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Sotto recalls inspiration for EDSA revolt song 'Magkaisa'

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<figure class="op-interactive"><div style="padding-top:66.375%"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1482596" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></div></figure><p>After the 1986 bloodless revolution, a song surfaced sending a message of unity to all Filipinos. And that song, entitled “Magkaisa,” has since become one of the many theme songs of the EDSA Revolution.</p><p>One of the composers of “Magkaisa,” Senator Tito Sotto, said it was his &quot;pure intention&quot; and &quot;genuine emotions&quot; that inspired him to help create the song.</p><p>Sotto said during the creation of the song, everything just fell into place. Thanks to the help of two music geniuses, Homer Flores and Ernie Dela Peña, the melody, the lyrics, and the emotions perfectly blended together.</p><p>“It just so happened that fortunately, Homer Flores my arranger, the best pianist, used to almost live in my recording studio, so he was there every day. During the time that the soldiers were around my studios in Libis, right at the back of Camp Aguinaldo which has White Plains also, my house, we felt the air, we felt the aura of the soldiers and the people, probably that was the start of how I was inspired to write the song,&quot; he said On Mornings @ ANC Thursday.</p><p>&quot;I started tinkering with the melody with Homer and we came up with this feeling that there are certain words that should be incorporated in the song like ‘pagkakaisa,’ that there should be a ‘bagong umaga,’ that we are only one race, we are brothers, blood should not be spilled, something like that,&quot; he continued.</p><div class="containing-block"><div class="outer-container"><div style="display:none">Default News template and player embed</div><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object class="BrightcoveExperience" id="myExperience4772811959001"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"/><param name="width" value="510"/><param name="height" value="287"/><param name="playerID" value="1880751799001"/><param name="playerKey" value="AQ~~,AAABtXvbPVE~,ZfNKKkFP3R9qoEvgz2KMCs8gaY-UGBkT"/><param name="isVid" value="true"/><param name="isUI" value="true"/><param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true"/><param name="@videoPlayer" value="4772811959001"/></object><script type="text/javascript">brightcove.createExperiences();</script></div></div><p>After the song was ready, Sotto approached someone who he knew can perfectly capture the emotions of the song lyrics through this man&#x27;s videos of the EDSA Revolution.</p><p>“When I talked to Bob Garon, Bob Garon was one who was taking a video of what was happening in EDSA, and I told him &#x27;I had the perfect song for your videos&#x27;,&quot; he said.</p><p>He claimed he wanted the song to be pure, not expecting anything but for its message to be clearly delivered to people.</p><p>The senator and artist added, that is also the reason why he chose Virna Lisa, an unpopular singer he knew from a school concert he attended, to sing the song.</p><p>&quot;So during the time that I was thinking of a singer, I could have asked Helen Gamboa, Sharon Cuneta, Pops Fernandez to sing the song, during those times they were my artists, but I didn’t. I wanted somebody unknown because I did not want to disrupt the message, I did not want people to think this is a promo for a singer, promo for a recording company,” he said.</p><p>He also claimed “Magkaisa” is a song dedicated to the Filipino people and he does not want (and has not earned) money from it.</p><p>“I donated the song to the people, I have not earned a single centavo for the song which I could have made a lot money,” he said.</p>

<p>After the 1986 bloodless revolution, a song surfaced sending a message of unity to all Filipinos. And that song, entitled “Magkaisa,” has since become one of the many theme songs of the EDSA Revolution.</p>

After the 1986 bloodless revolution, a song surfaced sending a message of unity to all Filipinos. And that song, entitled “Magkaisa,” has since become one of the many theme songs of the EDSA Revolution.