The musician in Ifugao’s Rep Baguilat and OPM

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

I remember a concert some years ago in Lagawe, Ifugao wherein Mike Hanopol’s band was main act.

These sexy ladies (I think they were called Viva Hot Babes then) from a television company also performed during the show. And even though it was raining, the people came with their umbrellas.

It was a razzle dazzle rainy night with Mike’s band dishing out vintage Pinoy rock to the delight of the crowd.In the middle of the show, Mike called Teddy on stage – or to be more specific --- Teodoro Baguilat Jr. who was then Ifugao governor.

People were wondering if he would make a speech in the middle of the show, but no – he started with a drawl then went on to sing “gusto kong magswimming, sa balong malalim” – one of Mike’s vintage songs in the 70’s when he was still with the Juan De La Cruz Band.

It was a riot with Mike hitting frenzied licks on his lead guitar. I don’t remember the other songs the governor sang, but then, the show ended on an even note with the babes hobnobbing with us.

One told a heartbreaking story about her life, but then that was long ago. I wonder, she could now be a mother with kids – but that is another story.

Anyhow, I was first introduced to Teddy in Kiangan, Ifugao in the mid 90’s by Ramon Dacawi, chief of the press information office of the Baguio City government. Teddy was then mayor of Kiangan, so one can say he indeed rose from the ranks as a politician.

Later, during the occasion, Frank Cimatu of the Philippine Daily Inquirer was telling me, referring to Teddy: “This guy is cut out to be a politician.” I think Teddy was then still in his early 30’s. I nodded. I knew Teddy as a politician but not as a singer.

A few years back, he along with some friends opened a pub in Baguio where I was invited to sing as a regular. Teddy would often drop by on weekends to sing with us.     

That’s why, given his love for music, it was not surprising that he filed a bill last week in Congress called The OPM Development Act. OPM is short for Original Pilipino Music.

Aiza Namingit, one if his staff in Congress said Teddy was hoping stakeholders in the music industry, from record company executives to station managers, songwriters and musicians of all music genres, would take part in the coming deliberations on the proposed OPM Development Act of 2014.

Aiza said first Pinoy Music Festival, held last Friday at the Ayala Triangle Gardens was one of his projects. The festival, AIza said, was conceptualized by Baguilat to increase awareness as well as appreciation for OPM considering it was “part of our shared culture.”

It was in this spirit of promoting OPM that Baguilat filed the proposed OPM Development Act, an offshoot of the Pinoy Music Summit held in March, Aiza said. It had generated interest in the country’s diverse music scene and issues faced by musicians and the recording industry.

That energy should be harnessed to immediately pass a law that will promote, protect and develop the Philippine music industry, according to Baguilat.

 The proposed bill seeks to institutionalize Executive Order 255, which requires the playing of at least four OPM songs an hour by broadcast organizations. The executive order was issued by the late President Corazon Aquino and Baguilat seeks to convert the order into a law to ensure consistent compliance.

 Baguilat said increasing the airtime of Filipino music was crucial as radio remains one of the best avenues for Filipinos to discover music. Radio play is envisioned to be open to all kinds of music so that Filipinos will discover more of the rich talent that is available in this country but not heard.

The bill also wants to institutionalize the Performers’ Equity Program, a body of rules applied to foreign entertainers seeking to work in the Philippines. The program was started back in 1987 upon the initiative of then Immigration Commissioner Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

 The government-private program was crafted to ensure that the rights, privileges and welfare of Filipino performers are protected. 

 Under the existing memorandum of agreement among the Bureau of Immigration, the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit and the Asosasyon ng Musikong Pilipino, foreign performers are required to pay P5,000 per show while foreign musicians, instrumentalists and back-up vocalists pay P4,000 a show.

OPM collects the equity fees for the singers doing live musical acts and concerts while AMP gets the equity payments for the displaced musicians and back-up singers. The equity payment is supposed to be paid and assessed before working visas are issued to the performers.

From 2010 to 2013, Baguilat said OPM collected close to P8.5 million from equity fee payments of producers who bring in foreign performers, and part of the proceeds went to launch and maintain the Philippine Music Registry, the Legal Assistance Program for artists, as well as medical, burial and insurance benefits for members and workshops to help members in their creative pursuits.

 Baguilat said converting the MOA into a law was not meant to drive away foreign artists. On the contrary, they are more than welcome to perform in the country to delight the Filipino audience, but it would also be just fair for the local musicians, vocalists and instrumentalists to be compensated and have a better working environment in their own place of work.

Such an equity system is recognized around the world, such that producers bringing Filipino performers abroad are likewise levied a fee, which also goes to help their colleagues in other countries. 

Baguilat said the OPM bill needs to be passed as popularization of OPM among Filipinos “remains a colossal challenge” given such factors like proliferation of foreign music.

 Baguilat, who has long been a supporter of the arts given the cultural heritage of Ifugao, said he was pushing for the bill, which was crafted in consultation with OPM and the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, as Filipinos should embrace their own music and other forms of art as they comprise the Filipino culture and identity.