Your radio is not defective

As if in response to my "Good morning sunshine!" post, RT shuffled their radio programs' timeslots. Now, I have something to listen to on my morning drive, which is The Brewrats Show hosted by DJ Tado, DJ Ramon and DJ Angel. I used to catch them when I drive home late at night because their timeslot is 9pm-12mn. They have now been moved to the 6am-9am timeslot so I get to listen to them spread the bubonic plague every morning! And here's another good news, Sam and Gibb have been moved to 6pm-9pm timeslot, which gives me listening pleasure on my drive back home. Perfect!

Going back to the Brewrats, I was just listening this morning and they were interviewing someone who was going to share the not-yet-released Tie a Yellow Ribbon President's Remix. This version of the 1973 song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" was commissioned by Kris Aquino to a group of local music artists because she was putting together a tribute album for her mom. One interesting trivia is that the Tie a Yellow Ribbon President's Remix was completed just a few minutes after President Cory Aquino passed away. Right now, it is not yet clear how the song is going to be released commercially but everyone involved in the production agreed that it should be aired first on the radio. So it was really fortunate that I was listening to RT this morning because I got to be one of the first few people to hear it! The remix starts with a sound byte of Tita Cory saying her farewell speech during her last SONA. Then the lyrics of the original song is sung to a catchy beat with a short rap portion in the middle. The remix version gives the song a fresh and updated vibe and is something that I'm sure the Filipinos of today would appreciate. I hope that more radio stations would get to play it, especially now that Ninoy Aquino Day (Aug. 21) is fast approaching. It would be a fitting tribute to the man who said that the Filipinos are worth dying for, and who did.

Like sheep lost

Former President Corazon Aquino was laid to rest yesterday. It was declared a special non-working holiday so I was able to watch the last funeral rites on TV. Before that, I was able to see her coffin up close when her remains were transported last Monday from De la Salle Greenhills to Manila Cathedral. The funeral cortege passed by Ayala Ave. so I just went down from the office to join the procession if front of our building. I offered a little prayer for Tita Cory then flashed the 'Laban' sign while chanting her name together with the crowd.

I felt sad the first time I heard that she passed away last Saturday. Although everybody knew that she was battling with cancer, it still came as a shock because news reports said that she was already in a stable condition. I guess we always assumed that Tita Cory would always be there to lead us in protest and prayer, especially when there are scandals brewing in the government or there are threats to our democracy. Now that she is gone, I'm afraid that we would all be like lost sheep, following the mob but never really knowing where to go. I'd like to believe that after witnessing the Cory magic that brought the whole nation together in unity and prayer, the Filipinos would step up and take it up on themselves to continue what Ninoy and Cory started. With the Filipinos' short term memory, there's a big probability that this will never come to be but I'm still hoping that we would be able to rise above ourselves and make our nation great once again. Let the spirit of Edsa live on!