Henry Halasan

Henry Halasan (July 15, 1924 – February 6, 2013) was a Filipino broadcast journalist and news anchor. He served as the anchor of ABS-CBN's English-language newscast The World Tonight from 1966 to 1972, initially co-anchoring with Hal Bowie. Halasan's career spanned the early years of television news in the Philippines.

Biography

Early life and sales career (1924–1965) Henry Halasan was born on July 15, 1924. When he was in his early 30s, he began his broadcasting career at the ABS-CBN station in Cebu. He served as station manager there before transferring to the network's main offices in Manila in 1965. Originally assigned as a sales executive, he later moved to on-camera roles in the network's television news department.

The World Tonight (1966–1972) In late 1966, Halasan became the co-anchor of The World Tonight, which was launched to compete with The Big News on ABC-5. The program premiered on November 21, 1966, airing weeknights at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 9 (later moving to 10:00 p.m. on Channel 3). It was the first Philippine newscast to broadcast in color. Halasan named the program after the American newscast The World Today. He initially anchored with Hal Bowie, a radio broadcaster. By 1967, Bowie left the program due to health reasons, leaving Halasan as the solo anchor. Halasan also shared anchoring duties with Newsbreak anchor Bong Lapira from 1967 to 1969.

Post-EDSA era (2003) In 2003, Halasan appeared in the ABS-CBN documentary Sa Mata ng Balita: 50 Taong Pamamahayag Sa Telebisyon. He narrated the segment The Birth of Philippine TV, which covered the history of television in the Philippines from 1953 to 1961. The documentary also featured anchors Bong Lapira, Harry Gasser, Frankie Evangelista, Tina Monzon-Palma, Angelo Castro Jr., Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda, and Korina Sanchez.

Retirement and death Halasan retired in the mid-2000s and moved to New Jersey in the United States with his family.

Halasan died of cardiac arrest on February 6, 2013, at the age of 88 in New Jersey.