In the past I never campaign for any president. I am not apolitcal, in fact I am very political. It’s just that I felt there was no presidential candidate before that was capable of actually fulfilling the changes in our society that we hoped for. But I did voted in the past. Just choose who was the lesser evil. But I did not actively campaigned.

In the past few administation, you may have seen me actively participating in various think tanks organized by both the governement and NGOs. I was invited to be heared several times in congress. There is this misconception that being activist means “lagi kang kontra sa gobyerno.” That is because most people see activists when they are protesting a certain bill. The people don’t see that the activists are also actively working, lobbying, proposing and organizing. And most of the fruits of these hard earned labor, we are enjoying now.

During Pnoy’s administration, you may have seen me take a stand on a bill being pushed in congress about musicians. I was there generally not to make “kontra”. I was there to make sure that the bill would be an effective one, that would benefit everyone not jsut a few. If you have seen the picture of me in the office of Cong. Teddy Baguilat, I was with the group to talk to him. So that he could consider the plight of the grassroot musicians in the house bill he authored about musicians.

Fast forward today, in this electoral process, I took a stand to support and campaign for Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan. The reasons I have already stated on a blog I wrote before. What I want to share to you is how I campaigned for Leni-Kiko.

I was facinated on how the campaign of Leni-Kiko team was conducted. The big rallies, house to house, etc. I was thinking on how can I actively do my part. I asked for a few campaign materials but then realized I can only distribute a few to my friends. I wanted to do something where I am most effective.

In the middle of the campaign period, a group from the catholic church came to ask for my help as they are organizing a Leni-Kiko campaign rally. Luckily I was prepared. I drafted an outline on what to do from preparation to actual. Listed positions to hire from stage managers, performers, techincal people, security, medical team to food committee. The organization that talked to me was from the Archdioses of Manila.

And so I scrambled to coordinate with every organization that I feel could help. From the Robredo People’s Council HQ and Manila, to church organizations from the progressive movement and cultural groups. The ideal venue to hold the rally was in UST, but they later realized this was a violation of the school’s policies. And so they targetted for Luneta, at the “kalabaw”. I suggested to set up a mobile stage using flatbed trucks. Sanay tayo dyan. But they felt a more permanent stage would be more appropriate as the VP will be speaking in the program. The project became on hold as the organizers became busy with the holy week.

Finally the organizers decided on a date and venue. May 1, labor day. Along with labor groups, the church plans to hold a whole day affair at the Katigbak Parkway in the Luneta grounds. This is the area near Manila Hotel. A stage will be set up and a mass will be held at 7am concelebrated by several bishops. VP Leni and Kiko along with her senatorial slate will hold their program in the morning as they have an engagement in cavite in the afternoon. The organizers wanted to continue the program until evening. So I started to call up volunteers and draw up a plan.

In the morning, during the mass, we will try to invite some music minitries to grace the mass. After the mass, church choirs and cultural groups may perform in between programs. The archdioses will run its own program where in the bishops will speak. Then VP Leni and Kiko along with her senatorial slate will run their program. After this, the stage will be set for various performers. I started gathering volunteer musicians to perform, from acoustic singer/songwriters, performance artists, visual artist/performer, duet, trio, and bands.

The organizers wanted it to have a fiesta athmosphere. It was labor day and they wanted to celebrate the St. Joseph, the worker. Lunch can be served through volunteers from various parokya. The proposal was to set up booths around the area where there can be exhibits showcasing issues of various sectors from the farmers, community, women, worker’s health, etc. In the afternoon, while performers were doing their thing on stage, teach-ins will be held on the ground where ordinary people will be enlighten with the various issues that has to be addressed by the next government. This will deepen their commitment, not only to vote for Leni-Kiko but to be an active participant in the society, as good governance relies on the participation of the people. This was to make sure that basic issues of various sectors in the society will be addressed and acted on when good government is in place. This will also defend and safeguard the gains of the people’s struggle for good governance. The whole afternoon is ideal for these teach-ins as these is not posible by simple house to house only. Discussion has to be more indepth. And to ensure their interest on the subject, it has to be relevant to the sector the participant belongs to. And in the evening, a celebration with performance of bands will be held. The whole day event would be like a festival.

I was already excited with the plan, and started working on it. Unfortunately the sad news came. The city of manila denied the application for use of the Luneta grounds. According to them, there is a scheduled event on the same day on the same venue. Although an insider informed us that we were infact the first to apply for the use of the venue. It was however strange that the permit was granted to a different activity. Politically motivated? You be the judge.

So, the organizers were looking for an alternative venue. They were eyeing for Liwasan Bonifacio or Tomas Morato between Lopez drive and the Boy Scout monument in quezon city. I started to get disappointed as I feel a lot on the planned program will be lost if we have to adjust to the new venue. Eventually I lost hope, and did not push for the whole day event. I checked on the workers’ organizations what their plans are so as to see if the idea of the whole day activity is still posible but they were just waiting for the call from the church groups who are organizing the event. Until two days before labor day, it was final, the event would be a morning affair only. It will start with a gathering in Edsa-Aurora of organized workers where they will be met by farmers who will march from ateneo along aurora blvd. A mass and the program will be held on Araneta Colesium, a first for a labor day rally. VP Leni-Kiko will speak. The workers will hold their pledge of support to the workers cause and the candidacy of VP Leni and Sen Kiko. I gave up on the idea of my original proposal.

