We speak with Angel Grace Autencio, a Broadcaster / Editor for Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM in Antique, on what her team is doing to continue bringing nutritional and developmental news to her community despite the challenges of the times.

Tell us more about your role at Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM.
As a Broadcaster / Editor for Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM, I’m in charge of the publication of our weekly newsletter called Kaabyanan Weekly Report. I edit relevant news articles for the week and I write editorials. With exception to the editorial, all the content is written in the vernacular (Kinaray-a), so the local community can easily understand local news. I am also the broadcaster of our entertainment programme, “Love Songs & Stories” which airs in the afternoon. I play requested songs and I voice their shout-outs.
 
How does a typical day at work look like for you?
A typical workday for me is arriving at the radio station, preparing my things, and asking our news director what news should be included for the day. Then, the news writers submit articles to me. I also proofread articles and announcements before they are posted on our Facebook page. Of course, throughout the day, there might be some goofing around to liven the atmosphere, but it doesn’t intervene with our work. Oh, and I also take snacks throughout the day, my drawer is filled with them!
 
What stories is your team most interested in covering or featuring?
Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM is a part of the Nutriskwela Community Radio Network of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) in partnership with the Local Government Unit of Sibalom, Antique. We aim to disseminate nutritional and developmental information. Our news team covers local news and events that are relevant to our listeners. As much as possible though, we don’t cover negative news such as death or crimes. We also have nutritional and developmental programmes that are aimed at disseminating information which are beneficial for the locals.
 
How does your organisation work with press releases / story leads? What is your team looking forward to receiving from PRs?
Since Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM is under the NNC, we are not a commercial radio station, so we don’t accept advertisements and marketing from brands or other organisations. This is a limitation on our end. However, the station is open to accepting developmental story leads in the region from other news portals, and from the national level if this directly affects Antique and the surrounding region. The news team will decide which ones to feature.
 
What are some challenges your team are facing, and how is your team resolving them?
Of course, one challenge we face is the COVID-19 pandemic. Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM was assigned as the information center of our municipality. Our station has more than 30 employees, so we had to resort to a skeletal workforce to limit contact from each other. Some were assigned to work from home, while others only have to report to duty on certain days of the week. Because of these limitations, our programmes were greatly affected. Currently, we don’t have on-air guests for some programmes. Instead, they send us recordings or recorded episodes so that the programmes can continue.
 
What does success look like for you and your team?
Our goal is helping the community. One way we can do that is by being a “bridge”, to bring help to those who need it. Recent examples include Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM helping citizens from far-flung barangays. First, a family who lost their home due to a fire incident. Second, a child who became paralysed and suffered a semi-coma. The radio station does fundraising for these kinds of situations and for all those who seek our help.

Helping others, even in our own little way, always makes an impact not only to ourselves but to local residents as well. This is what success looks like for Radyo Kaabyanan 88.5 FM. I hope that our station serves as an inspiration to everyone to give back without asking for anything in return. The world could use all the kindness we can give.

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