Making It On Her Own
by Jose Hisamoto
Mirror weekly / May 17, 1999
Her songs unloaded the itching thoughts in her mind and heart: the discrimination suffered by her tribe, the Manobos.
She is the illustrious inheritor of the voice of the mountain chanters of Agusan, the narrow peninsula of the northeastern tip of the Mindanao Island, Philippines.
In the morning of June 12, 1968, while the flag ceremony was being held in the town of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, her first and newborn cry soared above the collective notes of the national anthem. Thus according to the tradition of her tribe, the Manobos or Manuvus, which postulates that a mother names her child after the sound heard first at the time of birth, she was christened by her mother, "Bayang," from the opening line of "Bayang magiliw."
Her full name is Junelie Otero Bayang Barrios, the second of the youngest of the seven children of Pacito and Dominica Barrios. In the recording industry, she is recognized as the female singer of the "Bagong Lumad" group of Joey Ayala.
The early songs
Music arrived to her young ears and mind early through the native lullaby sung or hummed by her mother. At the age of four, Bayang recalled, "Every morning, pumapatong ako sa cases ng soft drinks as my stage, at nagkakanta. Ang mga brothers and sisters ko are good singers."
The local church choir became her next stage when she grew old enough to go to masses. The school programs followed.
Turn by turn, she proved her mettle before her townsmen by winning in the amateur singing contests—from Agusan across to Davao City where she went to take her collegiate course.
Lady luck
In the year 1987, lady luck came and smiled on this child who pushed through her studies as a scholar of the local Agusan parish. She was on her second year in college.
The Holy Cross College where she was studying planned to celebrate its golden anniversary by staging a play entitled Ang Missionario. The stage director was Joey Ayala. And Bayang was one of the actors.
During a break in one of the rehearsals, Bayang sang with a guitar among her companions. Her song was one of the pieces sang by the group called "Asin." She heard her director come and praise her voice as "parang Nora Aunor,"—a monicker which attaches her voice, her height, her origin, her search for identity, and maybe her emotional life to the one and only great songbird from Iriga, Camarines Sur and Philippine movies.
After the staging of the play, Joey Ayala absorbed Bayang into his newly formed band called "Bagong Lumad." Two months after that fateful compliment, Bayang was flown to Metro manila for a band concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Overnight history was made in the scene of Philippine alternative music.
Flashback
The plane ride was a first in her life. It was not even a dream in her rural life at Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. In the small town "na malapit sa ilog, na ang kinabubuhay ay pangingisda at pagbubukid ng mais, peanuts, at saging, na ang garden ay malapit sa bahay, at ang nais ng tao ay magkaroon ng sariling lupain, at tuwing Disyembre ang mga bata ay nag ka-caroling," Bayang grew up "na parang nalilito."
Her parents are pure Manobos, already a displaced minority tribe from their own ancestral land at the time of her birth. "Ang kinagisnan ko, wala na ang mga suot nila."
She described their colorful costumed as "red with patches of cloth and ribbons. The men wear the 'tubao' (scarf) on their heads over top vests and calf-long pants. The women blouses have sleeves shaped like 'mabuka-buka' (loose and wide). The Manobos speak the Agusanon dialect with a loud voice and in a tone "na parang galit, May tunog din. Their voice sounds hard na kumakanta."
Bayang lamented on her early childhood. She described: "Maraming mainstream Filipinos had arrived and had settled in our town. Ang Manobo ay nawala na, or they feel out of place in their own ancestral land. Kaming mga anak ng Manobo ay hindi pinahihintulutan na makasama sa mga laro ng mga bata na taga-roon sa aming bayan. Minsan may nagpa-alis sa akin na lumayo daw ako dahil mabaho ako, dahil anak ako ng Manobo. Kaya marami sa amin ay ayaw ng umamin na Manobo sila. Kahit ako ay umayaw na sa pag aaral at pagsasalita ng aming dialect."
