SEVERINO C. SAMONTE GLIMPSES & GAZES

A column in this Section last March 1 by Atty. Gilberto Lauengco about the importance of the coming Oct. 30, 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls prompted me to look back at the very first Barangay election held in the country a year after then President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. lifted the effectivity of martial law on Jan. 17, 1981.

That election was held on May 17, 1982 in accordance with Batas Pambansa Blg. 222 signed by Marcos on March 25, 1982 and the way it was conducted by the then nine-member Commission on Elections (Comelec) was very much different compared with the conduct of such polls at present.

For one thing, it was a strictly non-partisan election, where the candidates did not represent any political party and were not allowed to campaign together or in groups. In other words, each candidate must be really “party-less” or without political group affiliation, unlike today’s prevailing party-list system.

At that time, the Barangay Council was composed of the captain or chairman and six

‘Back home, they have often been likened to the Supremes.

‘For their current stint at a local hotel, their repertoire includes a Supreme medley, a song from the Three Degrees, some ballads spiced with ethnic songs in Tagalog and some disco tunes to get you on the floor.

‘They are back by a fourpiece band called The Equalizers, also from the Philippines.”

In the following decades, the Davao music scene, inspired by the successes gained by local bands in the national entertainment landscape, started to surface. The HiMiG Singers, a cho-ral group formed in 1988 under Evangeline Matunog Lapore, a soprano from Davao who won in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), a trendsetter.

Then came the South Border, a Filipino pop and R&B band organized in the 1990s. Their song, ‘Kahit Kailan,’ became the Song of the Year in 1996 and the group won the greatest number of trophies at the 10th Awit Awards.

Two other local bands also made a name. The Freestyle a pop and R&B band founded in 1996 by Davao musician Tat Suzara; it disbanded in 2012, years after promoting songs like ‘Before I Let You Go,’ ‘Till I Found You,’ and ‘Once in a Lifetime.’

In 2009, Eevee, a 4-piece band from Davao City, became champions of the Nescafe 3-in-1 Soundskool. It was originally known as Enzo Villegas Band. They signed up with Sony Music and moved to Manila where they focused their major engagements.