The good
OKAY, Cebu music as a whole didn’t exactly achieve a milestone during the weekend. But for what it’s worth, everybody who tried to come up with productions showcasing local talents should be applauded. There were at least 10 huge parties that happened from Friday to Saturday during the Sinulog and a number of bar gigs that featured Cebu’s independent groups.
There were a lot of invited guests from Manila and other parts of the Philippines as well. But to have renowned acts like Steve Angello of Swedish House Mafia and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus over was pretty cool.
What happens next is anyone’s guess, Vispop 4.0 is pretty much around the corner though. Every songwriter capable of writing a Bisaya tune or two should give this a go since its overall vision is to campaign for more Bisaya songs on mainstream radio. Personally, I think this has already been achieved by hits like Ang Balay ni Mayang and HAHAHAHasula. So what comes next for Bisaya music is exciting.
Last Friday, the band had the chance to open for Rocksteddy during the Coke Sinulog Party at Fuente Osmeña. It was my first time to perform there but to see maybe hundreds trying to sing along to our songs—both originals and covers—was a blast.
Unfortunately, this article is more than just about the happy times.
The ugly
Everybody had a grand time I’m sure but I just feel the need to bring this up. Purple Helmets guitarist Carlo Borromeo got mauled outside of his own home which was near the vicinity of some wild partying. He requested the people outside his home at Ramon Aboitiz St., to make way for his vehicle to pass but ended up being beaten by five drunk hooligans instead.
“Last night at 9 p.m. my wife and I drove out with plans to go to a friend’s birthday party at a restaurant,” Carlo texted since he was currently unable to speak. “As we left our driveway, people started banging on the car.”
“I stepped out and yelled at them to stop. Next thing I knew, I had a bleeding nose and a black eye.” Carlo suffered fractures on his nose and cheeks. He was admitted to the hospital awaiting surgery. The perpetrators could not be identified.
The objective person in me would ask, “Maybe Carlo would’ve fared better if he had asked more politely?” I slapped myself immediately back to reality. The rational side would scream (and quite rightly), “For the love of God. The man got beat up without justifiable cause.”
Wake up, Cebu! We have become our own worst version and if we don’t do anything about this, cases like this might be more horrendous in 2017. Who beats up random people in the street during a feast day dedicated to Señor Sto. Niño?
It’s not only embarrassing, what happened. It’s a miserable thing.
Bottomline: Hooligans like those should be imprisoned to teach everybody a lesson or two about “partying.”