Point of View

Lest I be misunderstood that I harbor a deep hatred for RMN 774, let me make it clear that this is not true. RMN as an organization is in fact very close to my heart. Nobody knows this, but I began my career in media in RMN’s local station in Roxas City, DYVR, sometime in the middle 70s, when I was still in college.

At the time, radio broadcasting hadn’t evolved into a full-time public affairs information delivery system, and aside from the prime time newscasts, much of its content was soap opera (radio drama) and music (the FM format as we know it today). I was in second year college in 1977 when the station manager of DYVR, Mrs. Violeta Arnaldo, hired me as a part-time disc jockey to handle a late evening slot. For me, it was an opportunity to earn money while going to school. I didn’t know that it was the beginning of a career in radio and newspapers. The employment lasted about six months, but during that period, I gained the confidence to speak on radio, and learned how to “spin” music records upon the request of listeners.

This enmity with RMN’s key anchors is rather a personal thing. It’s a quarrel over ethics and professionalism and truth with Novie Guazo and Rhod Tecson. That’s because both anchors have chosen to abuse their positions as broadcasters to destroy the reputations of Governor Tupas and myself. They have completely abandoned the code of ethical standards that every broadcaster (and journalist) swears by. Truth and fairness have become totally alien to them. They have made themselves instruments for black propaganda for money. In short, they belong to the category of A/C-D/C, short for attack-and-collect, defend-and-collect. They have given broadcasting a very bad name.

As a public official, I know that it’s part of the job description to be criticized by media. There are actions which might not look right to the media, and I don’t mind if I am attacked over valid issues. I continue to remain friends with broadcasters who have castigated me over the airlanes. Aksyon’s John Paul Tia is one. Bombo’s Rodel Fullon is another. When the attacks are issue-oriented, I never resent a word of harshness and criticism. I just expect to be given an opportunity to explain our side and let the public weigh the conflicting sides to the issue.

This is the reason why RMN 774 has slipped to the bottom of the respectability ladder in my own mind. That’s because it’s management has failed to impose the ethical standards for broadcasters. What saddens me more is that the chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas is Ronel Sorbito, station manager of RMN 774. Ronel is a drinking buddy, and even if he also picks at me once in a while, I continue to hold him in high regard. I enjoy drinking with him, especially with his comedy acts.

I heard about the chastisement that Rhod and Novie received from top network management during a conference in Mambucal, Negros Occidental. This is a positive sign that the network is aware of the ethical transgressions of Rhod and Novie, and it will not allow such practices to continue. Indeed, RMN grew to become one of the biggest radio organizations in the country because of its adherence to truth, objectivity and fairness. it didn’t become so big because of the rubbish that Rhod and Novie bring to their programs. I hope that it will clean its own backyard and aspire to dislodge Bombo and Aksyon from the top slots in listenership surveys.

Yesterday, Sept. 15, I nearly fell off my chair when I read the Philippine Daily Inquirer and saw Iloilo vice governor Rolex T. Suplico holding a map of the controversial C-5 road project in the national capital with former Rep. Gilbert Remulla, who is the Nacionalista Party spokesman. I’m certain that Suplico asked to be in the photograph in a desperate effort to boost his image before a national audience. Suplico wants to run as senator in the 2010 elections, that’s why, and he’s sort of worried because after losing in the Supreme Court in the ZTE-NBN case, his popularity ratings have slipped. And when a survey was done on the winnability of probable senatorial candidates, Suplico landed third to the last among a field of 50. So, it’s “agaw-eksena” for him.

But the photograph is also very revealing about the brand of politics being played by Suplico. In holding up a map of the C-5 road project, he was apparently performing a duty to the Nacionalista Party in defending its bet for the 2010 presidential elections against the devastating expose’ on the double insertion of public funds for the “road to nowhere”. The amount involved in P200 million, and the man being tagged as the culprit by Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is no less than the Senate President, Manny Villar. Villar is the party president.

