DWAL

DWAL ^[1], operating as ALFM 95.9 Radyo Totoo, is a news/talk FM station owned by the Archdiocese of Lipa and operated by the Radyo Bayanihan System as an affiliate of the Catholic Media Network. The station's studio is located at Studio 2, 2nd floor, Balmes Building, Barangay 7, C. Tirona Street, Batangas City, Philippines, with its transmitter site located at Barangay Santo Domingo, Batangas City, sharing with its sister station. It operates Mondays-Saturdays from 4:30 am–10:00 pm (PST), and on Sundays and special coverage days from 4:30 am–6:30 pm.

Exception to the regular broadcast time is every Maundy Thursday to Good Friday when the station operates on simulcast with 99.1 Spirit FM from 4:30 am to 8:00 pm, Black Saturday when it airs on simulcast from 4:30 am to 8:00 am and 5:30 pm to 12:00 midnight, and annually during Misa de Gallo days (December 16–24) from 4:00 am to 6:30 pm.

The station is the first news and talk FM station in the Philippines owned and operated by the Catholic church and it is similar to the country's first news and talk station on FM band Radyo5 92.3 News FM Manila owned and operated by TV5 which debuted November 2010.

History

Overview

DWAL is a station that brings news, information and evangelization. Pioneer personalities of the FM station were Fr. Nonie Dolor, Lita Aguila-Bicol and Renzo Luna (Renz Belda, also a reporter for DZRH). More personalities added up through the years up to the present. DWAL-FM carries the slogan Evangelization Radio that later evolved into News and Evangelization Radio. Father Ildefonso Dimaano served as its pioneer station manager, starting from its launch in 2009. Fr. Nonie Dolor replaced him from 2011 until April 2016. His position was succeeded by Fr. Jayson Alcaraz until July 31, 2017 when Dimaano returned for a second term as station manager.

Marcos to Estrada presidencies

DWAL-FM traces its roots from the old, but now-defunct DWAM-AM 1080 kHz in 1969, with Calero Road, Batangas City as its first studios. However, with the declaration of Martial Law on September 21, 1972 under Ferdinand Marcos, the station was closed under strict censorship imposed by martial law. After complying with the papers needed for resumption of broadcasts, DWAM-AM returned on air by October that same year.

DWAM 1080, through the years, provided listeners with religious broadcasting, news, music and oftentimes, religious drama. Its notable roster of personalities during the 70's included Lita Aguila-Bicol, Fr. Nonie Dolor, Oscar Adelfo de Villa and Avis Magtaas; Bicol and Dolor would later team up to reestablish the station at 95.9 FM. It was also in this period that 1080 kHz enjoyed the distinction of being the sole AM station in the market until Batangas Capitol operated Radyo Balisong opened shop in 1981.

In the '90s, influx of population and development of the city was on the move, but the potent of provincial AM stations started to dwindle as FM stations like GV 99.9 and Bay Radio (now Brigada News FM) started to air in the city in 1996 and 1998, respectively. On May 8, 1999, 99.1 Spirit FM was born to cater the younger generation with music.

2002; DWAM-AM 1080 ceases operations, revival in the works

Due to the antiquity of the facilities of the AM station, DWAM-AM ceased operations in mid-2002. Efforts of establishing another one took years. The first permit of operations expired in 2004 before full supply of materials was commenced. It was in this time also that two choices were decided, whether to revive the station in the same frequency band or to migrate to an FM frequency as an "AM on FM format", a concept that was eight to ten years ahead of being a prospective national medium. Ultimately, all efforts of reestablishment fell off.

2009 to present; DWAL-FM

In mid-2009, a new station on the frequency of 95.9 MHz started to air, later to be unveiled as ALFM 95.9 Radyo Totoo with its first slogan Makipanalig, Makiugnay at Makidasal. Test broadcasts began as early as February 2009 under the tentative callsign DZAL. However, the calls were already taken by an AM station elsewhere in Luzon, hence the callsign was slightly modified by replacing the Z with W to get the greenlight at launch. Furthermore, on its first months of broadcast, the station was severely handicapped on its northern broadcast fringe by Radyo Natin Calamba that was then broadcasting on the same frequency. The issue was settled later with the Calamba station moving to 106.3 FM in 2010. It was also on that same year that DWAL-FM first revamped its imaging campaign by carrying the Evangelization Radio tagline.

Training journalists of tomorrow

Since 2010, ALFM has been a training ground for students taking up Mass Communication, AB Communication and Journalism in their pursuit for work in the media industry after graduation. These OJTs work as news gatherers and field reporters during their tenure. One of their notable call-ups from the on-the-job intern to the regular reporters pool was Minerva Padua, who worked with the station from 2012-15.

Transfer of facility

On May 21, 2015, ALFM and Spirit FM went off-air to give way to its transfer from the Basilica Site to its new broadcast complex at C. Tirona Street. It returned broadcasting on May 25. The old studio has since been demolished and converted to a parish mortuary.

Shift to a more news-intensive format

With the retirements of Fr. Nonie Dolor and Lita Aguila-Bicol in April 2016, the station gradually shifted to a more news-intensive format that was completed on May 2017 with old station plugs voiced by Aguila-Bicol were replaced by new ones recorded by Spirit FM's DJ Joseph, and revising its slogan to cater more news as Ang Inyong News and Evangelization Radio.

Cable television carriage

For the 2016 Philippine local and national elections, the station's online streaming was simulcast over the Batangas provincial arm of the MyCATV cable system after a lease-access deal was struck by the management. On June 2016, the TV simulcasts became permanent. Currently, the news-talk programs of the station are being broadcast over MyCATV Channel 8 as a leased-access TeleRadyo format.

News operation

Currently, DWAL-FM provides 19 hours per week of news-oriented programming, a cumulative of 17 and a half hours of news blocks on weekdays and their flagship one and a half hour weekly recap Aksyon at Repleksyon on Saturdays.

History

Upon reestablishment of the station in 2009, the news organization consisted solely of three people. It was founded by former DWAM 1080 kHz mainstays Fr. Nonie Dolor and Lita Aguila-Bicol, and DZRH provincial reporter Renz Belda who uses the name Renzo Luna as a compromise of working for two stations. Initially, there were no field reporters until the 2010 presidential elections when they hired their first, and youngest reporter (at age 16), Ethel Robles.

The pool of reporters was further established by hiring former comic cartoonist Onofre Tenorio under the radio name Kakang Bising and freelance DJ Samuel Barral in 2011. Minerva Padua became their first call-up from their regular trainees pool in 2012.

However, the original pool of reporters would not last as by 2016, Robles left the news department to take a role at the Archdiocesan Youth Commission. Barral would later run twice unsuccessfully for a councilor's seat at Rosario, Batangas before leaving for good that same year. Padua left the station to work at the Department of Agriculture. Kakang Bising would remain as the sole reporter until Jam Sayat and Jajo Culla were hired by the station in May 2017.

From 2009 until Fr. Nonie Dolor's retirement, the station had a cumulative 24 hours per week of news content until the local morning news block was cut down by an hour.

Reference