I’ve been hosting a talk show on ANC/TFC called Crossing Borders, which just concluded its first season last week. The concept of the show is empowering the Filipino, wherever in the world he finds himself. It’s a self-help show that tackles issues and concerns that Filipinos face when they are abroad – from immigration, employment, human trafficking, psychological matters, financial matters, and the list goes on.

The objective is to provide the viewers with reliable and up-to-date information from myself and from experts that we guest on the show. Through the show, Filipinos would be able to help themselves deal with their concerns or know where to find help. And of course, my favorites is the Q&A portion, where I get to answer questions on U.S. immigration that people send in via email, text, or post on our multiply site.

That is what the show offers. But what I completely did not expect is its effect on the viewers, that it could also become a venue for Filipinos helping other Filipinos – it has the potential to connect Filipinos around the world. This was the topic during our last episode of the first season, which is something I am proud of and also something that will keep me doing what I do—lawyering-- for a long time.

It is a well-known fact that we are all easily connected to each other with globalization and advances in technology. And any action made through this web of interconnectedness can easily spread and circle, literally around the globe. This can be a business decision, an act of war, or even, an act of kindness.

It all started with a phone call that I got from a young lady in the U.S. who had an immigration concern. This was about the time Crossing Borders was to first air. We spoke about her concern and about my upcoming show. Since her question only called for a simple answer, I decided not to charge her a fee – since I just told her to communicate with her current lawyer instead – she decided to show her appreciation by announcing my show in a newsletter she was part of. Not expecting that she would actually do it, I said okay.

When the show started airing, our online Multiply site started to catch more traffic and visitors that some of them had mentioned that they heard about me from a newsletter that they subscribe to. Apparently, the newsletter circulated in a huge part of Missouri and Chicago. Their subscribers were nurses and physical therapists who became regular viewers of the show.

In one of our episodes, we featured the plight of a 49-year old former domestic helper OFW who experienced a series of unfortunate events – from the murder of her husband, the destruction of her home by fire, to her stroke that affected her ability to walk. This caught the attention of a group of physical therapists, who had been praying hard that they pass the NPTE of the National Physical Therapists Examination. And in their prayers, they promised that if they ever pass, that they would send help to Eliza, the woman we had featured, through the show.

When they passed the exam, true enough, they got in touch with me via our show’s website, and pledged to make a small donation for Eliza. I couldn’t sleep that night when I read their message. I was so touched by it and it made me realize that its not all about what the show can give to the Global Filipino but also, what positive and life-changing effects it can have on the Global Filipino. It truly connects us all, in every sense of the word.

To this day, I still can’t believe that something so positive can come so quickly after only 13 episodes of Crossing Borders. We featured this act of kindness as our season finale, and I have to say that people like the physical therapists from Missouri are the reason why I love being a lawyer and enjoy hosting the show.

Atty. Michael Templo is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York State and Federal Courts and is a partner at Templo & Templo http://www.templolaw.com with offices in New York, USA and Makati City, Philippines. Atty. Templo specializes in US Immigration matters. Atty. Mike Templo is also a host for the weekly show “Crossing Borders” which airs every Thursday at 10:30PM on ANC and 2:30PM on TFC crossingborderstv.multiply.com. The discussion above is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional. For your comments and questions, Atty. Templo can be reached at info@templolaw.com or log on to www.templolaw.com.