Henry Canoy, Rest in Peace
May 17th, 2008Broadcast industry pioneer Henry R. Canoy passed away in Wyoming, U.S.A. on May 16, 2008. He was 84 years old.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of RMN Chairman Henry R. Canoy,” said Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Constantino G. Jaraula in a statement. “He is a great loss to the industry where he belongs. May his family and relatives be assuaged by the thoughts that his soul now rests in the loving hands of the Father!”
Upon hearing the news of his demise, Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno texted Mr. Canoy’s son Eric, “Our deepest and sincerest condolences. Your father was a legend. Even in death, he continues to inspire us.”
Mr. Canoy was born on Nov. 1, 1923 in a Presbyterian missionary hospital to Mariano Ricare Canoy of San Fernando, Cebu and Laureana Valentin Rabe of Opol, Misamis Oriental, both public school teachers.
As a boy, he had an undying curiosity to know how things worked and once dismantled his father’s portable Remington typewriter. But instead of giving him the beating he expected, his father instead told him, “I want you to learn to build things, not destroy them.”
And build them he did. With bosom friends Robin Cui and Vicente Rivera, Canoy set up an experimental radio lab in an abandoned chicken poultry house at the corner of Velez and del Pilar streets where the Fatima chapel now stands. With a home built, two tube radio receivers bought from Fideng Palacio of Puntod, they listened to radio broadcasts from Manila at night when reception was better.
In May 28, 1949 he married Maria Clara Suniel, daughter of Maximo Suniel, the first City Mayor of Cagayan de Oro appointed by President Elpidio Quirino, and Vicenta “Titing” Chaves of the influential Neri-Chaves clan.
Soon after, he set up a partnership with Cui and Max Suniel, Oscar Neri and Andres Bacal as equity partners with P10, 000 capital. Using the “Radio Amateur’s Handbook” as their guide and with surplus parts from Raon, they built their own transmitter with Far East Broadcasting Co. engineers Dick Rowland and Byrd Bruneimer, who helped them get the contraption running. Their first “transmitter building” was financed with a P5, 000 “duck farm” loan from the Phil. National Bank through Mdm. Laureana.
Mr Jose Viado of the Radio Control Office (RCO) gave them the broadcast frequency 1560 KHz for which they improvised a horizontal wire antenna strung to a coconut tree with the help of Ongkoy Padero, former vice president for engineering of Cepalco. When they got their 500-watt transmitter, their signal could reach as far as Del Monte plantation 30 kms away and a ham radio in Australia even managed to monitor it!
Every hour, listeners would hear the station ID: “You are tuned to Station DXCC, broadcasting with a power of 500 watts on 1560 kilocycles from Cagayan de Oro’s ” Gateway to Mindanao!” The infant station’s first “live coverage” was on August 28, 1952 when it aired a 3-hour “Anejo Rum” show from Plaza Divisoria for which Canoy billed La Tondena executive Hugo Chan Hong the princely sum of P500. (Canoy, 1997)
The RMN archives continue: The goal of DXCC then was not merely to entertain, but to inform and educate the public as well. The main source of information then were Manila based newspapers. Television was in its infancy, and radio still a toddler.
In 1954, Henry R. Canoy visited the United States under an observation grant. Instead of going to the giant networks and other big cities, he asked to be taken to the boondocks.
And in the small backwater town of Greeley, Colorado, he came upon a station that was doing exactly what DXCC was already trying to do in Mindanao. Its broadcast fare was peppered with farm prices, market and road conditions, weather warnings and personal messages. He came back more determined than ever to prove that radio could be a strong social force and agent of change. It is no idle boast to say that DXCC, and later RMN, paved the way for excellence in news, public affairs, and public service broadcasting in the country. (www.rmn.ph/about).
During RMN’s Golden Annivesary in 2002, President Gloria Arroyo acknowledged Canoy and RMN’s contribution to the Philippine broadcast industry and to Mindanao’s progress and development:
“It is an honor to join Radio Mindanao Network in paying tribute to the father of RMN.
Fifty years ago, Henry Canoy had a dream of utilizing radio as a vehicle for social change and as a means by which to serve the people of his hometown-Cagayan de Oro.”“He championed the broadcast media at the level of the grassroots. And, he enriched the lives of people by bringing them the new highs of the day and engaging them in the issues important to their lives.”
“Mindanao, in particular, owes much of its vibrance and progress to Henry Canoy, who pioneered broadcast in the region alongside its march for economic expansion and development. ”
“Radio and television have become the medium of the mass audience, and RMN is among our top networks. This is because of the valiant work of Henry Canoy, whose name and vision will always be part of our quest for a peaceful and progressive nation, a united people and a strong Philippine Republic”. (OPS, 2002)
Media, business and industry officials were lavish in their praise for Canoy’s pioneering efforts in the broadcast industry and building his hometown.
“Time and people pass away. Henry Canoy, the lowly provincial entrepreneur who created waves and tremors in the broadcast industry nationwide, is now memory and an institution. He left behind a legacy of hard work and a virtue he is known for: that of being so good, too kind and generous,” said Jerry Orcullo, president, Cagayan de Oro Press Club, Inc.
“During his younger days, wielding vast influence and resources, he could have opted to enter politics and should have easily made it. But Henry, humble as he is and known to many as a man of honesty, integrity and fairness, chose to relegate himself to the sidelines and work silently and anonymously to make RMN one of the biggest radio networks in the country today. His works were dedicated to God, country and people in a manner of being less known-”the Henry way.”
“RMN Chairman Henry Canoy, or plain Tito Henry, is an icon of everything good about Cagayan de Oro; promoting Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro, leading by example by taking the Pan-Philippine Highway with his whole clan from Luzon, keynoting the need to bridge gaps and encouraging us younger ones to follow his lead,” said Rodolfo Meñes, president, Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“The National Telecommunications Commission Region 10 with the Institute of Electronics Engineers of the Philippines North Mindanao Chapter and the industry players will pay tribute to the late Henry R. Canoy for his wonderful contribution as we celebrate the National Electronics and Telecommunications Week today (May 17) until May 23,” said Engr. Teodoro Buenavista, Jr., regional director, NTC-10.
“Henry R. Canoy is considered the Father of the Electronics and Broadcasting Industry in Cagayan de Oro and in the country. He established the Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) that has become the largest radio network in the country today. He is a pioneer, benefactor and a pillar of the industry.”
“While we are saddened by his death, we are also very thankful that he left a wonderful legacy that we can be truly proud of.”In the foreword to RMN: The Henry R. Canoy Story written by brother Reuben R. Canoy, his eldest son, Eric S. Canoy, RMN president and chief executive officer has written what could well pass for his eulogy:
“There’s no way you can separate the man and the network. For Henry R. Canoy is RMN. His experience sand insights into broadcasting, advertising, mass media and other aspects of our national life are remarkable. They make the past nearer, the present dearer, and the future clearer.”“We, his immediate family and members of the extended RMN family, have drawn inspiration from his amazing story. We hope you will, too.” (Canoy,1997)