Welcome, Brigada
Station. We are glad to know that there is a new player in the local broadcast scene with a good mix of neophyte and veteran media practitioners manning it. To our thinking, the entry of this new station here could add more meaning to press freedom through the broadcast medium, not to mention the fact that it could also boost the local entertainment industry. As far as we know, the new station will be on the air on a 24-hour basis with news and current affairs dominating the 4 a.m.-7:30 p.m. time slot and music/lifestyle format for the rest of the evening until 4 a.m. the following day.
Personnel. Brigada News FM 93.1 officially and formally starts broadcasting today, Monday. While it is on the FM (frequency modulation) band, its programs will take on the AM (amplitude modulation) format in order to serve a bigger listening audience not only in Cebu but in other parts of the archipelago as well. Noel Esin and Vernie Cabusao are at the helm as station manager and assistant station manager and program director, respectively. The rest of the on-air personnel are Max “Daloydoy” Andrino, Raul Bono, Arnel Dada, Tantan Sabalones, John Tam Ybañez, Chester Abadilla, Eric Manait, Raul del Prado, Philip Cerojano, Leo Divina, Benjie Talisik, Romy Limpangog, Jessa Lugpatan, Joven Comeros and this writer. Some of them will also be doing field reporting and news writing tasks. The technical department will be manned by Chris Tao-tao, Joel Campus and Al Morales while Jeanalyn Zafra will act as administration officer. Willie Sanico and Ian James Borres are the patrol drivers, and Ritchie Endoso is the utility guy.
Comeback. This is our formal comeback to the broadcast world after 18 years of working as consultant on media affairs to the Office of the Governor of Cebu from 1995 to June this year. It feels great to serve the listening public once again and be the listeners’ links to government and private agencies or entities that could help solve their problems and address their concerns using the microphone. We thank the bigwigs of Brigada News FM 93.1 for this wonderful opportunity. By the way, the network has its main office in General Santos city.
Songs. The Cebu Arts Foundation Inc. has announced that it is now ready to receive original song entries to next year’s Cebu Popular Music Festival, which is open to all Filipino composers, local residents or even migrants elsewhere in the country or abroad. We gathered that for next year’s songwriting competition, three genres/ categories are open: ballad and pop ballad; folk, country and novelty; and upbeat and dance music. Of course, all entries must not have been aired yet on radio and social sites like Facebook and YouTube.
Winners. It means on the finals night of the competition on Jan. 17, 2014, there will only be a total of three grand winners with each of them receiving P100,000. No runnerup will be declared, although the non-winners will be awarded P20,000 each. We also learned that a composer may submit as many entries as he/she wants in all the three genres/categories. However, only one song can become finalist regardless of the genre/category. Lyrics of all entries must be in Cebuano and the duration must not exceed four minutes inclusive of intro and extro.
Challenge. We challenge interested composers to hurry up and not wait for the deadline on Aug. 31 this year. Entry forms may now be obtained from the University of the Visayas president’s office or alumni office at the second floor of the university gym. We can already foresee a more exciting and colorful songwriting festival next year with the introduction of the three genres/categories that the composers have to work on.