The social relevance of Church-owned radio
Community-based broadcasting
In essence, Catholic radio in the Philippines is community-based broadcasting, says Lucas. Its objective is to serve the community and its unique needs. It reports news that is of interest to listeners, reflects local life and culture and can be used as a tool for development. It doesn’t matter where the community is — or whether it is Catholic, Muslim, or any other religion, for that matter.
In Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, DXGD — an AM radio station owned by the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo, Sulu — broadcasts to a community that is predominantly Muslim. Babylyn Kano-Omar, DXGD station manager and hard-hitting news anchor and commentator, is herself a devout Muslim who wears a torong to cover her head and a niqab to veil her face, exposing only her eyes.
A Muslim in a Catholic radio station sounds like a contradiction, but it is not as unusual as one might think. Of DXGD’s eight personnel, five are Muslim. Their sister station in Sulu, DXMM, is also run by a Muslim woman. What might be more unusual is that a Catholic radio station would cater to a Muslim audience. But DXGD was not put up to convert the population to Christianity. The station’s efforts are geared “towards peace and development, brotherhood and unity” in Tawi-Tawi.
DXGD’s programming is much like that of other AM stations serving the provinces: news and public affairs, public service announcements or panawagan, and entertainment. It is the religious programs that set the station apart. Omar says that DXGD aims to instill religious ideals in its Catholic and Muslim listeners. Christian and Islamic verses share the airwaves. Every Sunday, the station broadcasts a live mass, while every Friday, an hour is dedicated to the Islamic faith. Another program called “Culture of Faith,” discusses values from an Islamic perspective.
Modern pulpit
Church-owned radio stations in the provinces are a news and information source, an advocate for peace and development, a venue for panawagan and a source of entertainment.
Yet Catholic radio is still an instrument of the Church, and its bottom line is still the preaching of the gospel. In the Evangelii Nuntiandi — a letter to the bishops about evangelization in the modern world — Pope Paul VI wrote in 1975, “In (the means of social communication) (the Church) finds a modern and effective version of the pulpit.”
At DZPA’s office in Bangued, the staff are reminded daily of this mission. In one corner stands an altar to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and posted on the wall behind it is the mission-vision of the CMN, of which DZPA is a member. A chapel on the rooftop of the building is the heart of their apostolate, says Ruiz. Here, mass is celebrated at least twice a year—on the Feast of the Assumption and on World Communication Day.
DZPA director Fr. Carmelo Gonzales explains that with about half of the province’s 27 municipalities in the mountains, owning and running a radio station is still the only means for the Church to reach out to the people of Abra, majority of whom are Catholic. “Kahit naman punung-puno ang mga simbahan, sa general population, siguro wala pang 10 percent ang nagsisimba (Even if the churches are full, the mass-goers may not even represent 10 per cent of the general population,” he says.
Catholic radio has other uses, Lucas says. In Infanta, Quezon, where he managed Church-owned DZJO—an AM station which was closed down after being damaged during a typhoon—radio proved to be useful in their parish activities. Loudspeakers were no longer needed during processions. “Bring your transistor radios!” he would remind the parishioners.
Radio enables the Church to help the community deepen their faith. But Lucas says the emphasis is on “total human development.” “There are two elements to (evangelization),” he explains. “The spread of the Good News and liberating the human person from any and all oppressive structures.”
In other words, fulfilling its role as a news medium and working in the interest of the community are not to be seen as separate from the aim of evangelization. Catholic radio’s commitment to truth is on many levels — not just on a spiritual level, but also on a moral, social and professional level.
Through their broadcasts, the radio stations aid the Church in its advocacy against ignorance, poverty, and injustice. And for as long as these conditions exist in Philippine society — in the least developed areas of the country — Church-owned radio will continue to be relevant.
New challenges
The mobile phone—that small but powerful gadget that has made communication faster and more convenient—poses a threat to Church-owned radio these days. Ask Babylyn Kano-Omar of DXGD in Tawi-Tawi. “We used to have P1,600 na income a day (from) public service announcements,” she says. That’s P10 per announcement, to be aired thrice daily. “Sometimes, sa isang araw, inaabot iyan ng (Sometimes, in a day, (that could amount to) P1,800—before. Wala pang computer, wala pang Internet, wala pang cellphone (There were no computers, no Internet, no cellphone yet),” she adds.
All that has changed. With mobile phone technology, people can send text messages or call each other directly instead of having their panawagan aired on the radio. As a result, there are now fewer public service announcements and less income— only P200 to P300 a day, Omar says.
To any community-based radio station struggling to make ends meet, P1,600 a day can go a long way. For instance, DXGD needs a minimum of P82,000 monthly to operate. Income from national and local ads might be enough to sustain the station — if there were no incidental expenses such as equipment breakdown or power failures. The use of the standby generator alone costs an additional P25,000 a month, Omar says.
Challenges such as this are common in the daily operations of Church-owned radio stations. More than 20 years since the days when Radio Veritas became a household name, the survival of these stations bears close scrutiny. While playing “Superman” to their communities, they have to contend with strained finances, changing audience preferences, and what some say is the death of AM radio.
But while the bottomline of Catholic radio is evangelization, the bottom line of operations is money. How can Church-owned radio — decidedly nonprofit and service-oriented in nature — survive in such a profit-driven industry?
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