Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Ledesma: Sir Henry By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
I WAS driving home from Butuan to Davao City when I heard from an RMN station that Henry Canoy passed away. True to life and in death, Sir Henry, for that's how we addressed him, does not want to bring attention to himself. He died a quiet death. When I heard about the news, it was as if in whisper because the radio signal becomes faint and choppy as you drive farther from where the broadcast emanated.
Sir Henry Canoy was a pioneer in radio broadcasting. His dream was to bridge Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon via radio. His vehicle was the Radio Mindanao Network. Sir Henry loved Mindanao and it does not come as a surprise why he called his broadcast enterprise Radio Mindanao Network (RMN).
I had the opportunity to work with RMN. Lorie dela Serna drafted me in 1969 to be dxDC's news editor and later Program Director of RMN-IBC and anchorman of the famous "Vigilantes." It was a very satisfying job and we guys were contented and happy. Sir Henry visits us now and then even as he had this limp.
The last time I saw Sir Henry was sometime in December of 1972, a little over three months after martial law was declared. DXDC was allowed to resume broadcast five days after it was closed and so we thought that nothing is the matter with the station management, the staff and employees. But the visit was too early for Christmas. I was asked to see him after Tinong Bautista, our Cebuano news writer and announcer, who I think was the most senior among us.
When Tinong exited from the door, tears were welling from his eyes even as he tried to contain it. He untied his necktie, for the martial law centurions has ordered that we should wear one along with an ID card, and threw it on top of his table.
I did have the opportunity to console Tinong who is so gentle and quiet, for it was my turn to enter the manager's room where Sir Henry held fort. He was standing and looking far into the gulf and sensing I had entered, he turned and reached out to me crying but not sobbing. He said that he never wanted to do this to his employees but he was ordered by Camp Crame to terminate us. He handed me my walking paper and my last salary and held me by the shoulders, "I wish I could do something Jun, but for now I cannot. I hope you understand."
There were four of us who were terminated and included in 72 employees network-wide who suffered the same fate. Six months later, I received a re-instatement order. Until today, I don't know who worked for my re-instatement but I suspected that Sir Henry must have a hand in it. A few years later, IBC-TV 13 was ceded to a Marcos crony Benedicto. He appointed all his unemployed relatives to the network who in turn replaced us. Sir Henry could do very little then for the greedy hands of the crony were still scrounging for more. That was the end of saga of my entry into the broadcast industry. I tried publishing (The Davao Chronicle) but two years later, General Hans Menzi, the chairman of Papi ordered Davao City Police Chief Isidro Gatmaitan to direct me to stop publishing, otherwise. Thus ended my rough journey. I have to find another means of livelihood because some people would not even touch me with a 10-foot pole.
Times have changed and so are the fates of men. The rulers of dictatorial regime, to include some of the rapacious cronies, had died. Sir Henry outlived them and RMN survived to this day. I am not that close to the Canoys but I nurture the short time that I worked with them. Sir Henry should be given an honor by this government for his pioneering spirit in the field of broadcast industry. To Sir Henry, thank you so much for your kindness and for taking care of us amidst adversities.
