Ben Zubiri
Benjamin Wenceslao Dacayana Zubiri (September 28, 1911 – November 9, 1969) was a Filipino singer-songwriter, composer, actor, and radio and television personality from Cebu City. In the 1950s and 1960s, Zubiri hosted radio programs as Iyo Karpo. During this period, he was the best-known radio personality in the Visayas and Mindanao. A prolific songwriter, Zubiri never sold his songs, but his fellow Cebuanos consider many of them classics.
Born to a Spanish father and a Filipina mother, Ben Zubiri began his career in the 1930s, competing in singing contests on the radio. Instead of going to college, he became a composer and theater actor. In 1938, Zubiri made his film debut in Bertoldo ug Balodoy (1938), the first talking picture in the Cebuano language. He appeared in some of the earliest Cebuano films. After World War II came to the Philippines, Zubiri served as a guerilla soldier and was stationed on Bohol, a smaller island east of Cebu. He composed his most famous song, "Matud Nila" (1941), during the war.
After the war, Zubiri married Luz Butalid, a Boholana, with whom he started a family. He began to direct radio dramas and musical programs. His character Iyo Karpo debuted on the radio show Asa Ka Inday? and hosted several programs on Cebu City's KZRC (now DYRC), including PMC Amateur Hour, a weekly musical program, and the advice show Pangutan-a Ako. Iyo Karpo also starred in the television show Ang Banay ni Iyo Karpo. Zubiri died in 1969 and was survived by his wife and children.
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