Popular radio man signs off

OZAMIZ CITY, Philippines - He became the favorite of late night tuners of Y96-FM with his SMS (short message system) dedication portion and love songs segue requested by lovelorn listeners.

People know him as Shy Guy. But for the media community, he is Alex Velayo Sy, the mentor and boss of dxSY. He died, Feb. 3, of heart attack.

Jed Boniao, one of the station’s announcers, told this paper in a telephone conversation that Sy was entertaining visitors in his office and signing several contract papers when he suddenly slumped on his desk and was brought to the hospital at 11:28 a.m.

“Kalit ra kayo, wala ko kabalo unsay buhaton. Kinsa gud ang magdahom ana nga maayo pa namong istorya anang buntaga,” Boniao narrates.

Sy, who turned 59 last Jan. 25, played a key role in enhancing the concept of local radio programming in Ozamiz City keeping pace with modern technology. Since the 1980’s, his station, which goes with the "Radyo Bantay" moniker, is largely credited as a training ground for aspiring broadcasters.

As the executive manager of the family-owned Times Broadcasting Network, the company founded by his late father, Emilio, Sy operated and supervised two other stations in Northwestern Mindanao—dxWO-FM in Pagadian City and dxEQ-FM in Dipolog City.

He was a man with good business sense, strict and outspoken, said Rocky Reyes, a reporter from dxSY. “Morag amahan na akong turing sa iyaha,” he said.

A dxWO reporter John Mark Cocos likewise recalled how humble his manager was and how he treats everyone as a friend, not only as a mere employee.

“Dili siya hakog, kung unsa ang iyang gikaon mao sad ang imong gikaon. Kung problemado ka ug moduol ka niya, dali ra siya kayo maluoy. Ug mangayo ka og tabang, tabangan dayon ka niya basta gamiton lang nimo sa maayo. Daghan siya’g gipakaon nga dili niya kadugo ug gitabangan nga naa sa iyang poder,” Cocos said.

For Jovencio Godoy Jr., former program director of dxOC-AM and presently National Union of Journalists of the Philippines national director, Sy inherited his father’s traits and fondness.

“He continued to live up to his late father’s dream and love for radio, not just as popular disc jock in Manila but in having and managing his own radio network,” he said.

“Gikaguol usab namo ang wala damhang kamatayon niya sanglit ako ug duha nako ka mga kauban karon nagsugod sa among panarbaho sa dxSY,” also said Wendell Talibong, reporter of dxDD-AM and CBCP News.

Though silent on issues affecting media, like the threats and killings, Sy once confided that he values press freedom and would always come to the aid of his reporters who end up getting the ire of politicians and other people who became subject of their news commentaries.

One time, he revealed that he wants to push the point that broadcasting is not just business but pleasure and public service and the fair practice of the freedom of expression.

For all his achievements, he said he likes to maintain a low “shy guy” profile and would even deny interviews from reporters, reminding them that as a manager, he has a separate public image and private life too.

His estate lies today at Rivera Funeral Homes and will be flown tomorrow, Feb. 5, to Manila. (Michael Medina / Philippine Preview)