Catholic media and Fr. Reuter

On the day Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ passed away, I recalled the days I worked for Catholic station dyRF. I was a multi-tasking newbie in 1973, when the station was under the management of the Redemptorist Fathers. The meaning of the call letters was apparent, but dyRF then was known as Radio Familia.  Nowadays, Radyo Fuerza is managed by Word Broadcasting Corp. of the Society of Divine Word SVD.

Then as now, the station was a member of the Philippine Federation of Catholic Broadcasters PFCB, the umbrella organization of all Catholic broadcast stations. Established in the 1960s, the PFCB (now known as Catholic Media Network CMN) was an arm of the Episcopal Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media. The man at the helm then was Bishop Gerard Mongeau, OMI, of Cotabato, a Philippine member of the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications.

The development of Catholic broadcast media in the country owes a lot to Fr. Reuter’s vision, which is to use mass communication in pursuit of total human development. In layman’s terms, that means social justice and eradication of poverty in the context of the Gospel.

The approach is not dogmatic, but integrates the Gospel with popular themes like love, suffering, and redemption through radio, television, and stage. “Mass media is the modern day pulpit,” he once said.

He must have given the Philippine Catholic hierarchy plenty of inputs when the bishops petitioned Congress for a national franchise for both radio and television. The 1967 law stringed the PFCB, which now counts for 60 AM and FM including four television stations in its roll of members. Until Fr. Reuter died on Dec. 31, 2012, his name appeared in the CMN website as executive director.

Mentoring broadcasters in the techniques of radio production in the ’60s to the ’70s was a challenge because digital technology was still non-existent and analog was the name of the game. I’m not competent to discuss analog and digital technology but technical limitations did not hamper Fr. Reuter’s work. Hundreds of broadcasters and producers earned their stripes after training with Fr. Reuter, proving that inadequate resources and technology drawback can be drivers of creative energy.

I alluded to my previous stint in dyRF because one of my tasks as a newly hired employee in 1973 was to man the single sideband (SSB), the communication link of all PFCB member stations from Laoag in Luzon to Kidapawan in Mindanao. My job was to monitor and record all communications between affiliates, an easy task except when all you hear is static signal.

The SSB was important because dyRF was the production center of soap operas aired in Cebuano-speaking areas in Visayas and Mindanao. Each time the station ships out the drama tapes to affiliates, I inform the station in charge of the waybill number. In a matter of days, I would get messages that the drama tapes reached their destination.

The popularity of the radio dramas pushed dyRF to the top of the ratings and judging by the enthusiasm of provincial stations to get the broadcast materials on time, I guess the soap operas enhanced their financial statements as well. At a time when media was being controlled and viewed with skepticism, Catholic radio stations maintained its credibility.  Relevant programs and soap operas ensured the federation’s viability.

In time, the PFCB became the virtual platform of Fr. Reuter’s views on the social and political order through “The Communicator,” the newsletter he edited and helped published. Many broadcasters imbibed his insights, with some earning the ire of the dictator, like my late husband Boy Apalisok who also benefited from Fr. Reuter’s training and guidance.

Boy was imprisoned by the military in Ozamis City for his supposed seditious and incendiary broadcasts over the diocesan station dxDD.  Meanwhile, Cebuanos know only one authentic broadcaster during the dark days of Martial Law – the late Inday Nita Cortez Daluz who handled news commentary over dyRF from the late ’70s to the mid-’80s.

* * *

Products of Manila’s exclusive colleges for women and graduates of the Ateneo de Manila University have unleashed plenty of shared memories about Fr. Reuter when they were under his class or joined spiritual retreats where he was the director. However, the hoi polloi, especially young people in the provinces have also benefited from his training and spiritual direction.

I owe my secondary education to the cross guidance of the Columban fathers when they ran Kabankalan Academy (KA) in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental. In time, the school administration went to the Sisters of St. Paul, which sent out Mother Renee to oversee academic matters in the mid-’60s.

Under the nun’s baton, KA (now known as Kabankalan Catholic College KCC) came up with an aggressive performing arts program that tapped local talents. I was in the stable but didn’t quite make the grade. However, my classmate, the beauteous and gifted Jane Pico became the toast of Catholic schools in the southern part of Negros Occidental because of her flair for declamation and drama. KA always topped inter-academy declamation contests and soon, the madres came up with a number of stage plays that cast Jane in the lead role. The play, “Murder in a Nunnery” was staged in 1965 and had no less than VIP Fr. James Reuter in the audience.

I later learned that Jane’s performance earned for her a pass in a stage play produced by the Sisters of St. Paul in Dumaguete City and directed by Fr. Reuter. He later encouraged my classmate to take up dramatics in St. Paul’s College in Manila but during those times, a career in the performing arts seemed to belong only to the well-heeled.

Jane is now happily settled in Zamboanga City, keeping house for husband Dennis and doting on many grandchildren. She has no regrets and looks back to the interaction with the legendary Jesuit with gratitude and a sense of privilege. No doubt, the memories occupy a very special part in her personal journey.