As many people may know, a controversial guesting with former ABS-CBN Journalist and Media Creator behind Facts First, Christian Esguerra, aired on Y Speak 2.0 on May 23, 2026, during which he called out the politicians present on the screen. The episode was taken down a few days later, which led to public backlash, even from himself, who called out that “the worst form of censorship is self-censorship”.
Recently, Sgd. Fr. Tito Caluag, the executive director for Caritas Philippines, the organization behind the youth-oriented show, responded about the takedown of the full episode, and the cessation of airing via ALLTV2, ABS-CBN’s current free-to-air partner, beginning Episode 4 (but will continue to be seen via Kapamilya Channel on Pay TV, and Kapamilya Online Live and iWant on the Internet as of the said episode).
The producer of the show, represented by himself (Fr. Caluag), was the one who asked to take the episode down on Y Speak 2.0’s social media accounts and on iWant, citing that “there are internal editorial guidelines and basic values of the organization he needed to consider”. He also added that there were other factors he had to consider in this takedown and that he had discussed them with the people concerned.
Fr. Caluag also answered questions about Y Speak 2.0 no longer airing via ALLTV2, as of May 30, 2026. He answered that it was his own decision, in part due to the same considerations mentioned earlier, and to focus on and strengthen its online presence, as with most of the youth (i.e., Generation Z).
Y Speak and Y Speak 2.0 were created to always be a safe space for the Filipino youth and will continue to strive to be such. Yes, we want our youth to have the platform to speak the truth with courage, but also to take all things into consideration. We are primarily a civics formation and education program and hope to be as inclusive as possible, Fr. Caluag stated regarding the concerns raised to the show.
I spent time discussing these developments with our hosts and have given them a great part of the responsibility to discern and decide how to move forward, learning from this experience. Two of the six could not attend the meeting, and I was hoping to talk to them first before issuing a statement. We have been trying to catch each other over the past few days, but our schedules could not match. They were both advised, though, of the discussions in the meeting with the four other hosts, he added.
The DRPS PHCA recorded the full broadcast of Y Speak 2.0 on the day when the third episode was aired (May 23, 2026), via ALLTV2’s Digital Terrestrial Signal; however, following the circulation of news and reports regarding the removal of the said episode on all social media platforms and on iWant, the DRPS PHCA made a consultation with ClassMC, the founder of the Philippine Television and Radio Archives (PHTVRA), via Discord (an online chatting platform), to upload the full broadcast via the Internet Archive, which can be found in this link: https://archive.org/details/yspeak-2.0-may-23-2026. Uploading the said episode of Y Speak 2.0 to the Internet Archive may resolve potential archival issues, such as “lost media”.
The DRPS Philippine Commercial Archives (DRPS PHCA) has been a member and an archive coordinator of the Philippine Television and Radio Archives since August 2021.
Before his controversial appearance in Y Speak 2.0, Christian Esguerra previously appeared in the 2025 Kapamilya primetime series, Sins of the Father, headlined by Gerald Anderson.
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© 2026 DRPS Philippine Commercial Archives (DRPS PHCA). All Rights Reserved. PHCA CID: PHCA-2026H1-7847/June 1, 2026.
