Owner of first AM radio station in Oriental Mindoro passes away at 82

Honrado Vega, broadcaster and owner of the first AM station in Oriental Mindoro, has passed away at 82 on Tuesday morning due to hypertension according to his daughter. Contributed photo

CITY OF CALAPAN — Honrado Vega, owner of the first AM station which filled the airwaves of Oriental Mindoro province, passed away due to hypertension at 82 years old on Tuesday morning in Legazpi City, Albay, his daughter Myla Vega said.

“It’s been three days that he was constipated and had difficulty breathing so he was rushed to the hospital,” Myla said in a text message to Inquirer on Tuesday afternoon.

In 2013, the elder Vega was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Vega is survived by his wife Delia and five children.

Vega, fondly called “Tito Ding”, migrated to this city in Oriental Mindoro from Ligao City, Albay before he founded DZOM-AM 1107 kHz in 1969. The station later became DWOM-FM in March 1998.

On March 1, Vega requested to be brought back to his hometown in Albay to see his siblings and receive treatment from his nephew who is a doctor.

Vega is also one of the founders of Oriental Mindoro Media Club which was created in 1987.

He was awarded one of the Outstanding Mindorenos in the field of communications by the provincial government.

Myla said there will be a two-night wake over her father’s remains in Ligao City before he will be brought home to Calapan City.