Choy Torralba: taken in as radioman by Cerge Remonde, got shot at, slapped with multiple libel suits, was a Marcos loyalist, and relied on ‘credibility’ to succeed as broadcaster.
Passage
Choy Torralba: taken in as radioman by Cerge Remonde, got shot at, slapped with multiple libel suits, was a Marcos loyalist, and relied on ‘credibility’ to succeed as broadcaster.
The article that follows was written in 2014 under the by-line Jasonjes Monteclar. Jason has long worked as a broadcaster, more recently in the commentary program on YouTube called “The Not-So-Late Night Show with Jason Monteclar.”
The article drew on the highlights of the career of Cirse Francisco Torralba, more popularly known as Choy Torralba, including how Choy shifted to radio commentary from buy-and-sell business. His media work was made colorful by at least 18 libel suits (as of 2014), a gun attempt on his life (though not related to his broadcasts), and dabbling in politics as a loyal supporter of the Marcoses.
His critics may scoff at Choy’s claim that credibility was the reason for his success. For several years until his death, he was among the “heavyweights” in the ranks of Cebu broadcast opinion makers, with his “Tug-ani ang Lungsod” in the list of most-listened-to commentary programs.
What did he tell Monteclar as the cause of his top billing? “Credibility, credibility, credibility,” he said. He wasn’t an orator, he said, not like his contemporaries Migs Enriquez and Cerge Remonde. And regretted he had not learned to write for publication. He could offer only credibility, he said. Plus his knack for getting inside information from high places, which would partly explain his large audience.
We’ve retained the tenses used by Jason Monteclar’s article. Just remember when it was first published, about nine years before 2023. 
— PACHICO A. SEARES
CHOY TORRALBA (1951-2023): Thirty-four years in broadcasting as of 2014, which would be 43 years in 2023. (Photos in the CJJ re-publication from the files of Marit Stinus-Cabugon.)
‘Tug-ani ang Lungsod, kauban ni Choy Torralba’
JASONJES MONTECLAR
[First published June 15, 2014. Republished
nine years later by Metro Cebu News. Adapted
by CJJ in October 2023.]
[] “Not only does truth set you free. It also protects you.”
[] “I thought I was going to be dead.” (After he survived gunshots directed at him.)
[] “If you want to convince your listeners, persuade them using your credibility.”
— CHOY TORRALBA
Since the outset of the Philippine radio broadcast industry, local airwaves have been made the battleground of different aspiring personalities. Throughout time, names come and go, but some are fated to remain. For thirty four years, Choy Torralba of dyRF soared the ups and downs of his career but never gave misfortune the chance to disprove what he is worth today.
In the early 80s, Choy Torralba was not doing well in his ‘buy and sell’ ventures.
Consequently, he made an “inadvertent” decision to enter into the much complicated world of radio broadcasting. Just months before the late Cerge Remonde made himself known on air, Choy Torralba was already doing his thing as co-anchor, alongside Attorney Geronimo ‘Boy’ Creer in an evening talk show entitled “Tug-ani Ang Lungsod” at radio dyLA.
Choy Torralba’s friendship with Cerge Remonde dated back to even before Cerge’s days as a DYLA manager-commentator who also wrote a column with SunStar.
Later on, he was invited by Serge Remonde–who by then was already the training director of Broadcast Production and Training Center (BPTC)–to join him at DYLA’s ‘interaction’, a fearless morning show that thoroughly tackled matters relating to public affairs.
Eventually, people like Boy Kiamco (who is now a famous painter) and Atty. Dave Ompok became part of that daily morning program. For years, their radio show was a household name.
It was during these early days that destiny really took things with its own hands by planting the seed of loyalty between two young men, ensuring that the friendship they had molded would last for a lifetime. It was in these crazy old days that the two ‘Columbus of the Night’–the late Press Secretary and the vernal Choy Torralba– would be having their best times.
With his wife Michiko and three sons.
