Pasko Ng Paglaya

It was on a Saturday, in a classroom at Gonzaga Hall, that I received a brown envelope from Fr. Mano, then a novice at the Sacred Heart Novitiate. I must have been in third year college then, and it must have been during my Business Communications class that I peeled off the scotch tape that had sealed the parcel.

Not to my surprise (as Mano would send me stuff on occasion), the envelope contained music sheets of a newly-composed Christmas song. What intrigued me more, in fact, were the song's title--PASKO NG PAGLAYA, the apparent theme of the lyrics, and the nationalistic melody that began to play in my head as I skimmed through the hand-written notes. By the end of my 3-hour class, I was halfway through arranging the vocals.

Eric Barro, one of the original Bukas Palad members, was among the first to hear the music and play it on his guitar. I have invited him to collect his thoughts on PASKO NG PAGLAYA and to share them with you.

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PASKO NG PAGLAYA
Eric Barro

Norman asked me to write a reflection on either Pasko ng Paglaya or Himig ng Hangin for his blog. Save for the memory of Norman and Manoling’s first attempt to do vocal arrangement when we were 4th year HS and one ATSCA member trying the tenor voice when he, in fact, was bass, there was no significant memory for Himig ng Hangin that I could write about.

Pasko ng Paglaya it is then.

I was part of the first batch of BP and was involved in the recording of the first two albums and four songs, if my memory serves me right, of the 3rd album. I was the only member of the first batch that knew the songs way back in high school.

Footnote 1:
People may disagree but when BP started, I had always thought and felt that I was the “fourth man” (nothing significant about this title…alalay baga!) behind the geniuses of Mano, Jandi and Norman. I came into the picture the summer before 3rd year high school…really an outsider…classroom at the farthest end (whereas theirs were beside each other)…different interests and sets of friends…varied lifestyle.

By the time the school year started, I started hanging out with them. That was the first time that I was intimately introduced to their music. Never realized that chords could be that sophisticated…the progression…the use of bass (e.g. D/C)…even guitar-strumming style! The songs were distinct: contemporary, sophisticated, pop and easy to sing (though not necessarily easy to play).

As the “fourth man”, my main role was just to wonder in awe at how Mano, Jandi and Norman could do it, with the hope that soon, it would rub off on me. Sadly, it did not!

Before we launched the Pasko Na! Album, ATSCA was already singing most of the songs during our caroling. It was during this period that I had first heard of Pasko ng Paglaya.

Footnote 2:
It was just a matter of time before Manoling would write a song (both lyrics and melody) that had a nationalistic flavor. The political situation then had influenced our minds and actions and we were in the forefront of Ateneo’s student activism: Jandi was to become President of ACLC. Norman and I were ATSCA presidents one after the other. Manoling founded and was President of Lingap Bilanggo. And we shared one room.

But I was not really thrilled about singing Pasko ng Paglaya. The first two stanzas had no vocal arrangement; the refrain was too short to showcase the vocal calisthenics Norman was known to provide in his arrangements. But most importantly, on a personal level, BP was actually my “break”, so to speak, from all my student activism undertakings. It was clear to me, even back then, where to draw the line between my convictions and passions. My convictions brought me to the streets, to the squatters’ area, to the laborers. I sang Patatag songs, Petty Burgis, Karapatan ng Tao with the basic sectors. On the other hand, I was passionate about the type of songs BP had been known for--the cover versions that we did of Manhattan Transfer, Al Jarreau, Hotdog, during campus concerts.

I thought then that singing nationalistic songs was crossing over that line.

I did not expect the album launching of Pasko Na! to be jam-packed. The venue was bigger (LHS chapel; the first album launch was in Dulaang Sibol) and it was held in the evening. The songs were not as familiar as the ones in the first album, at least to the college community. And we were going to sing Pasko ng Paglaya!

Footnote 3:
Compared to our debut album launch, Pasko Na! launch involved more people; even those who were not part of the recording. We had better costumes, I think. Opening song was Emmanuel, which Norman re-arranged in order to have that “live and bombastic” feel. And I had the task of emceeing alone, without Risa Hontiveros (now congresswoman) whom I thought was a perfect partner, she being a complete foil of my personality.

It was a light and entertaining evening. I even thought I had a new career as a stand-up comic. Then we sang Pasko ng Paglaya.

It was stunning. The audience was completely silent. Our unison voice for the first two verses was simplicity at its best. The refrain provided just the right vocal blend to convey the message of the song. And the oooh-ing at the end was perfect. The song penetrated the hearts of the audience. It was one of the most applauded songs in the evening. For me, it was the most earnest.

I listened again to the song when I agreed to write this piece of reflection. That same day, Trillanes and Lim marched to Manila Peninsula. Friends sent opposing text messages: support the plotters…no to coup. Others offered their houses as refuge, just in case.

The present political landscape makes me wish that the message of Pasko ng Paglaya still reverberates and is still relevant, in either side of political fence one belongs to. It is in these times that I go back to that particular evening, hoping to penetrate again the hearts of people.

Footnote 4:
I still prefer BP’s jazzy and soulful songs though than those traditional and nationalistic sounding-hymns. I have now become the nth person: no communication with Jandi and Manoling the past 5 years and very sparse contacts with Norman. Their musical ingenuity was apparently non-transferable! And I did not become a stand-up comic.

But now, it is not a question of crossing the line…because there is no line! Music, regardless of passion and conviction, naturally crosses over and it is how one learns from the melody and lyrics that actually matters.