Jim Paredes on what it was like for APO during Martial Law: 'We were banned'

During an era where being an activist was perilous, what was it like for APO Hiking Society, one of the Filipino acts that channeled their anger into their music during the Martial Law period?

As the Philippines remembers Martial Law this September, Jim Paredes sat down with "The Howie Severino Podcast" and recalled how his band gained a reputation for being political in the first place.

He said that during APO's first show after the killing of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., they reenacted the assassination on stage.

"People (the audience) just really went crazy. They went crazy," he recalled. "And after that, my gosh, kumalat 'yung reputation namin na talagang 'These guys are really crazy. They are not afraid.'"

It was only one of the instances that made it clear to him that the landscape was changing.

After that, the band held a concert in Ultra called "Ito Na Po Sila," a title taken from the words supposedly uttered by soldiers right before they assassinated Aquino.

"Our fans knew what we were doing. But the government did not. And I could tell at that time that the new culture was emerging and it was like opposition, it was like there was anger, there was you know... Parang talagang 'Palitan na,'" Paredes said.

Their concert was packed, he said, and they were even given standing ovations. They then tried to reserve Ultra again two weeks after, but this time, they were not allowed to do so.

"We were banned already...and then we had all of these TV shows lined up, they called us to say cancel. And then radio wouldn't play us so we were banned. Totally banned. We were band that was banned," Paredes said.

He also recalled being interviewed by American media, and that they were painted as a "popular group that's defying the government."

"Do you think you'll be arrested today? Mga ganu'n-ganu'ng questions. Sabi ko, 'I hope not,'" he said.

Paredes admitted that at the time, he'd been very scared.

"And you know, I was scared. Sometimes I would be followed by unknown cars, you know," he said.

He went so far as to read Bible verses every night, fearing for himself and his family.

Still he told himself, "Everybody is afraid and it [is] okay to feel the fear but you must do what you must do."

In 1986, Paredes composed the song "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo," which commemorated the People Power, the bloodless revolution that ended former President Ferdinand Marcos' rule.

And to this day, the member of the now retired APO Hiking Society continues to be outspoken about controversial issues in the government.

But despite all that, Paredes said that he might be political, but it was only one of the many topics of his life.

"You know I'll tell you something, a lot of people think APO is political group because we wrote maybe three or four political songs. Some of them are even just remotely political," he said.

"The thing is in the Philippines kasi politics is so ano... people are so politically obsessed that's why they think we are political figures," he added. "No, I'm an artist. An artist expresses."

Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972. In February 1986, he was exiled following the People Power Revolution. —JCB, GMA News