Gerry Lirio, ABS-CBN News

WHO was it who said that a great song comes from an upheaval in one’s soul?From the wife of retired Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr.-the man the late Sen. Joker Arroyo once called the &quot;face of Martial Law,&quot; or the &quot;poster boy of defiance to the one-man rule&quot; of President Ferdinand Marcos—comes a song urging the electorate to vote wisely, shun dictatorship and corruption, in the May 9 elections.The 78-year-old Bing Pimentel has composed a three-minute song reminding voters the perils of Marcos&#x27;s 20-year dictatorial regime, recalling how she, her husband, and their six children as well as thousands others endured those years.The song is titled &quot;Kawawa ang Bayan Ko,&quot; arranged and sung by Pau Chavez, a niece.&quot;I wrote the song,&quot; Pimentel said, &quot;to help liberate the voters from whatever is choking them. Only when one can vote freely can our country be free.&quot;Pimentel has authored some 200 songs all dramatizing the family’s Martial Law journey that began when her husband was arrested and detained in Camp Crame for three months for opposing the 1973 Constitution which gave Marcos dictatorial powers. It nearly broke her heart. &quot;Music has a therapeutic effect on me,&quot; she said.While the former senator wrote the family’s story into a book titled &quot;Martial Law in the Philippines: My Story,&quot; Pimentel translated their harrowing experience into music titled &quot;Martial Law the Musical&quot; with about 20 songs.Before the former president Corazon Aquino died of colon cancer in August 2009, Pimentel composed another set of 20 songs for the &quot;Cory Aquino Musical.&quot;In &quot;Kawawa ang Bayan ko,&quot; Pimentel is as passionate as her husband against tyranny and dictatorship. She wrote: &quot;Kawawang bayan ko/Demokrasyang pinatay--di dapat kalimutan; Mga korapsiyong nilantad sa bayan, hindi dapat kalimutan.&quot;She is as melancholic when talking about electoral fraud.&quot;Kawawang bayan ko, kawawang bayan ko/tuwing eleksyon binobola, niloloko…/Kailangan malayang desisyon ang boto ko/Huwag, huwag isusuko kahit kanino/Kahit anong grupo—ang boto sagrado.&quot;Pimentel has composed other songs that could have made to Billboards Top 100, but her songs, she said, were made for a reason, an expression of what’s inside her heart and soul, not for profit.When she wrote &quot;Pagibig sa Bayan&quot; in 1978, she was on her to visit her husband in his cell in Bicutan. &quot;Along the way, I kept repeating it in my mind, memorizing it until I completed the lyrics. It hurt me to see him behind bars but I couldn’t ask him to give up the fight for freedom because I understood how he felt and what he was fighting for.&quot;When she wrote &quot;Ninoy, Ninoy Pa Rin&quot; in 1983, it was the day she learned that former Sen. Benigno &quot;Ninoy&quot; Aquino Jr. had died. &quot;Nene was under house arrest in Cagayan de Oro when Ninoy was murdered. I was so deeply moved by the incident that, in an instant, I finished that song.&quot;Nene Pimentel was arrested and detained by Marcos not just once but four times, all a result of his refusal to embrace the dictatorship. Bing said each incarceration nearly broke her heart.&quot;If experience is the best teacher, Nene seemed impervious even to life’s simplest instruction,&quot; she said of Pimentel.&quot;On the contrary, it was Marcos who just couldn’t learn—in election after election that the dictator stole from Nene and the Filipino people —to uphold the Constitution and the laws. Nene wasn’t just being bullheaded. He was just being persistent, like a tireless teacher of mentally challenged students of democracy like Marcos.&quot;<iframe allowtransparency="true" autoplay="" frameBorder="0" height="50" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/lifestyle/kawawang-bayan-ko.mp3" width="510"></iframe><div>Pimentel’s lyrics of “Kawawa ang Bayan ko” in full:</div>“Kawawang bayan ko,Kawawa ang bayan kotuwing eleksyon binobola, nilolokoKawawang bayan koKawawa ang bayan koTuwing eleksyon, binobola, nilolokoMga pangako mong napapakoGarapalang minumudmud ang perang nakawminanang yaman—nakawakala mo, akala nila malilimutanDemokrasyang pinatay-di dapat kalimutanmga korapsiyong nilantad sa bayanhindi dapat kalimutanChorus IIisa lamang ating hilingYan ay ating maratingPagsulong na hinihilingChorus IISus! Kawawang bayan ko (kawawang bayan ko)Kawawang bayan ko (kawawang bayan ko)KawawaMagising, magkaisa tayoSuriin mga kandidatong ibobotoDapat makadios, makabayanMakatao-taong marangalHindi bibili ng boto, hindi mandarayaAng serbisyong totooKawawang bayan koRepeat chorus I and IIKailangang malayang desisyon ang boto koHuwag isusuko kahit kaninoRepeat chorus ISus! kawawang bayan ko (kawawang bayan ko)Kawawang bayan ko (kawawang bayan ko)Kaya ngayong eleksyonDapat malayang desisyon natin ang gating botoPanalo ang bayan ko!

From the wife of retired Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr.-the man the late Sen. Joker Arroyo once called the “face of Martial Law,” or the “poster boy of defiance to the one-man rule” of President Ferdinand Marcos—comes a song urging the electorate to vote wisely, shun dictatorship and corruption, in the May 9 elections.

LISTEN: 'Kawawa ang Bayan ko' - a song for voters

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LISTEN: 'Kawawa ang Bayan ko' - a song for voters

Gerry Lirio,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 16, 2016 10:53 PM PHT

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kawawa ang bayan ko

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