Deo Macalma: From Working Student to DZRH’s Lakay

The life and career of a broadcaster known for news, humor, and Espesyal na Balita.

For someone tuning in to DZRH for the first time, Deo Macalma offers an introduction to a distinct tradition of Philippine radio: news and political conversation delivered with humor and an ear for conversations beyond official statements. Known to listeners as “Lakay,” Elpidio “Deo” Macalma is a broadcaster and radio executive whose working life has become closely connected with the AM station he joined in 1980.

His beginnings were far removed from a broadcast executive’s office. A 2011 profile by journalist Joel M. Sy Egco described him as a working student who cleaned a textile mill by day and attended classes at night. He later worked as a motel room attendant, then held jobs including telephone operator, cashier, and bookkeeper. Those experiences introduced him to people whose observations would eventually become useful in a very different profession.

He initially studied Business Administration at the University of the East. Encouragement from a former classmate helped draw him toward journalism at Lyceum of the Philippines, while a fellow working student encouraged him to seek a more regular motel position so he could continue studying. Writing offered a direction beyond the jobs that were paying his bills.

The immediate opening into broadcasting followed a setback. In DZRH’s 2024 anniversary interview, Macalma recalled organizing a labor union at a previous workplace, losing a strike, and being dismissed. He then answered a newspaper advertisement for a news writer, without initially realizing that the employer was DZRH. Rey Langit interviewed him. What began as a search for replacement work became the start of a long radio career.

Macalma joined DZRH as a news writer in 1980. He subsequently became a reporter, managing editor, and news director, moving through work that required both gathering information and deciding how to present it. By 1991, he had become assistant vice president and assistant station manager. His rise involved years of newsroom responsibility before the managerial title and public recognition that later accompanied his name.

Field reporting placed him near major events in Philippine history. Accounts of his career recall his coverage of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, including following tanks on assignments from Rey Langit. It was a demanding grounding for a broadcaster who would later become known for comic commentary: his experience included covering events as they unfolded, with uncertainty and danger beyond the studio.

Langit was an important early figure, but Macalma also needed an identity of his own. In the 2011 profile, he recalled public relations practitioner Jose Ayllon advising him to develop a distinctive niche. After Langit left DZRH in 1991, Macalma reshaped Espesyal na Balita from a trivia feature he had inherited into the blind-item segment associated with his name.

Espesyal na Balita invited listeners to work through clues about public figures and their activities. Its informants became known as his “bubuwit”—people who supplied observations from places broadcasters could not always enter themselves. Early sources included room attendants, waiters, security guards, and hospital personnel; later accounts described information coming from officials too. The format combined political and show-business talk with the appeal of a guessing game, making the source of a story part of its presentation.

That approach gave “Lakay” a recognizable place within DZRH’s ensemble of voices. In her 2005 study of AM radio, scholar Soledad S. Reyes described a morning program featuring Joe Taruc, Macalma, and Ruth Abao Espinosa. Her analysis identified Macalma’s humor as one part of their interaction, alongside Taruc’s more forceful questioning. It is a useful historical view of how his style operated in company: personality and banter helped shape the audience’s experience of the news.

Another significant colleague was Milky Rigonan. By 2013, she and Macalma were working together on Isyu!, combining commentary with her reporting experience. That year, the Rotary Club of Manila named both of them radio broadcast journalists of the year. The joint recognition marks one of several partnerships through which listeners encountered Macalma, rather than a career conducted entirely as a solo voice.

In 2018, Manila Broadcasting Company appointed him vice president and station manager of DZRH. Reports of the appointment placed his leadership in the period following Joe Taruc’s death. The promotion carried responsibility for the news and public affairs team as well as his own broadcasts—a further step from producing and presenting news to helping sustain the operation behind it.

That responsibility became particularly tangible after the 2019 fire that damaged DZRH’s facilities. Recalling the disruption in 2024, Macalma credited contingency arrangements and the engineering department with helping restore broadcasts through temporary facilities in Ortigas. His account emphasized preparation and collective work: keeping a station available to listeners depends on technical teams and alternative arrangements as much as on the people heard over the microphone.

His later broadcasting work has been closely associated with Damdaming Bayan and the afternoon program Breaktime. Both combine news and discussion with the conversational personality audiences recognize. When the Manila Overseas Press Club named him Radio Broadcaster of the Year in October 2023, its citation highlighted his reporting, analysis, public service, and humor. The recognition captured the combination that defines his public role: a journalist whose presentation is also part of the attraction.

Further honors have acknowledged that work. In June 2022, the Rotary Club of Manila included him among its Outstanding Journalists, citing the way he used wit to encourage critical thought. In October 2023, the Public Attorney’s Office recognized him as an Outstanding Broadcaster alongside fellow DZRH anchors Anthony Taberna, Gerry Baja, and Angelo Palmones. These awards document recognition from different institutions across a career extending over four decades.

His understanding of radio also includes service beyond political discussion. In a February 2024 network feature, Macalma pointed to Operation Tulong and assistance for less privileged communities when explaining MBC’s public-service mission. He also acknowledged the support and opportunities management had given him. His remarks connect two sides of his long association with DZRH: the opportunities the organization provided him and the help it could extend to its audience.

The audience now encounters that work through more than an AM receiver. In November 2025, DZRH announced that Macalma and Damdaming Bayan colleague Elaine Apit had been nominated for Most Outstanding Digital Radio Broadcasters at the 2026 Gawad Lasallianeta Awards. The nomination reflected how an established radio partnership was being presented to audiences through digital channels as well as traditional broadcasting.

Corporate records also show his continuing executive role. Manila Broadcasting Company’s October 2025 organizational-meeting disclosure listed Elpidio M. Macalma as VP–DZRH. For a reader who knows only the voice, that title adds another dimension: his connection to the station includes the organizational responsibilities behind the programs, not simply appearing on air.

Macalma’s place in Philippine radio is best understood through that continuing conversation. He brings information, interpretation, and a familiar personality into the same broadcast. The lasting interest lies in how those elements work together: listeners follow the news, recognize the voice, and return for the particular way he makes a public issue part of an everyday discussion.