Filipino folk music legend Heber Bartolome passes away
By JOJO C. DUE
The Philippine music industry lost another gem after the creator and singer of the popular progressive song “Tayo’y mga Pinoy” passed away.
Heber Bartolome, folk and rock singer, songwriter, composer, poet, guitarist, banduria player, bluesman and painter and band leader of protest band Banyuhay, passed away on November 15 from an illness he did not say. He was 73.
Heber Gonzales Bartolome was born in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija on November 4, 1948. He started his musical career in the late 1960s making the rounds of folk houses in Metro Manila. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 1973.
Becoming a musical artist came natural to Heber as he inherited his love for the craft from his parents.
A few years after graduating, Heber, with his brothers Jesse and Levi, formed Banyuhay. His music has been described as a unique synthesis of rock and blues incorporated with ethnic Philippine rhythms and instruments, primarily for their use of the kubing, a type of Philippine jaw harp made from bamboo.
His songs include “Nena”, a song about a poor girl who was forced to work in a nightclub; “Salome”, about an ago-go dancer; “Almusal” about the breakfast he had growing up; “Payag Ka Ba?” About nuclear weapons in the Philippines; and others about the daily struggles of the common folk that appealed to the masses.
Although these songs became popular hits, it is the song “Tayo’y mga Pinoy” that hit the mark, preaching the value of self-worth by reminding Filipinos about who they are amid growing Western tendencies, particularly the Kano, or Americans.
The song not only became popular buy was also a finalist in the first Metro Manila Pop Music Festival in 1978.
Prior to the pandemic, Heber had been performing in Canada. Heber and Banyuhay are considered Filipino music legends and pillars of the industry because of their socially-relevant songs.
Rest in peace, Heber.
(PS: The author had the chance to meet Heber and Banyuhay in two concerts, albeit casually. But he did perform on the same stage that Heber and Banyuhay performed in on both occasions.)
Featured photo: Credit to the owner