Until today, Bayang confessed that such kind of prejudice still exists in her hometown.
Questions
After high school, she began to question her attitude towards her own identity."Bakit ko ba ikinatutuwa ang ganitong damdamin?" Afterwards when she was with "Bagong Lumad," she asked herself further. "Bakit ko itinatago ang pinanggalingan ko? Maganda na may sariling identity ako." Today she resolves, "Gusto ko na mag-research tungkol sa mga Manobo."
With "Bagong Lumad"
The 1987 concert at the Little Theater of CCP happened through a cultural exchange program. Afterwards, Bayang travelled with Joey Ayala and the Bagong Lumad around Luzon and the Visayas Islands the whole year of 1988. 1989 brought them back to Mindanao.
Through all these performances, Bayang "struggled for survival para maka-graduate" from her remaining years in college. In 1993, she fulfilled her dream at last when she received her diploma wearing a stylized Manobo dress made of black satin. She finished Bachelor of Science in Education in Davao. However, she did not become a teacher.
She chose to follow Joey Ayala and his songs. "Gusto ko pa rin kumanta. At nalilibang ako. Pero natakot ako sa mga lyrics ng kinakanta ko. Katulad ng "Walang Tao Sa Sta.Filomena" which was about the NPA's and about hamletting by the government. It was very political."
When she sang "Ang Agila," her audience would inquire afterwards what she meant by the lyrics of the song. On the literal level, the lyrics wails about the diminishing population of the monkey-eating eagles in the country. But Bayang has vested a secondary meaning to the words by her own style of singing.
Split time
1994 turned out to be sad for Joey Ayala and his band. And their fans. It was split time. The wind blew hot and cold for Bayang. "Gusto ko mag solo. Na makagawa ng gusto kong gawin. Nagtatanong ako sa sarili ko noon. Ano kaya kung makagawa ako ng sarling music album? Ano kaya kung sumulat ako ng mga sariling komposisyon? Ano kaya ang damdamin kung mag perform alone? Kaya ko kaya?"
In 1995, she began preparing for her first music album. She wrote seven song compositions and added three more from her friends, making a total of 10 songs. Those friends were Joey Ayala, Mike Villegas, and Isagani Ibarra.
First album
Her banner songs unloaded the itching thoughts in her mind and heart. Singing with her own acoustic guitar as accompaniment, her voice renumerated "tungkol sa buhay-buhay, sa discrimination para sa mga ka-tribo ko, tungkol sa sanggol sa loob ng sinapupunan, at para sa mga kapatid natin na wala dito."
The year 1996 began the harvest of awards for her initial album. Her song "Bagong Umaga" was adjudged the "Best World Music" in the first Metro pop Music Festival, and afterwards, by the Catholic Mass Media Awards.
1997 saw Bayang collect many trophies at the annual Katha ceremony. She won the "Best Music Album," "Best Folk Vocal Performance," "Best Folk Song" for "Saan Nanggaling Ang Himig," and "Best Song Arrangement."
However, the results just stopped there when the applause died down. In the market, the album was not supported with extensive promotions. This left a crease in her memory up to today.
Trodding forward
However, the disappointment does not discourage her to dream about a follow-up. She defined her attitude as "very positive in life. Hangga't masaya ka, go on. Basta mag trabaho ka lang ng maige."
She confessed though that having failed to reach record sales alone, she felt "litong-lito. Hindi ko alam ang aking image."
She had left the Philippines a few times to Europe, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan. In the last two countries, she had performed live on stage in a musicale called "Story of the Moonlit Night."
This stage production is unique because all the performers sing their songs in their own language and their cues are only the "last word" of the previous singer.
Bayang represented the Philippines in two stagings of the show. Soon the show may be staged locally.
Meanwhile, Bayang continues to process her life. Her Manobo roots. Her social commitments. Looking for Mister Goodbar.
Finally, her next music album.
