As the debate about media ethics and professionalism rages in this blog, I would like to shift my focus to an individual who has left an indelible mark on the journalism profession here in Iloilo. I feel that this man is a fine example of a hard working, dedicated and fearless radio broadcaster whose standards are endlessly being sought to be equalled or surpassed, but remain unbroken. Nobody in the media industry can claim closeness to the man than myself, and I always carry that fact as a source of pride.
Severino “Rino” Arcones was a broadcaster who stood tall over everybody else. His shadow continues to hover over the radio industry, a standard against which the reputation of younger announcers are measured.On October 19, Rino, who was then area manager of Bombo Radyo Iloilo, will have been dead for 19 years, but his memory is kept fresh by the introductory spiel of the program “Zona Libre”, which was the platform for his courageous exposes. He was shot dead by alleged members of the NPA sparrow unit.
Bombo Rino was the most popular radio anchorman of his time. That was the time when radio was still “king”; when evening fell, almost all households turned on their transistor radio sets, and switched the dial to 837 kHz, which is the frequency of Bombo Radyo. I do not exaggerate when I say that Rino’s voice dominated the airwaves at the peak of his popularity. His nightly commentaries were the number one source of information and entertainment for most people. When Rino tackled an issue, it became the talk of the time for days on end.
What made Bombo Rino tick? Was it his voice? Was it his courage in exposing venalities and irregularities?
Bombo Rino loved radio, and his introduction to broadcasting came by way of working as a spinner disc-jockey. He loved music and he loved communicating his ideas to an invisible audience. Back then, disc jockeys were doing their board work out of AM stations; FM stations were not yet in vogue. As he working almost anonymously, the senior broadcaster at the time, Vic Mercado, noticed this young kid and liked the way he performed his DJ work. He gave Rino a break as reporter for the prime time programs. As the saying goes, Rino never turned back again and took the high-speed lane to fame.
Rino’s success as a broadcaster wasn’t about his voice. His voice wasn’t really outstanding. But he projected credibility and confidence, a trait that he developed with a virtue of hard work and constant studying. The Rino Arcones who spoke on the air spent countless hours during each day, reading magazines and newspapers, interviewing knowledgeable people, and preparing detailed outlines for discussion. He was a “hands-on” anchorman; he gathered news personally, and he checked his facts himself. He never uttered a word about anything unless he was satisfied that he got all his facts right.
One of the biggest stories of his time was the Aquino-Galman double murder case before the Agrava commission. For many months, this story about a military conspiracy to kill Ninoy Aquino unfolded before a whole nation, and Rino Arcones kept abreast of the case by reading every issue of “Asiaweek” magazine, which featured a special section on the case every week. Rino was a very meticulous researcher. He allocated a small room at the Bombo Radyo offices at the old Florete building on Mapa St. and there he would lock himself for three to four hours each day sifting through the material and pounding on an old typewriter for his notes. When evening came, listeners were enthralled by the depth and thoroughness of Rino’s reporting about the case, quenching their thirst for the truth.
I developed a special closeness to Rino because he loved to engage in long discussions about various issues. Rino had a special gift for listening. When he sat down with me, Rino would poke questions at me and just listened when I talked. He did not pretend to know everything. Once a week, he would get a room at a downtown hotel and invite me there and other print journalists. He didn’t drink alcohol, so he would drink cup after cup of coffee as he treated us with endless rounds of beer. We just talked and talked and talked. It was his way of refining his own ideas and testing new ones. This allowed him to discard bad ideas and build on good ones.
The new breed of radio broadcasters dream of becoming successors to Rino Arcones. So far, none has come close to succeeding. And the biggest reason is that they allow fame to get into their heads and become arrogant and boastful. The likes of Rhod Tecson spend more time praising himself than digging for the news and making sure he has his facts right. Not once did I hear Rino call himself “guapo” in his program, but I know that he had legions of female admirers. Rino used truth as his main weapon, and he didn’t stay in his swivel chair just ordering subordinates to get the facts for him. He dug the trenches himself, so to speak.
With this post, I hope to contribute to the education of young broadcasters and steer them away from the path taken by Rhod Tecson, Novie Guazo and Roger Gencianeo.
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