THE history of Cebu radio is marked not mainly by events but by the personalities that dominate certain eras. There was, for example, that period when personalities like Jess Vestil, Ma’am Ginnie Vamenta, SD Tecson and their contemporaries dominated. Then there was that period when commentators like Migs Enriquez, David Ompoc and Nenita “Inday Nita” Cortes-Daluz dominated.Inday Nita’s dominance spanned a longer period because it bridged those of Vestil and Enriquez. Then came the era of Cerge Remonde, Nanding Celeste and later, Bobby Nalzaro. Nalzaro’s dominance extended even after Remonde’s death until that period when radio and television merged when he and Leo Lastimosa reigned. Nalzaro died recently.There was a time when Remonde’s and Nalzaro’s commentary programs dominated the Cebu air lanes. But Remonde was pulled away from media work by politics and ended up serving the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang until his untimely death from a stroke. Then the Nalzaro and Lastimosa period followed where their dominance extended not only on Cebu radio but also on television and in print.Before Nalzaro’s demise, Lastimosa’s dominance had taken a hit when the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte closed ABS-CBN, the network where he had worked. Then social media became dominant and the popularity of both radio and television dipped. Lastimosa has jumped online, but he still has to match online his dominance in Cebu’s traditional media.I used to edit Nalzaro’s columns in English in SunStar Cebu. But I should say that he was a broadcaster first and foremost and was forced to write only by circumstance. But what mattered was his popularity and insights, and his columns were thus accepted by Cebu readers.I would say he ended up loving the craft as well. In coffee shops or wherever he was, he would be seen tinkering with his cell phone where he mainly wrote his columns. When he had a conflict with the SunStar management, he bowed down to the owner’s wishes just to be able to continue writing his columns.The time that I edited his columns was also the time that our paths intersected. It was when his popularity was at its peak. He was what one would call an influencer way before influencers sprouted in social media.He passed away when he was at the peak of his popularity. He anchored the GMA 7 newscast “Balitang Bisdak,” becoming one of the network’s pillars nationwide. It was unprecedented for someone who started his radio work in Mindanao.I remember when I was invited to my friend Yody Sanchez’s birthday celebration in Barangay Busay last year. Yody is a broadcaster himself and is a former chief of the barangay. The GMA station is in the barangay so Bobby showed up.While we were downing some bottles of beer, some of Yody’s neighbors approached us after they were told that Bobby was with us. They asked to have themselves photographed with him. Bobby obliged and posed with them like the celebrity that he had become.