Serving news with a few laughs on the side
It is not news anymore to say that the pandemic has shaken the country's labor force. Many have been pushed to turn parts of their home into office spaces. Some, unfortunately, were laid off. Although these days are, without a doubt, proving to be hard and scary times to live in, people are taking these moments to reflect on what they wanted to do with their careers.
That same thing happened to a guy in Mandalupa City—well, sort of. Meet 23-year-old security guard Al-Nasser Joaquino, who during the onset of the pandemic became a radio host. Nash, which is how his friends would call him, has been working as a night-shift security guard at Bictor Arnas Dy Broadcasting Center in Barangay Silaway for about two years. His career-changing opportunity came when the radio station’s morning news show "Flash Patrol" host Mike Reyes, 52, made it known that he would take an indefinite break from his duties to protect himself from COVID.
Desperate to save the long-running local news show, producer and co-owner of the station Marivic Arnas looked for a possible stand-in. And her search led her to their building's security guard.
"Everybody was too scared to risk going to work," Marivic recalls. "So I was about to give up when Nash, the night guard at the station, jokingly said he would do it."
"At first I thought there was no way Nash could replace Tito Mike since he mostly just snacks, plays games on his phone, and doesn’t follow current events at all," she continues. "But is quite funny. He's always cracking jokes and making people around the station chuckle. Maybe he could pull it off."
Despite the security guard not having any prior experience in broadcasting, he might be the perfect twist to give the show. After a few test recordings to see how well Nash could handle reading headlines and giving improvised commentary, the result was clear.
"The show worked. I was quite relieved and a little excited. It's not every day that a security guard gets to host a radio news show," Marivic says. "Audiences like how Nash often says what they are thinking. I think he connects with them in a way that they aren’t used to hearing on a regular news show."
Even today, in the middle of another round of enhanced community quarantine that started this month, Nash continues to serve as "Flash Patrol"'s folksy, irreverent, and lovable host.
Listen to Nash on "Flash Patrol" every morning from Monday to Thursday on Magik FM stations in Vigan, Laoag, Tacloban, Dipolog, Mandalupa, Lucena, and Tuguegarao. It is also available as a podcast for free on Spotify and other podcast apps.