They Wowed and Gave Us the Bumps!

It’s not every day, or every night, that the young and old can let their hair down in the same place and time.  But Pabibo may happen only once. As in all good things, a repeat next year may mean a repeat of the activity only but the ambience, the surprises or the collective vitality may by then take on the sound of a different clarion.

Bohol had its day, make that two days, in Intramuros last September 6 and 7. As part of Garbo sa Central Visayas of our country’s continuing tourism promotion called Wow Philippines, Bohol’s two-day celebration was capped with a cultural night on September 6 and a Pabibo night on September 7.

I gathered that the cultural night was emceed by Jezel Sanchez and had Luke Mijares as guest performer, both known entertainers, both Boholanos. The performance of the Diwanag Dance Theater of Holy Name University was one of the evening’s highlights, among others, I was told.

It was at the invitation of Vida T. of LifestyleBohol and the province’s Center for Culture and Arts Development that we found ourselves at the Pabibo night. I took the chance to tug along my niece.  That was a good chance as any to expose her to her Boholano heritage.  Both our pure Cebuano husbands were with us.

Vida our gracious host introduced us to her dad, Victor Tirol, who impressed us with his low-key bearing, and to Bohol Tourism Office’s top honcho, Baby Ballos.  Too bad we couldn’t make much conversation because the sound of music was, well, deafening. As well it should be or the night wouldn’t be a Pabibo.

And we finally met lifestyleBohol’s gregarious Mitzi Ibaya, along with other Boholano barristers, including, to our delight, spritely Vanessa Hontucan, a cousin’s daughter.

The JB Smoove was performing when we arrived. The band is composed mostly of Boholanos save for the wind instrumentalists, Vida said. The R & B and Hip-hop band, along with another band, the soul music specialist called The JBs, are under the auspices of JB Music Studio and Management of Joseph Ranola, who hails from Jagna.  I understood from Vida that the bands and singers under the studio are all recording artists.

There was plenty of singing and dancing talent to go around. There was Rebecca Olaso singing the Visayan classic Rosas Pandan. Luz Loreto and her lung power also regaled the crowd. She picked out the husband to go onstage as her “inspiration.”  I expected the microphone to be given to him sometime.  Will he sing some lines? Oh, he begged off with sore throat. Truly, Loreto’s pitch wasn’t good for sore throat.

The informality of the program, emceed by Marianito Luspo, director of the Office of Cultural Affairs of Holy Name University, set the ground for everyone to relax, let go, and have some fun. It was also Luspo who conceptualized and directed the two-night program.

I learned at the Pabibo night that the composer of Matod Mo was the Boholano Emil Losenada. I have always loved that song, said to be composed with Matod Nila in mind, thus the two songs can be sung together as a quodlibet, perfect, simple but hauntingly beautiful.

A male singer sung Matod Mo and went around to pass the microphone to any singer, of which there were plenty in the audience after all, to the screams of the rest. It was a committed, involved audience whose exuberance was contagious.

The Bumps came and gave us the biggest reason for the biggest laugh.  The name stands for Bohol United Musicians, Performers and Singers.  One can gamely say that Dagohoy’s rebellious blood does run in their veins. They seemed ready to turn back the conquistadores, even the Mongols. The Bumps is a ragtag army of sorts out to take on the world to uphold a noble cause? of entertainment. Imagine a combination of Yoyoy Villame and the Hagibis, and you’ll know what I mean.  When they sang Yoyoy’s Dagohoy and started with, “Bol-, Bol-, Bol-, Bol-, Bol-, Bol-, Bol-, Bol-anon…” to the tune of Katawan by the Hagibis, the house was brought down.  Sulong, mga Insurectos!

The group, according to Luspo, was conceived as a cooperative effort to help Boholanos based in Manila whose other common language is entertainment. The members have day jobs, but their hearts are set on singing and performing. Grouping could strengthen them and may make them a force to reckon with.

Sponsored by Ranola of the JB Studio and Management, The Bumps’ formal launching is set on September 17 at the Manila Yacht Club. Some of the group’s leaders are Gideon Miole and Tex Cimafranca. They’re out to help each other, to elevate and make each other thrive, was how Luspo described the group.  Who says Boholanos are ija-ija, aho-aho?

Jasper C.’s text message came. ‘Arrrgh! Everybody’s there. And Mitzi too.  Too bad they’re not beer drinkers!’ I had wanted to answer that he wasn’t missing anything but changed my mind because he really was missing something after all. Jasper would have fitted the affair to a T, beer or no beer.
We went home feeling our evening was well spent despite Manila’s rains; dinner was good, the beef was tender, the music superb, thanks to Wow Bohol and Vida’s invitation. I’d like to put on record that Vida is a bundle of cultural delight. She can sing, solo onstage, on top of dancing just as well.

Still feeling as if I haven’t left Intramuros, I asked the husband to sing Matod Nila while I sing Matod Mo, confident in our privacy. Under pain of torture, I will never, ever reveal to anyone his answer to my request. No, we didn’t get to sing the quodlibet.

(2005)