Angelo Palmones: A mission in the airwaves

On the day DZMM had a presscon for their 16th anniversary, Angelo Palmones, director of ABS-CBN’s Integrated AM Radio Network arrived early. He was scheduled to leave for Davao a few hours after to oversee the radio network’s Takbo Para sa Kalikasan, which aims to encourage public support for environmental causes.

Palmones, a veteran broadcaster and self-described AVP ("assigned to various programs," he says smiling) was the right man for the job. A former DZMM news and station manager, Palmones never ran away from responsibility.

When DZMM news manager Claude Vitug needed a reporter, Angelo quit his job in a small radio station and plunged headlong into the task. When the network needed a monitoring assistant, Angelo was there again with his services.

The pattern continued when Todo Balita host Neil Ocampo was absent and Angelo was asked to anchor the program. Even though he then didn’t know a thing about anchoring, Angelo took a deep breath and pinch-hit for Neil.

Then came the ultimate challenge. Angelo was offered to act as network big boss, or station manager. Handling such big names as Korina Sanchez and Tina Monzon Palma seemed scary (who wouldn’t shake in their boots?), but Angelo, in true gung-ho fashion, agreed (Peter Musngi has since taken over).

What the Economics graduate from the College of Notre Dame in Kidapawan, Cotabato lacked in experience then, he more than made up for with his guts. And his love for nature – the kind he enjoyed as a boy frolicking in the verdant fields of Cotabato.

As he climbed the broadcasting ladder, Angelo never forgot his roots. He created the now-familiar Bantay Kalikasan. He initiated the planting of mangroves in such places as Cavite and Obando, Bulacan to safeguard the environment.

But back to the present. When DZMM told him and the rest of the network top brass that they are planning to hold outreach programs to mark 16 years of programming, Angelo couldn’t have been more excited.

The plan, called Project Caravan Kaalaman, will bring DZMM hosts and experts to 16 spots in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Pampanga for free lectures and consultations on starting a business and on urban farming. There will also be hands-on training on emergency preparedness, first aid and livelihood skills starting July.

After all, Angelo is no armchair host. The seasoned anchorman of Magandang Umaga, Magandang Pilipinas at 7 a.m. and Radyo Patrol Balita Afternoon Edition has been around.

He has been everywhere, spreading the gospel of science as a key to progress, even if it means fighting windmills.

"Science for many of us is still esoteric. It’s still hard to understand," Angelo observes.

Often, he finds himself in a blind alley, simply because people accuse him of acting like a know-it-all when he teaches new science concepts on the air.

But he’s not giving up. Not when he’s out there in the forefront of battle as one of the prime movers of the Philippine Science Journalist Association.

"There are many underdeveloped new technologies, and radio can serve as a venue to spread education through science nationwide," says Angelo.

True to form, he features updates in science and technology Sundays through DZMM’s aptly-titled Bago Yan, Ah! The child-friendly show also interviews Filipino inventors and is approved by the Education Department as required listening fare for students.

But that’s not all. Angelo also hosts Hoy! Gising! with Frankie Evangelista every Saturday at 8 a.m. The show is recognized as Juan de la Cruz’s court of last resort, where the ordinary citizen can expose government anomalies without fear of retaliation.

Angelo and his fellow DZMM hosts are taking it to heart: with much power comes much responsibility (right, Spider-Man?).

Korina Sanchez of Korina sa Umaga, put it this way: "Radio is more form than substance." Thus, she’d rather grow old on radio than in any other medium, bar none.

This must be also true for the rest of those enlightened broadcast journalists who have made radio and public service a way of life.