Freddie Aguilar (Facebook)

By Jennifer Kaye M. True-Santos

Claiming fame as one of the best musician-songwriter in our country and regarded as an icon of Original Pilipino Music (OPM), he is best known for hit songs such as ‘Pulubi’, ‘Mindanao’, ‘Bayan Ko’ and ‘Anak’ - the best-selling Philippine music record of all time.

Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar or popularly known in the music industry as Freddie Aguilar, sits down in an interview with Aster Amoyo, host of the YouTube channel TicTalk with Aster Amoyo, to talk about his many successes and the life challenges that went along his journey.

Freddie shared that he still composes songs for artists and celebrities, which included running candidates in the previous elections. He is also reviving Ka Freddie’s Music Bar & Restaurant (located along Tomas Morato, Q.C.) which stopped operating when the pandemic struck.

According to Freddie, “...hindi pa plantsado... pero maganda ang simula ng negotiation”. Going on about his personal life, when he was asked about who among his children (Shane, Sasha, Maegan, Jonan and Jeriko) was interested in pursuing music as their career. “Actually, kung hindi ko pinakiusapan, lahat yan gusto nila sa music eh. Kaya lang, may dalawa ako napakiusapan na ‘wag na pumasok sa music”.

Pointing out that both Shane and Sasha pursued fashion while Maegan, Jonan and Jeriko are all in the music industry but with individual genres. Maegan is the closest to his forte - folk rock.

Music for Freddie started when he was around 5 years old. His dad being the chief-of-police in their hometown in Isabella and his grandfather being the vice mayor, he often sang and dance for their visitors when asked by his dad, "anak, pakita mo sayaw mo”; “anak, pakita mo magaling ka kumanta”.

His musical inspirations include Fred Panopio, Ruben Tagalog, Pilita Corales and Elvis Presley. According to Freddie, he learned to play the guitar at age 17, when his younger sister, Zoraida, bought a guitar for her school project. Knowing that his father didn’t want him to be musically inclined and pursue his studying to be a lawyer, he often taught himself to play the guitar with the help of Jingle Magazine - a magazine that included not only song lyrics but guitar tabs as well, when his father was not home. He boasted that he could memorize three songs in one day back then.

Music as his work profession started in the 70s when he was hired to be a singer in Mama Consuelo’s Music Lounge (located in Quiapo, Manila) and received P20.00 as his salary. Freddie shared that the experience honed his vocalization and became better at plucking his guitar, having no sound system or microphone to help him perform on stage.

He later got hired in Ermita, Manila, singing temporarily as a band’s “extra” - a reliever on behalf of their frontman, which paved the way for his popularity around Malate, Manila as the new folk singer. “...may bagong folk singer, si Freddie Aguilar. Yung payat. Magaling!”

By then, his salary of P20.00 had increased to P50.00 and making him a regular performer in Cola House, Manila City.

Moving from Manila to Olongapo, with just a knapsack and P20.00 in his pocket, he ventured into the bars and music lounges in Magsaysay, Olongapo. Upon reaching the “American base” (Subic Bay Freeport), Freddie saw a poster of another folk singer, Carol, whom he mentored back in Manila, which eventually led him to jam with her on stage the same night and the bar owner hiring him to be a regular performer in different bars owned by the same individual.

His next success was being hired by Acme Club, still in Magsaysay, Olongapo. But with his growing popularity came enemies. According to Freddie, drugs were planted in his hotel room which resulted in him being fired from Acme Club, so he moved from one bar, club, and lounge to another, until he finally became a regular musician in one of the establishments. “Nung nakita na nila na seryoso ako sa trabaho ko, pinagawan na nila ng neon yung pangalan ko. Ako lang yung musician dun na naka-neon yung pangalan, tapos nakalagay ‘Freddie Folk Singer.” By this time, his salary has increased from P50.00 in Manila to P60.00 in Olongapo.

At 21 years old, Freddie composed what would be an international hit song. Following at 23 years old, Freddie joined the inaugural 1978 Metropop Song Festival held in Manila. His song entry made the finals and became an international hit. It was then translated and recorded into 29 languages – Japanese being the first.

To add, his song has more than a hundred versions. ‘Anak’ put Freddie in the international limelight for the next decades to come. With this came a tragedy, his father never heard the rendition of the song that brought tears to his eyes upon reading Freddie’s lyrics.

When he was asked why he turned down a $10-M contract with RCA, following the success of ‘Anak’, Freddie concluded: “Actually ang hinahanap ko talaga, Aster, yung magkaroon ako ng konting pangalan in music at nagawa ko dahil sa ‘Anak’. So after that parang wala akong pangarap na iba...” As of 1986, Freddie Aguilar ranks number two as the only Asian with the greatest number of album sales all over the world.