The organizers floated the idea that my set of artists can probably perform on the miting de avance which was then proposed to be held along commonwealth ave on May 7. There could be multiple stage as the audience is expected to be massive and those far from the main stage can get an entertainement of their own. They proposed to provide a stage of our own and I agreed, toying the idea of having progressive minded artists perform in this stage, to contrast with the showbiz type performances in the main stage. I wanted the people to realize that there are performers like these, that they can learn from and emote with and not just simply get entertained.

A few days on, and the final venue for the miting de avance will be in makati. There will be a main stage and plenty of led walls which means only the program in the main stage will take effect. Still the church and other organizations managed to create their own programs in the afternoon before and after the shows in the main stage but I was not part of it anymore. These were initiatives of their own organizations. There was a prayer/concert in a nearby church, a flores de mayo event, and other similar activities. But in my opinion, these events were participated by their own people, and the call to reach out to the masses was missing.

I lost that rare opportunity to really make an event that I think will be more effective, participatory and contineous. Hindi dahil uso lang. The people are there already. All they need is guidance on were to go after this. We, who are in the know should show them how they can actively participate in the society. So that all these efforts of ours in bringing people to rallies will become fruitful. Where we can sustain that spirit of people power.

Maybe it is not yet the time. Or maybe it is not the right way. There may be other ways. To go back to our own sector, to our own communities, to our own organizations and work from there. It will be a harder longer struggle but we can definitely reach our goals. If good governance win, it will be easier but still a struggle. If we lose, it will be a harder struggle. But we will not stop.

I first met heber in the early 90s when I went with a musician friend to visit him at his house which was then in New York st in cubao. It was also his gallery and his work area where we found him busy painting on the canvas. We discussed a few things, mostly on art, music and philosophical stuff which I am acustomed to after spending years under Ibarra dela Rosa’s class in college of Fine Arts in PWU where discussions on philosophical stuff goes on for hours.

I heard of Banyuhay ni Heber in college listening to a lot of pinoy rock. And when I got into an art organization who does stage design and visual art performances in concerts for a cause, I was able to watch the band perform several times. Notable was their performance in Quezon Memorial Circle where they had that powerful line up – brothers Heber, Levi and Jess along with drummer Flor Mendoza. I admired their songs as it was different from most pinoy rock ditties. Theirs was always about something social and political.

My visit to his pad in cubao became frequent. We later on discussed several issues about the music industry, this time in his office. At this point he was running a music label called Akasha Records and I thought I wanted to learn about how the industry works. Ka heber would then bring me to several meetings with people in the industry. Sometimes leaving me there on my own at Club Filipino, representing his company in front of CEOs and GMs of various record labels. He would also bring me to recording studios where I acted like a look out making sure that things are done right. I remember going to Abbey Road – not the studio in London, but the one in Makati. I also met a lot of his artists including one member of Mga Anak ng Tupa who made an album under his label.

My frequent stay on his office did not last long as he had to move to Banlat in Tandang Sora which was too far for my convinience. I would later on become busy with my band and we would seldom meet.

After several years, I found myself running a record label of some sort along with some muscian friends. I would later realize that it must have been Ka Heber’s ideas and our discussions which influenced me to formulate Indiepinoy, a record label for independent artists.

We would later meet again when Indiepinoy was expanding its network with organizations in the music industry and Ka Heber was organizing Malayang Ugnayan sa Industriya ng mga Komposer ng Awit or MUSIKA. We would get together to discuss issues on musicians rights and welfare. We would even go to congress and sit on a congressional hearings when musicians rights are involved. Our meetings were held either in my house in Sampaloc, Manila or in his place in Banlat, Tandang Sora. Most of our discussion now were more concrete than those we discussed before in New York st., Cubao. With the help of Skarlet we were picking up pieces of the puzzle to formulate a stronger guild that will represent the musicians and the composers. Ka Heber tried to convince me to join his group MUSIKA and give it a strong leadership but he knew I was already busy with Indiepinoy and understood my cause. So he did not really insisted as we can work together anyway. But I felt that he was building MUSIKA to be more than an organization, maybe a CMO of some sort or probably a guild. He had with him personalities in the pinoy rock scene along with a group of new breed songwriters and singers. I felt he wanted me to help him expand his group with the same extensive number of members Indiepinoy had at that time.

We did organize a few concerts including one held at the Rizal Auditorium’s Concert at the Park. This was to commemorate Bonifacio’s 150th birthday. A few more meetings were held here and there, including one organized by atty Rod Domingo, the lawyer who was able to win a class suit and recover millions for Marcos victims. This was attended by really influential personalities and the agenda was quite radical especially having in the attendance, people who had first hand experience of corruption and brutality in the music industry. Ka Heber showed me how the industry really looks like. The good and the bad.

This is how I met Ka Heber. We were both organizers and we both have visions of how the industry should work and to whom should it serve. Most people will see the genius of his songs. I see how he felt about the people who make such songs. He was ahead of me and he knows more than me. Even if I would deny it, deep inside me I know he was a big influence.

Later on I would hear several stories from different people about Ka Heber. Including that one story Emil Sanglay told me of how they had an argument with Ka Heber and he left him in the middle of the grassland. I am not the one to judge about those stories I heard. He is only human anyway.

But I will surely miss him.