REMINISCING. Cebu City government consultant and former city councilor Joey Daluz talks about his mother, the anti-dictatorship activist and broadcaster Inday Nita Cortes-Daluz whose portrait hangs in his office wall. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
“Be the best in wherever you are.”
This was the secret of Nenita “Inday Nita” Cortes-Daluz, the Cebuana veteran radio personality, street parliamentarian and an opposition icon in the 1980s, according to her son and former Cebu City councilor Jose Daluz III.
“My mom always said, be the best in wherever you are. If you’re a helper, be the best helper. If you’re a driver, be the best driver. That was her secret. And since she was in radio, she strived to be the best radio announcer and commentator,” Daluz told Cebu Daily News.
This became one of the guiding principles he got from his mother when he ventured into politics.
Daluz, now heads several bodies in the Cebu City Hall including the Local School Board and the Reduction of Danger Zones (REDZ) project. He is one of Mayor Michael Rama’s most trusted lieutenants.
Several times, Daluz said he was encouraged by his mother to follow her footsteps in the broadcast industry.
“That’s one of my regrets in life. The few years of mom in radio before she died, she always told me to join her in her program as an interviewee and a partner announcer. I always refused, saying I don’t know how to,” Daluz said.
In 2005, Inday Nita’s doctors had to amputate her left leg because of diabetes, but the disease didn’t stop her from going on air. Propped on a wheelchair, she continued to anchor an afternoon program in dyDD Bantay Radio from her home, a month before she had a fatal cardiac arrest in August 2007.
Public Service
Daluz said he would still want to venture into broadcast someday. But for now, he’ll focus on his role as a government official. “In a way, I still followed my mom’s footsteps in public service. Her life with radio is still public service, a different kind of public service not in the government,” he said.
Inday Nita was a powerful voice against the dictatorship. Her daily commentaries in dyRC was followed by thousands in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Although his mom had experienced working in the government, she still went back to broadcasting. Inday Nita was vocal against Marcos and joined rallies in the 1980s after the assassination of Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and that was when she and Cory Aquino met and became friends.
She became the lone opposition candidate under the Panaghiusa party in the 1984 Batasan elections. She won a seat in parliament as one of the representatives of Cebu.
After the 1986 People Power revolution, Inday Nita was appointed deputy minister of the Ministry of Local Government. She later ran in 1987 for the congressional seat of Cebu’s 5th district, but lost to Ramon Nito Durano III. The election was marred by allegation of cheating and harassment.
Inday Nita also ran for governor but lost to Emilio “Lito” Osmeña in 1988. She then decided to drop out of politics. “Mommy was not really a politician. She was just there because the people believed in her. There were a lot of opportunities to rise up after the revolution. When Cory was already president, my mom was one of the persons that Cory called to be DSWD secretary. But she declined, saying she’s not familiar with the job,” Daluz said.
Bravery
Being the only male child, Daluz had always accompanied her mom in protest rallies at the height of the anti-dictatorship movement.
“My mom’s bravery can’t be topped. During the revolution, all the people including the politicos who converged in Cebu wanted to hide but my mom and I went to the radio station,” Daluz recalled.
Her mother wanted to rally the people in Cebu and the provinces to go out to the streets to support the revolution in Manila.
“That was the time when I look at my mom and I said to myself that she is very brave,” he added.
At that time, his father was working as a seaman. Inday Nita told her husband to remain overseas due to the turmoil in the country. Daluz was tasked to accompany his mom.
Daluz is the youngest of three kids. He has two older sisters, Maritess and Marivic. He had a younger brother Jonathan who died in 1979 at only eight years old.
Legacy
Almost seven years since Inday Nita’s death, people continue to remember her legacy especially during each year’s anniversary of the EDSA People Power.
Daluz’s children, are the ones who get asked about the life and experiences of their grandmother. The children say that their teachers and other people they meet would ask them if they are the grandchildren of Inday Nita.
“I explain to them who their grandmother is and what her life was. I tell them that we’re lucky because we were left with the fruits of their grandma’s labor. That we don’t have to strive too hard, because back then, their grandma had to strive so hard,” Daluz said.
Daluz has five kids, the eldest is 18 while his youngest is two.
Most of today’s youth and maybe some other people haven’t known of Inday Nita, but for the Daluz family, Inday Nita’s rewards for her work are greater than worldly appreciation.
“I’m not the kind of person who would want a monument to be built for my mom or talk about her all the time. Because for me, the rewards are in heaven, not in here,” Daluz said.