VETERAN broadcaster and sportswriter Florencio ‘Zaldy’ Perez, one of the pioneers of afternoon news broadcasting, died on Saturday night due to a lingering illness.
He was 65.
While he made a name in broadcasting using the screen name Flor Perez, he was first and foremost a sportswriter whose passion for baseball, boxing, and basketball was beyond measure.
Signature baritone voice
He used the byline Flor Zaldy Perez churning out sports stories for the tabloid Balita, and later on with Tempo and the tabloid version of the defunct Daily Globe.
Known and called by his close friends as ‘Uppercut,’ Perez also once wrote a hard-hitting column for Abante entitled ‘Laykdatan.’
His signature baritone voice though, became his passport to transition from writing to broadcasting where he became the main anchor of the long-time afternoon newscast ‘Balitang Ala-Una’ over PTV-4 where he worked with fellow newscaster Daniel Razon, Louella De Cordova, Katherine De Leon-Villar, and Ruth Abao.
Perez was nominated for Best Male Newscaster by the PMPC Star Awards For Television for the same news program.
During his long stay with the government-owned station, he also worked as segment writer and anchor for the television coverages of the country’s campaign in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games, and the Olympics.
Following his stint at PTV-4, Perez transferred to UNTV and anchored UNTV News and Rescue.
But even while doing broadcasting, he stayed on in sporting circles and was one of the co-hosts of the sports program The Chasedown on ONE PH and the defunct teleradyo Isport Lang on the same station.
His last appearance in The Chasedown was Aug. 14, 2021 before he was diagnosed with cancer.
He is survived by wife Annie, son Baste, grandchild Alon, mother, siblings, and other relatives.
His body lies in state at the Perez residence in Morong, Bataan.
Interment will be on Thursday at the Morong cemetery.
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