Art and Culture
Senate recognizes Freddie Aguilar’s contributions to PH arts
Days before his famous song “Anak” marks its 40th anniversary, Filipino singer and composer Freddie Aguilar received a recognition at the Senate for his “lifetime outstanding contributions to Philippine arts and culture.” (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)
Days before his famous song “Anak” marks its 40th anniversary, Filipino singer and composer Freddie Aguilar received a recognition at the Senate for his “lifetime outstanding contributions to Philippine arts and culture.”
On Tuesday, March 13, the Senate approved Senate Resolution No. 658, which was initiated by Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III. All other senators present were made co-authors of the resolution.
“Aguilar is the only singer and composer who broke into the western market and gained massive global recognition, bringing pride and honor to our country. His unceasing nationalistic contribution to Philippine music and culture warrants recognition,” Sotto wrote in the resolution.
The resolution also mentioned Aguilar’s song “Anak,” a song he composed as his remorse and apology to his parents.
“The 40th Anniversary of the release of this phenomenal song will be celebrated on March 18, 2018,” the resolution read.
This popular song has been released in 53 countries, translated into 29 languages, re-recorded in more than 100 versions and sold 33 million copies worldwide.
“Billboard, the music industry standard record chart in the United States for singles, reported that the song was the number one in the United States for two weeks and a world hit of the 1980s,” it read.
It also noted that as of 2006, “Anak” remains “the all-time highest-selling record of Philippine music.”
37 years after its release, this song was used as the theme song of “Gangnam Blues”— a South Korean action film released in March 2015.
Apart from this, the resolution also cited “Katarungan,” “Luzviminda,” “Pangako,” and other “songs that echoed the state of the nation.”
Aguilar created and performed songs aimed at social injustices. His album, Magdalena, features songs about a girl who is forced into prostitution due to poverty and the Christian-Muslim clashes in his song Mindanao.
After this album, the Filipino singer-composer also sang about the injustices suffered by powerless, poverty and the arrogance of those in power in a song about the United States (US) and Russia.
On January 2008, Aguilar received the Asia Star Award from the Asia Model Award Festival in Korea. He has also been appointed as one of the 15 commissioners od the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) on July 2016.
The Filipino music icon was also President Rodrigo Duterte’s favorite singer, calling him “a singer with a social conscience.”
