams and aspirations of living so that others may also live.
The Kasangga Mo ang Langit (KMAL) team is committed to fight malaria in our country. This is the same disease that caused Reyster Langit’s tragic death along with two (2) other media practitioners (also with the KMAL team) during their mission to document and save the lives of an indigenous tribe in Singnapan, Rizal, Palawan.
One of the things that we are doing to continue this advocacy is through missions in different malaria endemic locations in the country. Part of the medical mission is the free mass blood screening for malaria parasites, prescription, and distribution of anti—malaria medicines, giving out of insecticide—treated mosquito nets and educating our people especially the countryside through intensive information campaign with the aid of broadcast media. Apart from these health-related programs and missions, the KMAL Foundation also reaches out the underprivileged people specially children through our various oriented programs. So far, our efforts have benefited hundreds of households and thousands of individuals.
