One of the reasons I like hosting the show Sine Totoo is it highlights the roles of people behind the camera, like Wish Ko Lang's star producer Branden Milla, left, who wrote one of the stories on tonight's Sine Totoo featuring stories about extreme acts of love by aging men. Aside from producers -- who direct and write TV stories -- I have also had as guests cameramen, researchers, and of course on-camera reporters and program hosts, like the breastfeeding mom of twin boys in the center, Vicky Morales, whom I asked about the delicate balance between her twin roles as "nation's fairy godmother" while hosting Wish Ko Lang and the veteran news anchor on Saksi.

Knowing that many students can stay up on Saturday nights to watch, I ask my guests about the craft of TV journalism -- how they choose topics and characters, how they prepare to shoot in the rain, any updates on a heart-breaking story, among the directions our conversations take. Then we, along with the viewers, watch the stories we talk about, most of them award-winning pieces produced by the network.

With most colleagues every day, I usually only engage in hurried small talk. So Sine Totoo is often a delicious pleasure that enables me to ask questions they might chortle at if I asked while passing them in a corridor. But on the air, they know a couple of million night owls are also paying attention.

On a future show which has already been taped, I asked the director and cameraman of a Jay Taruc documentary, Lea Llamoso and Jayson Cruz respectively, why it was rendered in black and white for airing. Then it turned out that the cameraman never agreed with the decision and they had a cute little argument on the set about the aesthetics of color versus black and white.

Sometimes, my off-camera guests are filled with fright about appearing on TV for the first time. The experience builds character for sure, but it also probably creates more empathy for the subjects of their own stories who may feel awkward or nervous in front of a camera. So hopefully, the show not only helps students and viewers understand what we do but makes our own personnel appreciate even more the power and impact of our medium.

By the way, Sine Totoo too has excellent people behind the camera, among the key ones program manager Nessa Valdellon, producer Jenny Licen, director Monti Parungao, and video editors Fredie Abril and Tad Payomo.