Tiya Dely

At the age of 87, Magpayo was still a regular anchor of the DZRH radio program Serenata Kolektibista (now Serenata Filipina), in a segment that featured her longtime passions: kundiman and rondalla music. While anchoring said radio show on the evening of August 30, 2008, she suffered a stroke and was rushed to the Manila Doctors’ Hospital. She died two days later on September 1, 2008, two months short of her 88th birthday.

The many awards Magpayo received for her contributions to the Philippine broadcast industry include the Pama-As Gintong Bai award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP). In 2006, Magpayo was honored with the Gawad Plaridel Award by the University of the Philippines for keeping her dedication, integrity, and professionalism. She was supposed to receive the Gawad Saguisag Quezon award; instead, her relatives accepted the award in her place. The award pays tribute to her over 60 years in Philippine broadcasting.

Magpayo has worked in theater, radio, film, and television. Her career in broadcasting started when she was about 18 years old, after she joined radio comedians Andoy Balunbalunan and Dely Atay-Atayan as a group singer. She got her first counselling program on radio station DZRH on October 6, 1953. She eventually transferred to the López family-owned DZMM. Magpayo was also the last radio presenter heard on-air before DZXL was shut down after the imposition of Martial Law in September 1972, though not long after, she continued to host her program, this time over RPN’s DWWW 630 kHz (now as the modern incarnation of DZMM), and she also became one of the anchors of the station during the Marcos era.

After World War II, Magpayo supported the presidential campaign of Manuel Roxas. When Roxas won the elections, he made the young supporter the confidential secretary to then-Vice President Elpidio Quirino. During his term as President after Roxas’ death, Quirino encouraged Magpayo to study and get a college degree. She thus entered Far Eastern University and took up Foreign Service, but later shifted to another course. Magpayo graduated from FEU in 1950 with a degree in Political Science.

Fidela Magpayo Reyes (October 29, 1920 – September 1, 2008), commonly known as Tiya Dely (“Aunt Dely”), was a Filipino radio broadcasting icon well-loved by generations of listeners and advice-seekers who tuned into her radio counselling programs. She was a pioneer radio broadcaster who debuted in the 1950s and was among the first wave of broadcasters who popularized Filipino songs whilst American music still dominated the airwaves following the country’s independence from the United States in 1946.