Depressingly, both became victims of marital dysfunction but unsurprisingly, these young rascals seemed to have liked it. They took freedom to its logical conclusion and took almost unlimited flirtations with the opposite sex.
Attempts on his life
“I thought I was going to be dead for a long time..” Choy mumbled to himself, kidding that he had the power of resurrection. What actually transpired on that one sunny day was absolutely unforgettable, he said. After getting into his car, he suddenly heard countless shots bursting from a lone gunman.
“Every morning when I wake up I always keep it as a prayer, that should one day I’d be put into a terrible peril, I pray to God that He better grant me a chance to defend myself. I just want to have a good fight. I don’t want to die helpless.”
Yes, he was able to grab his handgun and gave the culprit a glance of what hell is. Choy Torralba simply fought back.
Flood of libel cases (Choy Torralba article)
Just before the glass of wine reaches his lips, he took a paused with muted a grumble: “A scarless soldier is unworthy of medal… And the same applies to broadcasters who suffered not from the fangs of discomfort brought about by a libel suit.”
Yes, he has been crossing swords against the prominent. A career flooded with court cases– from the original eighteen libel suits down to one. In fact, one of which made it through the Supreme Court, the landmark case of ‘Circe Francisco Torralba Vs. People of the Philippines. GR #153699, Aug. 22, 2005.
With President Marcos Jr., whose dad Choy also supported even after the Marcoses’ flight from Malacanang in 1986.)
A matter of taste
“I don’t write,” he said with regret when asked if he writes for publications. Though one time he wrote for a travel magazine circulated by Philippine Airlines. Most of the time he makes himself busy by turning down offers like joining the ranks of Max Soliven at the Philippine Star. Aside from his admission of being a bad writer, he simply hates the complexities of grammar and composition. For him, writing is a matter of taste.
Obviously he loves a sinking ship because he never jumps away from it. Never afraid to proclaim that he is and will forever be a proud Marcos loyalist. When asked why hold so much reverence for the late dictator, he argued thus: “Ferdinand Marcos was a visionary and true to his purpose. Even the combined accomplishments of all other Philippine presidents (combined) couldn’t match his, not even close.”
Credibility
There is an old saying that a man’s reputation precedes his character. Credibility, credibility, and credibility are the only gems that a broadcaster must sincerely guard with his own life. As a way of tossing a token of advice to broadcast newbies, he declares with confidence that “If you want to convince the listening public, persuade them using your credibility. Orators do it thru the tongue. While the credible is doing it thru the heart. But I’am no orator.”
Today, the new media operates in a much pervasive scale. It has invaded what used to be fortified walls of ethics and lofty journalistic principles dating back to the pre-tablet era.
The internet generation has become an easy source of information. “Back then, we got information straight from the horse’s mouth. We did a lot of interviews. There was no internet to rely upon.”
Choy added, deploring the practice of an era: “There was no device for texting, no hand-held radio. Live reporting coverage from outside studio was literally done by being bold enough to plead to those who owned telephone lines located nearby by allowing us to use it for free or otherwise..it’s harder than you think..”
Still on air
At present, legendary Choy Torralba is still broadcasting at dyRF (Word Broadcasting Corporation). He is a known political supporter of Senators Bong Bong Marcos, JV Ejercito, and Loren Legarda.
Once Choy retorted: “I just want to be sure in one thing…I do it for free because they are my friends and not for anything else. Our relationship lies beyond politics….I do open campaigning for them because I knew these people well…sometimes I even spend using my own personal funds…”
In the long run, Choy Torralba as a broadcaster, may not be the thundering type who blows his lungs out by polluting the airwaves with fury and fiery invectives. But when one becomes an “adversary exposed to his surgical scrutiny, expect skeletons in your closet to dance like crazy on the public square.”
Finally, his moral transformation became the very foundation of what he is now as explicitly expressed in his favorite quip: “Make God the center of your life. For he is a just God. And whatever you do always remember the golden rules of doing or not doing things to others. Good things can happen to good men….lastly… your foolishness will always go back to your body.”