Nice can sound boring if you think people with glasses don’t have interesting lives. But Dan’s life is far from boring, a life both simple and complicated enough to mean many lives lived all at the same time.
"I’m more of a talker, less of a singer. My wife is less of a talker, more of a singer," Dan describes his 18-year marriage to noted soprano Aileen Espinosa-Cura.
Yes, Dan sings. Obviously, he doesn’t think much of his singing, but those who have heard him say he is nothing less than inspiring.
Inspiring is also what most people think of their partnership. Dan and Aileen met at a church function. He was the president of the youth choir; she was the choir conductor of a satellite church. They were equally impressed with each other.
On their first date, they went job hunting at the Asian Development Bank. Things just fell so naturally into place that Aileen was taken aback by Dan’s courting style. Before she knew it, he was discussing marriage as if it were a business deal.
"She knew that I was a very practical person. I don’t go for frills. The first words she uttered were: ‘No fireworks?’ Then she laughed. But that was what I appreciated about her. The relationship was not frivolous. We’ve had all the pitfalls. But when your relationship is based on understanding who you are and where the Lord is in your life," he pauses for a second and quickly adds, "yun yung foundation."
Their foundation is so strong that people consider the Cura family ideal. Dan is a successful broadcaster. Aileen is recognized for her solo performances as well as for those she has done with the Madrigal Singers and Papuri (a Christian singing group). Their sons Sean Andrew, 16, and Liam Andrew, 9, take after their parents’ love for God and music. Both take music lessons–guitar and piano respectively–and both are members of the church choir.
Goodness seems inherent in Sean and Liam. Throughout the long and winding interview, the Cura boys are quiet, polite but unmistakably bored out of their minds. There are no complaints though, for today is a Saturday–the first of two days the family is committed to spending together each week.
"It’s good for them to hear what their father’s work is about," Aileen eases the reporter’s guilt about holding the restless boys hostage. "Now they will know why we have to make so many sacrifices."
There is a lot to admire in the mild-mannered news anchor. Dan has appeared in numerous television news and talk shows and is currently anchoring the weekend telecast of ANC’s The World Tonight and ANC News which are beamed around the globe via The Filipino Channel. Not bad at all for a career that’s only a decade old.
Before doing the news on TV, Dan was a commercial model, an architect and a customer relations executive. He has worked in such diverse fields as advertising, construction, travel (Philippine Airlines) and automobiles (Volvo).
The gist is he has lived many lives before this one. But there is no confusion now about exactly what he is. Dan moonlights on TV; news anchoring is a sideline. He has a day job which, contrary to the norm, pays little and demands a lot.
Dan Andrew Cura is president of the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company (febc). The title is impressive, but in truth, he is a missionary. Corporate jargon aside, that’s what it means to be head honcho of a non-commercial Christian radio network.
"Our main tag and mission is to bring Christ to the world by radio–to bring the Gospel to people in their own heart language. It’s a totally different mindset from just expecting a salary at the end of the month,"explains Dan who took a major pay cut. "There have been days in the past when, instead of pay days, we have pray days. The president then would say, ‘We don’t have funds for your salaries so we better go down on our knees and pray.’ But, you know, people have marveled about how the Lord has supplied our needs. Fifty-five years of no commercials, only relying on God’s grace. You can ask any broadcaster, he will tell you how expensive it is to run a radio station. Electricity alone is just sky high. But, again, you can see how faithful the Lord is. We’ve made our mistakes. We don’t want to come out as holier than thou, but the Lord is always gracious enough to lift you up and say: ‘Just keep on doing what I’ve told you to do and I will be there.’"
febc began operating in the Philippines in the late 1940s. Founded by US missionaries John Broger and Bob Bowman, it was the country’s second radio station on the AM band, following closely behind dzRH. febc now broadcasts in 88 languages. Its international central office, located in Singapore, is being formed under the leadership of founding executive director Carlos Peña, Dan’s predecessor at febc Philippines.
Locally, the network is heard in 17 ethnic languages. It operates on the AM (702 dzAS) and FM (98.7 dzFE) bands. There are three stations in Mindanao (Zamboanga, Marbel and Davao), two in the Visayas (Bacolod and Cebu plus a program heard via a local station in Tacloban) and four in Luzon (Legaspi, Zambales and two in Manila).
This year, the goal is to set up a station in Cagayan so febc can be heard from Aparri to Jolo. febc also has transmitting sites in Zambales and Bulacan. These send feeds throughout Southeast Asia (parts of China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia). In keeping with its commitment to broadcast to audiences in their own "heart language," febc’s Chinese programs are produced in Hong Kong.
"When China was closed off from the rest of the world, we were broadcasting for 30 years with no news or feedback whatsoever. It came to a point that our founders were asking if it was worth it. Finally, when the Bamboo Curtain fell, our US office got deluged with thousands and thousands of letters from China. These were bundled up for years until they found their way out of China," he smiles at the recollection.
There is no better proof of the impact of febc than the countless suicides prevented when people (in what Dan calls "a divine appointment") switch on the radio and hear a message that speaks to them.
"If you’re about to commit suicide and you suddenly hear someone saying that you are loved, that can speak volumes to you. Relationships have been mended; lives have changed from black to white and people have found direction in the messages they get from the radio programs," he summarizes.
