‘They should not treat blind men and women as common business tenants.’
AT least 12 blind masseurs are earning their living at the Puregold mall in Barangay Marikina Heights. Their makeshift work area is called “The Blind Site,” which is located on the second floor. The building admin charges them a hefty P50,000 a month as a rental fee, which is similar to the regular fees collected from the owners of makeshift commercial shops.
C’mon, the ultra-wealthy owners of Puregold whose business extends to the vast reaches of our islands should exhibit more compassion and understanding to the masseurs who struggle to eke out a living to sustain their mostly indigent families. They should not treat blind men and women as common business tenants.
The group earns about P70,000 a month or only P20,000 after deducting the rental fee, a measly take-home income divided among the 12 masseurs. We appeal to Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro for any form of assistance, especially for the children of the masseurs, who have barely enough food.
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Wayne Enage, better known as Brother Wayne, a prominent radio personality, has passed away at 77. Radio jazz became popular during his time as supervisor of the pioneering jazz station DWWK-FM (101.9). He was a loving and deeply caring father to his children, Patrick, Christopher, Alexandra, CJ, Eric and Chevy, and a very warm, dear friend to so many whose lives he touched with his genuine compassion, kindness, companionship, along with fun and laughter.
DWWK-FM started with a progressive jazz format manned by disc-jockeys Andy (“Handy Andy”) Generoso, Peter (“Peter St. John”) Molina, Ditos (“DJ Alfred”) Diaz, Larry (“Larry Man”) Martinez and Raffy (“Raffy Red”) Rebullida in the early 70s. It turned to pop music under supervisors Naldy Castro and Ronnie Quintos and eventually to contemporary jazz with Brother Wayne at the helm.
Jing Magsaysay, Ed Picson, Ronnie Malig, Pinky Villarama-Evangelista and myself were together in this breakthrough format that unexpectedly brought high ratings and abundant revenues for the network (Banahaw Broadcasting Company, Channel 2).
Concert producers took advantage of the surging popularity then of foreign jazz artists and bands that filled the air lanes from morning till late night through DWWK-FM. For about three years in the early 80s, the Philippine International Convention Center was often packed on weekends with the likes of Tom Scott, Quincy Jones, Bob James, Earl Klugh, the Isley Brothers, George Benson, the Pointer Sisters, Spyro Gyra, Ramsey Lewis, Hubert Laws and many more renowned jazz fusion artists. Most of them would be interviewed live by Brother Wayne, Jing and Ed which not only helped promote the concerts but also helped raise the WK’s ratings.
We were hoping then that the BBC TV/radio network would join the very lucrative business ventures of producing jazz concerts to earn large revenues for itself. The jazz format would have sustained DWWK-FM for several years but it seemed top management was not willing to provide ample support in resources and marketing.
Sadly, the radio station, then a strong third in FM surveys, was closed down to give way to another radio station with a Tagalog personality/music format targeting the AM radio market.
