Growing up with the radio

I WAS three years old in 1953 when I first heard the radio in our barangay in San Jose, Antique. My father had brought home a Philips “tube radio” with lighted glass tubes inside, run by a powerful boxed battery. The cheaper transistor radio would come a year later.  

The first “original Pilipino music” I heard on tube radio was the “Mambo Magsaysay” a jingle campaigning for then Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay, who was running against re-electionist President Elpidio Quirino. To say that the jingle made Magsaysay win is no exaggeration.

The invention of cheaper transistor radio powered by flashlight batteries in 1954 enabled even the poor to purchase a unit. It had become such a status symbol that everybody would save money to buy one.  

There was no radio station in Antique then. We would often listen to Manila-based radio stations which could transmit nationwide, namely DzAQ, DzBB, DzRH and DzXL.

Our favorite amateur singing programs were “Audition on the Air” on DzAQ and “Student Canteen” on DzXL. DzAQ was the flagship station of Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) while DzXL was that of Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN). The two networks merged into ABS-CBN in 1967.

Today’s DzXL, on the other hand, is not the same as yesterday’s. It is no longer owned by ABS-CBN but by Radio Mindanao Network (RMN).

I dreamed of seeing in person “Student Canteen” hosts Leila Benitez and Eddie Ilarde. They were the most idolized radio personalities.

The three Iloilo City-based radio stations in the 1950s were DyRI of RMN, DyOO (network’s name forgotten) and DyRP of Allied Broadcasting Company (ABC).

I remember my late father Juan waking up at 5 a.m. daily to listen to DyRI’s original “Uwa Mangunguma,” where the late broadcaster Pacifico Sudario would discuss farming techniques.

When opportunity showed itself during the family’s summer vacation in Manila in 1960, I had myself escorted to CBN Building to see “Student Canteen” live. It was televised, giving me my first look at television cameras zooming in on Eddie Ilarde. It broke my heart that my idol Leila Benitez had phoned in “sick”.

I can’t forget the first time I excitedly spoke on the air via telephone.  As a freshman college student at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Iloilo City in 1966, I thought of contributing my two cents’ worth to a public-affairs program using the school telephone. The popular DyRP commentator, Chita Dolormente, accommodated my complaint against a bakery selling substandard bread. Chita lambasted the bakery owner as a result.

I had never aspired to be a broadcaster, though. When I enrolled for an AB-Journalism degree at MLQ University in Manila, it was in pursuit of a newspaper career.  But when I learned that a radio station was looking for dramatistas, I auditioned, hoping to earn a little while studying. Aray, I flopped the audition.

Radio broadcasting has evolved into a global phenomenon. Even short-range, low-watt radio stations may now be heard anywhere on earth through “radio streaming” on the internet. Cellular phone users find easier access to AM and FM bands even while walking or commuting.

The sad part of it, however, is that such technological advancement has harmed manufactures of portable radio sets and components.

The music-recording industry, where I used to work for as press relation officer, has collapsed to near-extinction. There is no more need to buy recorded songs, since they may now be freely downloaded.

The transistor radio I own is imported from China, against my will because local brands have disappeared due to poor business. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)

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