A story Dan enjoys sharing involves an febc board member who distributes Bibles to people he encounters. He was pleasantly surprised when a waitress at a restaurant in China showed him a Bible handed down to her by her grandmother. "She came out with a handwritten, hand-sown Bible," Dan relates. "It looked so worn out. This is where the story gets even more surprising. You see, way back when the Bamboo Curtain was closed and no missionary was allowed into China, we were broadcasting a program called The Bible at Dictation Speed. We had a Chinese announcer who would read the Bible and beside him was someone who would write it in Chinese characters so he would say it at the right speed. The lady’s grandmother had listened to the program to a point where she completed copying the Bible. And that legacy was handed down from the mother to the daughter to the granddaughter. Our guy said he made one vital mistake–he didn’t ask for that Bible in exchange for ten new ones."
Surviving in the highly commercial broadcasting industry is tough. But Dan insists there are advantages to running the network more as a family than a business enterprise. "Being number one in the ratings is far from our minds. We don’t do things because we are influenced by advertising since we don’t have advertisers," he says. febc’s programming is dictated by its audience, and success is measured not by ratings but by the letters they get. One of the most important departments in the network is Audience Relations which does nothing but read and answer letters.
He continues, "febc was the first radio station in the country that had a program on job search. And now, almost all AM stations have that in their programming. We were also the first to do counseling on air through Heartline‚ which has been on air since the 80s. No one wanted to touch that back then because it was not something that attracted sponsors. But now, every AM station has a counseling program at night."
Even febc’s FM station has made its mark as the only fine music station on radio. Unlike other stations which only dedicate part of its programming to classical music, 98.7 dzFE does so from sign on to sign off.
"Why aren’t there other all-classical stations?" he asks even before you think of the question. "Because no commercial station will invest in classical music since the niche is very small. febc is not too concerned about the size of the market since we want to spread the Gospel to people. Everyday, we dedicate the late evening slot to NOW Radio, our Christian Gospel music program. It airs daily from 10 pm to 12 midnight since our surveys have shown that’s the primetime for young listeners aged 15 to 30. The rest of the day, you get classical music with short features that talk about the Gospel. You’d be surprised how much of a difference those five-minuters make. NOW Radio’s listener-ship is more of young professionals. You’d be surprised that it’s not only the evangelicals who tune in to us. There are Catholics, Iglesia ni Kristo, Mormons. We’ve gotten letters from our Catholic listeners who say: ‘More power to you. We like what we’re hearing.’ That’s very encouraging for us."
What’s even more encouraging is the recognition febc has received. On May 26, 1988, President Corazon Aquino ratified Presidential Proclamation 262 declaring every first week of June as National Gospel Broadcast Month under the auspises of febc. Both dzFE and dzAS have won accolades from industry groups as well as listener polls (dzAS was fourth in a recent AC Nielsen survey, next to the big networks).
"You must realize that we are a non-commercial radio broadcast. To us, that means a lot," Dan stresses. "That means we are talking to over a million listeners in Metro Manila alone. Being a Christian does not mean you have to be in the sidelines. It’s also being in the marketplace and being as good as everybody else. You’re being good not because you want to please everybody (but) because that’s what the Lord requires. We’ve got a great God, you have to give Him the best you can offer."
The best is what Dan felt he was being asked to give when febc came knocking on his door in March, 1999. At that time, he had just quit his job with Volvo to venture into broadcasting and consultancy work. On the day that he was moving out of his office, he got a surprise call from febc which was in need of a station manager for its classical FM station. Then febc president Carlos Peña was convinced Dan was the man for the job.
But Dan’s sights were set on joining abs-cbn; all he was waiting for was a call.
But the calls that came were not from abs-cbn but from febc. Recounts Dan, "One thing that kept coming back to me when I started asking and praying to the Lord where He wanted me to go was febc. But that wasn’t what I had in mind when I quit my job. By September or October of 1999 I made a decision. You can not take things that happen for granted. The fact that the first call from febc came at the time I was leaving Volvo should have meant something. I told Carlos Peña, ‘I leave it up to Him and I will join febc as a missionary.’"
Dan worked in various positions in the febc organization. By early 2003, Dan was told he was to replace Carlos Peña as president of febc Philippines.
"Exciting things are happening in febc today because just last year, there were three or four new presidents all over the world. It seems like there is a fresh start for febc after 55 years of existence," shares Dan, who reveals that the next big thing for febc Philippines is acquiring a second FM station which will broadcast purely Christian contemporary music.
In the same breath, he acknowledges just how impossible that sounds. "Right now, it’s very difficult since there are no FM stations available. But like we always say, if the Lord wants it He will find a way."
What the Lord wanted was for Dan to keep one foot in mainstream broadcasting. Within months of joining febc, abs-cbn called him to host the morning newscast. That worked until he was tapped as president; he had no other choice then but to resign. Still, the resignation kept one door open: He would do the news so long as it didn’t interfere with his febc job. The opportunity came when anc decided to launch The World Tonight’s weekend edition. He has been the show’s anchor (along with Pinky Webb and Karmina Constantino) since September.
"I wanted to keep a regular anchoring program just to keep myself abreast of the broadcast industry," he admits. "And at the same time, keep my network with secular broadcasters. In fact, febc and anc have already worked together for the concert of soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled due to the Dos Palmas abduction. But we had dzFE advertised on anc. Being on TV has opened doors for me. When I’m doing work for febc, it helps to establish rapport when people recognize me from the news. But I explain to them that I only do TV on the side–this is my real work."