Francisco D. Trinidad

Francisco “Koko” D. Trinidad contributed greatly to the education and professional life of media practitioners.

He was involved in the establishment of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (formerly known as the University of the Philippines – Institute of Mass Communication (UP-IMC). Trinidad was also involved in the use of radio broadcasts for educational purposes.

Born in Manila on October 10, 1915, Francisco D. Trinidad attended Manila North High School. He later went on to study law at the Far Eastern University, which he unfortunately did not complete.

In 1968, he received a certificate from the University of the Philippines Institute of Public Administration (now National College of Public Administration and Governance).

His Works

After high school, Trinidad worked at the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company as announcer and program arranger. He was promoted to chief of program arrangers and later appointed as production coordinator. He became production manager after sometime. During World War II, he became a director of stage presentations at the Avenue, Lyric, and Strand Theatres. After the war, he served his country as producer- announcer for the U.S. Office of War Information and Program Director for the U.S. Information Service from 1945-47. He then entered the government service from 1947-1970, where he retired in 1970 as general manager of the Philippine Broadcast Service.

In April 1986, he became Secretary-General of UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM), from which he retired in 1990. Between 1970 and 1980, Trinidad taught at the former UP Institute of Mass Communication. While fulfilling his duties as a UP professor and his work as a UNACOM secretary general, he also became program director of Radio Veritas Asia (International Service).

As UNESCO commissioner and member of the UNACOM Executive Committee, Koko was concerned with the training of future communication practitioners. He helped in the establishment of the UP College of Mass Communication. Because of his persistence and dedication to the college, the College gave Trinidad a Testimonial Plaque of Recognition Award. It later gave him a Certificate of Appreciation during the Silver Jubilee of the College of Mass Communication.

Under the Colombo Plan, Trinidad was a pioneer of the distance learning method, or the use of radio broadcasts for educational purposes. He promoted the method that was adopted in 1959 by the Department of Education and the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS). It was unfortunately put to an end by the Marcos government after years of successful implementation.

In 1986, the Philippine Union of Broadcasters presented Koko Trinidad the Hall of Fame Award for his pioneering projects in radio and television. He was also an awardee of the Parangal Sentenyal ng Sining Cultura, a project of the Centennial Awards.

Francisco “Koko” Trinidad passed away in January 21, 2001 at the age of 85.