Jim Paredes recalls how Apo Hiking Society was formed and inspired millions of Filipinos during Martial Law
Ayon sa singer-composer na si Jim Paredes noong nagsisimula pa lang sila, mahirap daw magustuhan ng mga Pinoy ang original composition, mas tinatangkilik daw dati ang mga revival na mga American songs.
“I remember when we were just starting as a singing group, if you sang an original song in a crowd, people would 'boo' you, they say 'ang yabang mo, ang yabang mo, kantahin mo na lang yung Top 40 yun ang gusto naming.' So that's how Apo Hiking Society learned how to be comical. Because when you're comical, gagaan yung puso nung nakikinig sayo,” kwento ni Jim.
Pero bago pa man maging Apo Hiking Society o Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, may ilan pang pangalan na pinagpilian ang grupo nina Jim.
“You (Howie Severino) know prior to that, our choices for the name of the group was KKK, Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Kombo and believe it or not, Jose Rizal Bulletproof Vest Company, so yun ang aming mga choices talaga” kwento ni Jim.
Isa ang Apo Hiking Society sa mga OPM legends na maituturing. Sa katunayan, ayon kay Jim, ang katagang OPM ay mula rin mismo sa miyembro ng Apo Hiking Society.
“It was one (Danny Javier) of the APO who branded the term OPM (Original Pinoy Music),” paglalahad ng OPM icon.
Ilang taon matapos ang pag-usbong ng kanilang karera, idineklara naman ng dating pangulo na si Ferdinand Marcos ang Martial Law sa Pilipinas na nagpahirap sa maraming aspeto ng lipunan maging sa industriya ng musika.
“Ako talaga, even when Marcos was running for election, I was already against him during that time. When he ran for re-election, mas lalo pa akong nagalit sa kaniya. Kaya nung nangyari yung first quarter storm, my gosh, sumali ako, nag-rally ako,” paglalahad ni Jim.
“We are politically aware; I had a teacher who was arrested si Bienvenido Lumbera… I visited him in jail. I had a classmate who disappeared, was picked up by the military and murdered. We have two classmates who were murdered.”
“Yung spiels ng APO noon during that time, patapang na ng patapang.” dagdag pa niya.
Isa ang kanilang banda sa palihim na tumutuligsa sa klase ng gobyerno na mayroon ang bansa noon. Kaya maging sa kanilang mga concerts at performances pasimple nilang kinokontra ang oposisyon.
“Our fans knew what we were doing but the government did not and I could tell at that time the new culture was emerging and it was like opposition, it was like there's anger, there was you know, talagang palitan na,” sabi pa ni Jim.
Pero dahil sa kanilang malakas na impluwensya sa mga tao, ipinatigil ang kanilang mga concerts at guesting.
“We were informed the next day na hindi na, we were banned already, and then we had these TV shows lined up, they called us to say 'cancel,' and then the radio wouldn't play us. So we're banned, totally banned. We are a band that was banned.”
Kasama rin sa naging tanong ni veteran journalist Howie Severino ang nagawa ng kanilang protesta bilang music icon ng government opposition.
“Gaano kalaking impact yung inyong music… yung protest music. Anong impact 'nun sa pagtagumpay ng protest movement 'nung 1986?” tanong ni Howie.
'Feeling ko you cannot really have a protest movement if it's not culturally rooted eh. Or if there's no seed planted in society. So I felt at that time na we are actually doing the work of liberating the Philippines from dictatorship,” sagot ng OPM legend.
Pero hindi rin daw niya naiwasan na matakot para sa kaligtasan ng kaniyang sarili mula sa pwersa ng gobyerno na kanilang kinakalaban.
“I was scared. Sometimes I would be followed by unknown cars, you know. And then at night, sa takot ko nagbabasa ako ng Bible…I was afraid for myself, I was afraid for my family. But I told myself, everybody is afraid. Everybody is afraid and it was okay to feel the fear but you must do what you must do…Parang ano ngayon ka pa aatras?” paglalahad pa ni Jim.
“We got a lot of temptations to make atras, a lot of Marcos crony companies contacted us giving us endorsements by the millions, millions ang talent fee. Siyempre pag nag-endorse ka 'nun sira na ang credibility mo, and we were so tempted to get it pero sabi ko trick yan… You're not gonna recover from that if you do that,” dagdag pa niya.
Sa kabila ng maraming panganib na nakakabit sa kanilang pagtuligsa sa administrasyong Marcos, nagpatuloy pa rin sina Jim sa paglikha ng mga awitin para sa Pilipino gaya ng “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” na nagkaroon pa ng iba't ibang bersyon at napakinggan pa sa labas ng bansa.
Pero may paglilinaw rin si Jim patungkol sa kaniyang pagiging bukas sa mga opinyon sa pulitika.
“In the Philippines kasi, people are so politically obsessed that's why they think that we are political figures. No, I'm an artist. An artist expresses, ganun lang 'yun. It's (politics) one of the topics only in my life.”
Pakinggan ang buong podcast interview Jim Paredes sa The Howie Severino Podcast dito:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AEaKdE
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2XJBpH8
Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3o2DQQn
