Radyo Migrante ‘A Night of Poetry’ receives award

Radyo Migrante ‘A Night of Poetry’ receives award

RHEA GAMANA

2014 National Campus and Community Radio Award

By Artemio Borba

A small Toronto not-for-profit Filipino radio production has been accorded significant recognition by the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA).

Radyo Migrante’s “A night of poetry: Trip to the memory lane of the First Quarter Storm” has received Honourable Mention for Third Language Programming from the 2014 NCRA Awards in Victoria, BC where the competition had the highest number of submissions to date with some coming from the more established radio programs.

Radyo Migrante’s entry was broadcast last January 26 on CHRY 105.5 FM.

It featured the turbulent years before the Martial Law was declared in the Philippines. The period of unrest started from January to March of 1970 thus it has been dubbed the First Quarter Storm (FQS).

Produced by Rhea Gamana, the show featured poetry reading by Akdaan collective members Pet Cleto, Lui Queano, Ysh Cabana and Mary Parreno. It also included an interview with Enrico Esguerra, who had first-hand accounts as a student then and a witness to the holding of massive rallies, and different peoples demonstration at the height of the FQS.

According to the NCRA Membership coordinator Kari Benninghaus, the show scored very high on the judges’ books with a total mark of 91/100. “Only those within 3 points of the winners received honourable mentions, so that goes to show how close many of the entries were to one another,” Benninghaus added.

YSH CABANA

Since 1993, NCRA Awards honour amazing programming, people and activities from the campus and community radio sector nationwide, reflecting the range and diversity of community radio across Canada. The Third Language Award recognizes exceptional spoken word programming in a language other than French or English.

Radyo Migrante’s level of success in Toronto has never been achieved by a Filipino broadcaster before.

Upon receiving the news, Gamana remarked “Thank you NCRA for the recognition, to CHRY Community Radio for the endless support you provide the collective, and to our dear listeners, for your unending support to Radyo Migrante! As we always say, we will strive even further to deliver news and information that matter to our kababayans in Canada, Philippines and around the world.”

Radyo Migrante is a collective that works within the Filipino community and addresses the issues that Filipino migrants face across Canada and connects them to the news that is happening within the Philippines. The program has a strong focus on worker’s rights, social and environmental justice and creates critical and accountable media that fosters a community-led movement.

Over the years, the radio show has drawn on local talents of Filipino personalities, has given voices to the common people and has brought forth the daily experiences of Filipino workers across Canada. Radyo Migrante has been providing top quality spoken word content since its first broadcast in the summer of 2007.

To see the rest of the winning entries, visit: www.ncra.ca/awards/201314-awards

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Programmer Rhea Gamana (second from the left) is flanked from by Ysh Cabana, volunteer co-host; Chris Sorio of Migrante-Canada; Lui Queano, Mary Parreño and Petronila Cleto of Akdaan.

Radyo Migrante in 7 years

Radyo Migrante has a spoken word format and works towards being the preeminent radio source of alternative news and progressive commentary on Filipino issues in Canada and in the Philippines. It airs every Sunday from 9-10pm.
Formally launched in summer of 2007, Radio Migrante roughly began when Marco Luciano, Maya Shapiro and Tanya Roberts Davis, formed the idea to broadcast a show for migrant workers, particularly Filipinos and Latinos. However, even before the young group of active migrant community organizers, went live, Luciano has been invited to host the show “Found Sound” by Saira Chibber. After a year of processing the application for a program in CHRY Radio Station, the first show went on-air in January of 2008. Much of the programming was aired on Wednesday from 4PM to 5PM in a span of two years.

Radio Migrante has gone through various iterations since then. CHRY announced an opening for a timeslot on Sunday evenings and the collective applied for it. In 2009, former CHRY Program Director Matthew Fava and Marco Luciano created an audio documentary on the Second International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) in Athens, Greece. In that same year, the show was renamed “Radyo Migrante” as the focus shifted slowly into a Filipino show after Shapiro and Roberts Davis went out of the country.

In 2010, Alex Felipe was invited to be part of the show and eventually became an active programmer. Mithi Esguerra often co-host the show. In 2012, Rhea Gamana joined the collective while founder Luciano left a year after.
Currently, the talk show is continued to be anchored by active migrant community organizers.

The year 2013 was a banner year as the show came out with a newscast and “Pulso ng Migrante” segment. Also, it has been honoured to have received the Spoken Word Programming Award during the CHRY 25th Anniversary Awards Ceremony on July 6, 2013. This award recognizes the show for “being an outstanding leader in critically thought out spoken word broadcasting” in the York University radio station.

The following are the top 7 shows in recent years:

1. March 23, 2014: Interview with one of the women’s group Gabriela Partylist Rep. Emmi de Jesus.

2. February 9, 2014: Discussion with progressive muslim organization, Suara Bangsamoro National Spokesperson Amirah Ali Lidasan.

3. December 29, 2013: Year-in-review with former-partylist representative and columnist Raymond Palatino.

4. October 13, 2013: Interview with Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Chairperson Dr. Carol P. Araullo.

5. May 19, 2013: A conversation with activist and singer-songwriter Karl Ramirez.

6. February 10, 2013: A conversation with women and children’s rights advocate Coni K. Ledesma, Chairperson of NDFP Special Office forwho also talked about the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front.

7. January 6, 2013: Interview with Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Secretary-General, Renato Reyes, Jr.

“Radyo Migrante kung saan nagtitipon ang mga Pilipino para sa progresibong pulitika at pagbabago”