From all indications, the expose’ made by Lacson hit the bull’s eye. When he first made the expose’, he didn’t even mention the name of Villar as the legislator who made the questionable insertion in the budget allocation. And yet, Villar was quick to denounce the expose’ as a political ploy to shoot down his presidential bid. “Why did Villar react so quickly? Did he know at once that he was the one behind this corrupt act?” asked Lacson.

What is interesting is that Suplico is now defending Villar against the expose’ of Lacson. If we read his body language, Suplico is saying that Lacson is telling a lie in making this accusation against Villar. What? you may ask. Suplico calling Lacson a liar for attacking Villar? I guess there’s no other way to interpret the action of Suplico.

Why is this relevant? Don’t you remember that Suplico was the campaign manager for Lacson when the latter ran for president in 2004? Suplico was almost always at the side of Lacson wherever he went in his campaign sorties. Now, Suplico is dropping Lacson like a hot potato in favor of Villar. This speaks loudly of the brand of politics that Suplico is practicing. That’s the politics of “me first above everything else”. Suplico is placing his bets on Villar for the 2010 elections and maybe hope that the NP candidate will pick him on the senatorial slate for the party. He can now afford to dump Lacson because he doesn’t see Lacson as having much of a chance of becoming president.

This sudden change of political color, much like a chameleon, is what characterizes the politics of Suplico. In 2001. Suplico was among the congressmen who raised an uproar in calling for the impeachment of then President Joseph Erap Estrada. “Erap is a thief!” Suplico shouted over and over back then until his voice became hoarse. When the EDSA II people power took place on January 27, 2001 that led to the downfall of Erap, Suplico, then a first-term congressman of the 5th district of Iloilo, took the first plane to Manila so that he could be seen on the stage when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took her oath as president.

Apparently, Suplico no longer feels that way about Erap. During Erap’s last two or three visits of Iloilo, Suplico cancelled all other engagements so he could stick to the side of Erap like a tail. No longer was Erap a thief, but a folk hero whom he asked for an endorsement to become a senatorial candidate.

This chameleon-like behavior of Suplico is what gives politics a bad name. He makes me puke.

From time to time, the airlanes of iloilo explode with verbal pyrotechnics as radio stations spend useless time attacking each other and claiming supremacy in the survey ratings. This happens when survey organizations release their reports about the listenership shares of each radio station and comes out with their numerical ranking, from top to bottom. It’s unfortunate that these stations chose to slug it out over the airlanes, throwing insults and invectives at one another, as if this will change the results.

Over the years, a rivalry between two stations has emerged: Bombo Radyo of the Florete group of companies versus Aksyon Radyo of the Manila Broadcasting Co. The rest of the playing field — RMN 774 and DYSI Super Radyo — always come out in the distant bottom. It is clear the competition for listenership has narrowed to just Bombo and Aksyon Radyo.

The survey results consistently show Bombo Radyo to be number one. There is no more dispute about that. But a careful study of the results would show that Aksyon Radyo is giving Bombo a good fight. That Bombo Radyo would always emerge number one can be attributed to one major factor that is absent to the other radio stations. This is the fact that Bombo Radyo Iloilo is the flagship station of the entire network. Iloilo is the home base, and understandably, the network management will always protect its turf. This translates to more resources for promotional activities that never fails to tilt the balance when the surveys are conducted.

There was a time when Bombo Radyo was the run-away winner in almost every survey. Year after year, the results painted a picture of Bombo Radyo versus the rest of the field. I remember a period when Bombo Radyo would achieve a 15% audience share, while the next competitor would get only 1.8%. This was the era of the unquestioned supremacy of Bombo Radyo. When you talked of radio, you inevitably talked about Bombo Radyo. This is where the station drew its slogan, “Basta radyo, Bombo!”

