“Actually, napapanood naman kami ni Luchi sa Aksyon TV at dahil dun pa lang, may nakakakilala na sa’kin,” he says. “Sa simbahan nga, paglabas ko, may kumakalabit, puede ka bang matanong? Alangan namang tumanggi ako, so prepared na ako. That’s part of the territory and I cannot shut that out. Pero siempre, iba itong having a daily show sa TV5 na co-hosts ko pa sina Gelli de Belen and Arnell Ignacio. Ang pamilya ko nga, ayaw nila. Huwag na lang daw. But now na nakapag-taping na ako, they support me. May nagbibiro nga, celebrity ka na ha.”
His wife, Ampy, is also a lawyer and the thesis director of the Ateneo School of Law. They have three kids. The eldest boy is now a philosophy professor also at Ateneo. The second child, a girl, is taking up law while they youngest one, also a girl, is a journalism graduate who writes for Interaksyon. Born on Feb. 23, 1957, Atty. Mel finished law at the Ateneo in 1982 then took up his masters at Boston College in 1987. Last year, he became the law dean of FEU. So how is it hosting “Solved na Solved”? “I always ask our director for feedback. His advice is to shorten my spiels kasi pag mahaba raw, lalaylay. So I try to follow him.”
How are Gelli and Arnell as co-hosts? “Gelli is the igniter. She’s very good in igniting our discussions. Si Arnell naman is very witty. Very sharp siya at mabilis pumick up. I’m learning a lot from both of them.”
