Posts Tagged ‘francis magalona’

Presidential Medal Of Merit For Francis Magalona

I’m still not feeling well and watching news when I heard that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will give the late Francis Magalona the Presidential Medal of Merit for his contribution to music industry. Among his popular songs were “Mga Kababayan Ko (My Countrymen)” and “Kaleidoscope World” that promoted love for country. He also released various cultural and social problems in the country, such as “Halalan (Elections)” which deals with politicking; “Mga Praning (Paranoids)” for drug addiction; and “Tayo’y Mga Pinoy (We Are Filipinos),” which tackles colonial mentality.

Most of his rap music were nationatistic. I wonder, isn’t it too late for Kiko’s works to be acknowledgement by the government now? They should have acknowledge him whe he was still alive. After all, deep in our heart, Francis Magalona still is the model of a true filipino in this generation. No wonder if many politicians will ask for Magalona family the right to use some of his song in the coming election.

Farewell Francis Magalona

Who doesn’t know Francis Magalona? Although I know that he was suffering from Leukemia, I still can’t believed the txt message informing us that Francis Kiko Magalona passed away this afternoon. It maybe another bad joke in SMS so I confirmed it first.

Francis “Kiko” Magalona (October 4, 1964 – March 6, 2009), son of late Philippine movie screen legends Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran. The late Senator Enrique Magalona was his grandfather. In August 8, 2008, he was diagnosed with Leukemia (acute myelogenous leukemia with Mixed Lineage) or MLL. He passed away in March 6, 2009, 12:20 pm at 44 yeras old, succumbed to multiple organ failure after having been rushed to the hospital the night before. He had undergone several chemotherapy sessions since he was diagnosed with leukemia and had been expected to undergo a bone marrow transplant. The announcement was first made on the television variety show Eat Bulaga!, which he had co-hosted.

Did you know that I used to have a cassette tape with his hit single “Mga Kababayan”. I save money from my daily allowance to bought one, I was in college back then. I don’t usually patronize OPM and not into love song either. That time, that was the start of rap music introduced by Francis Magalona. He earned the tag “Master Rapper” for introducing rap music in the Philippines. But this song, especially the lyrics made me love my country more. Its not just being a nationalist but the lyrics encouraged Filipinos to believe in ourselves. For the record, Cold Summer Nights was my favorite on that tape.

My son told me that Kiko could be the surprise guest for tomorrow’s Eraserheads concert. We will miss you, Kiko! God bless.