00:00I'm not the best singer. I have to be a David to fight Goliath.
00:05I'm proud to be a shareholder of ABS-CBN.
00:14Sir, how long have you composed a song?
00:18I was 13 when I wrote my first song.
00:22Do you still remember that song?
00:23Yes, 13.
00:24Is it a song?
00:25No, but it was never released as a record because
00:29at that time, if you listen to the song now,
00:33they sound derivative.
00:36I was just a copy from other singers.
00:39Dati parang pag sinasabi ng mga composer,
00:42na-inspire sila mag-uha nga ng kanta sa mga crushes nilang girl, ganyan.
00:47Of course, yeah.
00:48Ikaw pa lahat?
00:49Yeah.
00:50Parang teenage life mo, sir?
00:52Ang alin?
00:53Teenage life.
00:54Yeah, teenage life.
00:55Yeah, I would sing with a combo.
00:58I was a singer in a band.
01:00And we would sing at parties.
01:02And then I would spot some of the girls there.
01:04But I was ashamed to ask them to dance.
01:07So it took a while.
01:08Mahihain ka nung bat nung teenager ka, sir?
01:11Yeah.
01:11Because, you know, I was not bestie, so I didn't dress well.
01:15So there were many other good-looking guys.
01:19Yung mamang sorbetero, sir, ikaw ang kumanta, ikaw na-compose.
01:22Sorry.
01:22I didn't sing it.
01:24Celeste Lagasco.
01:25Ah, Celeste.
01:26Tapos ikaw na-compose.
01:27Yes.
01:28Pero bakit hindi mo kinanta, sir?
01:30Ang kanda naman, bagay naman sa'yo.
01:31Mamang sorbetero.
01:32No.
01:32The English version I sang.
01:34Mr. Songwriter, write me a song.
01:37Make it a short and simple melody.
01:40With words that will carry our message across.
01:43Our message of peace to every country.
01:47Sing all your people all over the world.
01:50Sing out and be heard all over the world.
01:53Mas malaki ba ang kita, sir, pag-compose ka na, ikaw pa yung kumakanta sa kanta mo?
01:57Yeah, but it gives me pleasure that people like the songs that I compose.
02:04That they, you know, so I'm not the best singer.
02:07There are many, many Filipino singers who sing much better than I.
02:11Pero pag-usin marit siya, sir, tinatawag ka si Music Icon.
02:15Well, I don't give myself that title.
02:19Compliment, yeah, it's complimentary for me.
02:22But that's not important.
02:25Pero yung King of Philippine Christmas songs.
02:28Thank God.
02:30But, you know, originally that melody,
02:33Nang Christmas in a Heart, I used for a foundation.
02:38The foundation called,
02:40Ang Tubig Ay Buhay.
02:41Ang Tubig Ay Buhay.
02:46It's for the conservation of water.
02:49You know, the precious resource of water.
02:51So I wrote that.
02:53And then, after a year of being used, it was forgotten.
02:57So then I remembered that melody.
02:59And I said, sayak, that melody, I can use it.
03:02So I used it for Christmas in a Heart.
03:03You know, you can cycle with other songs, sir.
03:05Yes.
03:05Parang ganon.
03:06Pero mas pumatok.
03:07Yes.
03:08Pero bata, matanda.
03:09Kinakanta yung kanta mo.
03:10Thank God.
03:11You know, the other Christmas song is,
03:13My idea of a perfect Christmas is to spend it with you.
03:19But I have another Christmas album that came afterwards.
03:23Pero hindi naging popular.
03:25Mmm.
03:26It's called, Going Home to Christmas.
03:28I wrote that for our OFWs who live outside the Philippines and who long to spend Christmas with their families
03:38in the Philippines.
03:39So, I'm going home to Christmas and to family where the heart resides forevermore.
03:49I'm going home to Christmas and to family where the love light hangs by the door.
03:57But it never became as big a hit as Christmas in our hearts.
04:01You said earlier that you're on hand to the sugar business.
04:05Yes.
04:05How are you in business?
04:06How are you in business?
04:07How are you in business?
04:08Well, it's a very competitive business.
04:11You know, I'm fighting against giants.
04:14But I have to be a David to fight Goliath.
04:19But the sugar is still there, right?
04:21No, but it's very competitive because you're all competing against each other to get a big share of the sugar
04:32planters.
04:33Do you import it, sir?
04:34No, I don't import sugar because to me, if I import sugar, it will be against the sugar planters that
04:41I'm serving.
04:42How do you share it with ABS-CBN, sir?
04:45Well, it's there and, you know, I get little dividends.
04:50Enough to, yeah, okay lang.
04:52Okay lang.
04:52I'm proud to be a shareholder of ABS-CBN.
04:56May record ka pala dun.
04:58Anong parang legacy mong gustong ipakita or iwan sa mga young singers, young performance?
05:04Well, number one, the best legacy that I can leave is that I was a good father, a good husband
05:13to my wife, a good father to my children, and that I would like to see my children succeed in
05:22life.
05:23Are you 50-plus ang asawa niyo?
05:2656 years na kaling married.
05:28Paano, sir?
05:29Anong sikreto?
05:31Sikreto is you have to do things together and then resist whatever temptation comes your way.
05:55Can you imagine giving a lecture to the U.P. College of Music?
06:09No, no one has asked me.
06:10I'm an illiterate.
06:11At your stature ngayon, sir, meron ko bang isang kanta na gusto mong i-compose, kantahin?
06:16Parang ito na yung parang ano mong?
06:20Master...
06:20No, diba?
06:21Masterpiece.
06:22No.
06:22You know, my songs are like my children.
06:25I love them equally.
06:27I cannot say that this song is, you know, they're all the same for me.
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