|
Stapel Verliefd
(Wedding Songs by the Senator's Wife)
Wedding songs are the ultimate feel-good love songs. And since we Filipinos are a gifted lot in the romance and music departments, one can only expect the best when it comes to some of the most popular OPM wedding songs. Try recalling the words in George Canseco's "Ngayon at Kailanman" and "Ikaw" or Ryan Cayabyab's "Tunay na Ligaya" and you would understand what we mean. There is poetry in each line, sincerity in every word.
But good Filipino wedding love songs come out few and far in between. We don't recall hearing a new OPM wedding song in recent years. That is why when we learned that a particular wedding song stood out during the run of "Pag-ibig sa Bayan" - a musicale based on the life of Senator "Nene" Pimentel and his wife Bing in the Martial Law era -- we got curious.
Since we missed the musical play during its four-day run at the Meralco Theatre, we researched to find out more about it. We learned that the senator's wife wrote its libretto. We also learned that Mrs. Pimentel also wrote two other love songs especially for her daughter's wedding back in 2003. Eager to hear these songs, we took the chance and emailed the good senator's office in the hope of getting hold of his wife for an interview. We thought the idea was pretty far-fetched having to send our correspondence to an official senate email account. But to our surprise, Ruby Villanueva, the senator's Executive Assistant got in touch with us soon after and our meeting with the lady songwriter went underway.
Merienda Cena in Marikina
Since most of the interviews we've done for this column in the past were mostly thru email or text (for one-liner responses), we were very anxious as to how our first face-to-face interview would turn out. Our meeting, after all, is with the wife of a prominent political figure who stood for his principles back in the Martial Law days up until the recent 20th EDSA Anniversary celebration.
When we arrived at the Pimentel residence in Marikina, we were personally welcomed by Mrs. Bing Pimentel and immediately felt at ease with her warm, motherly demeanor. We sat and casually talked about her family life, her songs and her hands-on involvement during her daughter's wedding.
Over delicious pancit and ginatan prepared by her lovely daughter-in-law, we listened to the soundtrack of the said musicale. We listened intently to the fourth track called "Sa Harap ng Diyos," a duet by lead actors Marco Sison and Jane Diaz (playing the young Nene & Bing) as the soon-to-weds exchange wedding vows. While there is no substitute to listening to the actual tune, we share with you the lyrics...
[READ MORE...]
|
