The campus radio station of Wesleyan University-Philippines and the training station of broadcasting students under B.A. Communication program is celebrating 15 years of airing relevant information, news and public service, music and inspiration, and religious programs.
Radio Wesleyan 89.7 DWUP-FM began its test broadcast on February 7, 2005, 30 years after the idea for a radio station was first conceived. DWUP-FM was formally inaugurated on July 1, 2005 coinciding with the 59th Founding Anniversary of WU-P and the installation of Atty. Guillermo Maglaya as the University’s fourth president.
In 2004, Maglaya showed a keen interest on the unrealized dream of a radio station. The late Prof. Ramon Valmonte submitted a proposal for the university to operate a radio station that would also serve as a training facility for Mass Com students. The WUP Board of Trustees approved the proposal.
In the early 1970s, the College of Technology (now the College of Engineering and Computer Technology) under Dean Celestino Lucero, assembled an AM transmitter out of electronic parts donated by Clark Air Base in Pampanga. With the call letters DZWC (the last two letters stand for Wesleyan College), the low-powered station went on test broadcast for a few weeks before unfortunate events prevented the project from fully taking off. A strong typhoon brought down the station’s antenna. Unable to broadcast, the station failed to apply for a new radio frequency when the distance frequencies of all Philippine radio stations were reduced from 10 Hertz to 9 Hertz. The final blow came when the prime mover of the project, Dean Lucero, died.