We Need Songwriters

I've already mentioned this sentiment to several people: this country needs songwriters. 

Nowadays, many people are clamoring to be the next big singer: the one who's going to belt out those high notes on live television. Everybody wants the glamour associated with being the sole singer on stage.

But there are only few good Filipino songs around in contrast to the hundreds of English songs that many of our artists sing nowadays. So the tendency for most Pinoy pop artists is simply to adopt a UK/US/Swedish English song, put a little twist, and present it as, ironically, an "original rendition".

It's sad because there are a lot of things in our culture that demands to be written and sung. 

This phenomenon, our tendency to sing foreign songs, only lends credence to what an artist, Freddie Aguilar, said several years back. Although politically incorrect, his remarks then speak to a truth which our artists should take to heart:

"Hindi ako nagsasabi ng monkeys, ang sabi ko kaya tayo binabansagang mga Pilipinong unggoy dahil manggagaya tayo. Ako, magtatanong sa lahat ng mga singers na mga Pilipino, bakit puro mga banyaga ang kinakanta ninyo? 'Yan ang tanong ko, hindi yung tinatanong n'yo kung bakit ko kayo tinatawag na unggoy, kayo ang nagpatawag na unggoy, dahil gaya-gaya kayo."

- Pep.ph