I came to watch the concert “10Q” at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Newport World Resorts recently to be enthralled and entertained by the voices of Angeline Quinto, Bugoy Drilon, Daryl Ong and Michael Pangilinan (collective known as the Budakhel), as they are considered to be among the country’s most musically gifted singers. The show was supposed to be a thanksgiving piece for Angeline who is marking her first decade in the entertainment industry this year.
The initial solo and production number were, as I expected them to be: impressive renditions of hit originals and covers of the featured singers who each used their wide and powerful vocal ranges one song after the next.
While each of them shared touching recollections of how their showbiz careers started taking flight many years ago, one that truly tugged at my heartstrings would have to be Daryl Ong’s dedication of one number to his mom, who, very recently, lost her fight to Chronic Kidney Disease.
In a spot number Daryl did during the show, he almost tearfully recalled how his mom tried her best to fight for her life, not for herself, but, most especially, for her family members. Reason why people, including myself, started tearing up when The Voice of the Philippines finalist started singing “… dahil sa ‘yo, nais kong mabuhay.”
“Feeling ko imposibleng mag-move on or mag-move forward, I guess. Wala eh. Hindi ko talaga kayang mag-move on sa pagkawala ni mommy,” Daryl admitted after to The Thrillmaker after the show.
After beautifully managing to control his emotions post the first bars of the iconic song, Daryl was able to finish it in his trademark R&B style, and then transitioned back to entertainer mode until the end of the show.
“Inisip ko lang na nagdyan pa rin sya, na nakikita nya ako, na nanonod siya,” he shared. “Pero kanina after ko magperform, nakita ko yung kapatid kong maliit dun na ako naging emotional. Buti na lang nakita ko siya, tapos na akong kumanta. Dun ko na hindi napigilan. Yung bunso naming kapatid, 8 years old pa lang kasi sya eh. Kung ako nga 35 years old na hindi ko pa rin tuluyang matanggap, what more yung 8 years old. Kumbaga hindi lang yung sarili kong lungkot yung bitbit ko pati yung mga kapatid ko,” he added.
While still burdened with the feeling of loss, the singer knows he has no room for slowing down and will have to work even harder in solidifying his career prospects now more than ever.
“Knowing my mom she always wants the best for us magkakapatid. So I won’t let na yung pagkamatay niya eh maka-affect sa future naming. Siguro mas lalo akong magsisikap maging successful para maging proud pa rin sya sa akin,” he said. Budakhel is set to leave for the US and Canada soon for a repeat of their concert in North America.
While emotionally sharing about his late mom’s CKD journey, I shared with him about my own condition as a CKD sufferer. Looking immediately alarmed, he told me: “I pray na maka-recover ka kaagad, it’s sobrang difficult na battle yung pinagdaanan ni mommy. I’ll be praying for your health, God bless you, may God continue to strengthen you and heal you completely.”
Well, thank you, Daryl. Your mom obviously raised you well. I know she’s mighty proud every time she sees how you are on and off stage.