This supremacy was eroded as the years went by. True, Bombo is still number one, but a far number one from the 80s and 90s. Aksyon Radyo has crept forward, slowly intruding into the traditional audience base of Bombo, and earning for itself the right to be called a worthy contender for the title.

Why has this happened?

Radio stations perform depending on the talents, ability, and more importantly, drive, of the people in each organization. Technical equipment is a factor, but in this modern age, the playing field is almost even on this score. Hence, the individuals working as anchormen, field reporters, news writers and technicians spell he big difference between success and failure. The better the people working for the organization, the better its chances to capture a bigger audience share.

In the case of Bombo Radyo, the rapid turn-over of its people in the last decade has prevented the station from sustaining its supremacy. The voices you hear over Bombo Radyo today are different from those you’ve been used to hearing five years ago, and even more different than those 10 years ago.? That’s because every so often, the men and women of Bombo either go out to join other stations, or totally quit media work for politics. Bombo Radyo has proven to be an excellent breeding ground for politicians.

This is turning out to be the achilles heel of Bombo Radyo. Its broadcasters don’t stay long enough to build a solid and loyal listener base to sustain the continued supremacy of Bombo Radyo. Only Rodel Fullon can be counted as the voice that has endured more than two decades of broadcasting. The rest are neophytes who began their careers five to seven years ago. In the dialect, they are “pilit na ginpahinog.”

On the other hand, Aksyon Radyo is mostly staffed by former Bombo broadcasters who composed the first wave of mass resignations about 10 years ago. They are led by station manager John Paul Tia, assistant manager Josil Banias and Joel Tormon. Most of the other broadcasters had worked with other media outfits for quite a while. In short, Aksyon has a line-up of veterans.

Among local radio anchormen, John Paul Tia stands out as having the sharpest mind. A poet in his college days, John Paul began his media career as a reporter for Panay News. This exposure to writing has provided him with an ability to dissect the issues down to the marrow. In the evening public affairs battleground, John Paul is the hands-down winner. Roger Gencianeo and Novie Guazo are amateurs from an inter-barangay league trying to clash with James Yap.

In the evening public affairs arena, there’s another sharp mind who has yet to achieve wide recognition. That’s Meloy Sustituido of DYSI Super Radyo. The guy knows how to probe deep into an issue, examine its every aspect, and present a crystal-clear analysis. The only problem with DYSI is that its frequency occupies the extreme right of the radio dial at 1323 kHz. Many people may have not yet discovered that frequency.

But what makes John Paul drew a bigger audience is his ability to draw clashing views and opinions to every issue. This allows him to make a more balanced presentation. It gives his broadcasts more depth. He doesn’t just rams his opinions down the throat of his listeners. He isn’t quick to condemn, perhaps aware that his primary role is a crystallizer of issues, not a hangman.

The news gathering network of Aksyon Radyo has also emerged as more effective than Bombo. There have been numerous instances when Aksyon beat Bombo to the scoops. Speed in the delivery of the news is vital to radio stations, and Aksyon apparently has built a network of informants that feeds its news center with tips on breaking news stories.

How about RMN? Well, the survey results show that after nearly three years, it hasn’t gone up a notch in the rankings. The arrogance of Rhod Tecson and Novie Guazo has diverted their focus from the real issues. Instead of delivering the goods — timely news and quality commentaries — Tecson and Guazo spend more time telling their shrinking audiences how handsome they are. Their egos have dominated their program content and they neglected to exercise their true vocation as journalists.

DYSI Super Radyo’s Jonathan Cabillon also makes sober, deep and insightful analysis of issues. But then again, his station struggles with a technical problem of being on the extreme right of the radio dial. The station’s production director, Eric John Pamplona, is also a veteran of Bombo Radyo, and brings an objective view to the station’s news reporting.

This is how I look at the playing field among radio stations in Iloilo. I’m sure there will be broadcasters who will not like what I wrote, but this is an honest-to-goodness assessment from an older, wiser man.