MOVIEGOER: Chad Borja's biggest life lesson
Published Nov 27, 2025 07:53 am
A lesson learned at the peak of his career in the 1990s has kept Chad Borja more grounded and level-headed.
Chad Borja
“I opened myself too much to the public. I had been too exposed, I lost my privacy,” he tells us in an interview.
Over-sharing led to broken relationships. “I didn’t hide anything then.”
Today, at 59, Chad, the hitmaker behind the songs Ikaw Lang and Yakap, knows better. As he divides his time between Davao (where his own family is based) and Manila (where he flies in for shows), the veteran singer says he’s more in control.
“I’d like to think that talent is the ultimate leverage. It is the key to survival in this industry.”
Chad remains active as a singer, although he’s keeping a low profile. He ballooned to 190 lbs following a bout with thyroid cancer in 1998. While running a small real estate business in Davao, he entertains gigs here and there, big or small. On Nov. 28, Chad is performing in a concert, All That Sound, at the Music Museum, a production of Echo Jam.
It’s not exactly a comeback, he clears, although this breaks a cycle of peace and quiet where doing concerts in Manila is concerned. “As far as I’m concerned, I never really left or stopped singing.”
By force of nature, Chad had been singing since he was 11, when he lost his father to a road accident. It was a difficult childhood, to say the least, straight out of a "Maaalaala Mo Kaya" episode.
The young Chad had to live with relatives to survive. He cleaned homes, fed dogs, and polished cars.
But music was in his heart and soul.
At 17, then an Accounting student, he auditioned for a band and was accepted. It was to be the turning point in his life. He was making 300 pesos a night singing in clubs in Cebu.
From his recollection, Chad joined a total of 10 bands, both in Cebu and in Manila.
Life in Manila was no bed of roses either. The band that brought him to Manila failed the audition, leaving poor Chad jobless and also homeless.
Their band had a sister band whose manager allowed him to stay in an upstairs storage room just above the toilet. Recalling that episode brings tears to the singer’s eyes.
“I had to crawl to get up there as it was too close to the ceiling. It was hot and stuffy, yet I had no choice. It was better than living on the streets.”
Chad took the opportunity to improve himself. He learned new songs, fine-tuned his craft with the help of a cassette tape, built his body.
At daytime, he helped as driver and all-around assistant to his landlord.
All that paid off when the next opportunity came. He was ready, armed with the right tools for a singing career. Chad’s range is so wide that he could sing ballads, soul, rock, swing, R&B, anything.
From the Cebu-based Zee Band, Chad made it to the New Minstrels, later paving the way for a solo career.
The rest is history. The story continues to this day, as Chad topbills, together with fellow 90s singers Richard Reynoso, Renz Verano, and Rannie Raymundo, a quartet called OPM Hitmen.
He’s also dropping a duet recording soon, "You’re My Christmas Song," with his daughter, Abby Singson.