Discordant note in the music industry

The issue between Redentor Romero and the OPM/AMP (Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit, Asosasyon ng Musikong Pilipino) is starting to sound like a broken record but one more replaying won't hurt, will it?

In a media blitz, Romero denounced the OPM/AMP for making foreign performers coming over pay ("Only P5,000 each," according to OPM president Mitch Valdes) before they can get clearance to perform, with Romero calling OPM and AMP (headed by John Lesaca) members "clowns," "comedians" and other names.

Romero flared up when the OPM/AMP required him to get a clearance before Romanian violinist Alexander Tomescu came to perform recently, even if Mitch and company assured Romero that classical artists are exempted from the "fee."

Anyway, a few days ago, Mitch and John met with some members of the movie press to air their side.

These are the facts: (according to OPM and AMP):

1. The Bureau of Immigration is mandated by the Immigration Law to regulate the entry of foreign artists and professionals and to issue such rules and regulations as may best be calculated to carry out the provisions of immigration laws;

2. The Memorandum of Agreement entered into between the BI, AMP and OPM is legal and binding and definitely seeks to protect the rights of local performers; this MOA is not the only one of its kind, as the BI has entered into MOAs with the PBA on the hiring of foreign professional basketball players with the view of protecting our local players;

3. The MOA with OPM has been in existence since May 3, 1989 while that of the AMP was signed on August 12, 1998.

Now that the BI has seen and recognized the need to implement these MOAs effectively, some persons whose self interests are endangered are trying to undermine its merits.

4. One of the purposes of AMP and OPM is to collect fees and other payments for and in behalf of its members, e.g. equity and to allocate these funds into its various programs;

5. AMP does not distinguish between classical and commercial instrumentalists.

6. An organization does not have to be a union to be able to collect fees from producers of foreign acts;

7. When Filipino performers visit other countries to perform, the producers are required to secure clearance from the corresponding private/government agencies to protect their local musicians, be it classical or non-classical in nature;

8. When foreign instrumentalists perform in the Philippines and the producers do not hire local musicians, the producers have to pay AMP for the displaced musicians. The same holds true for OPM;

When producers hire local musicians, they do not have to pay anything except the processing fee of P500 and they shall be issued the corresponding endorsements and certificates of compliance;

Producers of classical acts do not have to pay anything except the P500 processing fee. They shall be issued the corresponding endorsements and certificates of compliance;

We also declare Mr. Redentor Romero's declarations as untrue, grossly unjust, unfair and self serving:

1. That John Lesaca is requiring the National Philharmonic Society (NPS) to obtain clearance from him -- The AMP has a Board of Directors which decides and makes policies. In accordance with the Corporation Code, Mr. Lesaca cannot make decisions by himself. He merely coordinates and helps implement Board decisions. He is not the mastermind of the "entire act"';

2. AMP and OPM "want everybody to bow to them" -- They are merely implementing the provisions of the MOA;

3. "AMP and OPM have taken Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez and former First Lady Ming Ramos for a ride" -- Mr. Romero insults the intelligence of these educated people who are well known for their integrity and dignity;

4. "The AMP and OPM are full of shabu and drug users and they should just monitor these instead" -- The problem of drugs pervades all sectors of society and the classical musicians are not exempt from this. Mr. Romero aims to degrade the said organizations by maliciously making it appear that the drug problem is localized only in these specific organizations.

5. "OPM and AMP want to get even with Mr. Romero for 'bastardizing the Philippine National Anthem by coming up with a rock n' roll version'" -- The organizations do not even want to pay attention to Mr. Romero's remarks but they want to remind Mr. Romero that when he made media noise about jazzing up kundimans and basterdizing them, he later went on to promote himself as the only jazz violinist recognized by Duke Ellington, playing kundimans and local music!

6. "AMP and OPM shoots down somebody who they think is very successful" -- OPM and AMP, as professional organizations, do not judge people, especially their colleagues, when it comes to performance, talent or skill. We leave it to the critics.

7. Mr. Danilo Olivares, a Romero sympathizer, questions the legality of the two organizations to collect -- Mr. Olivares is presently Treasurer of a collecting society called the Phonogram Producers and Performers Society of the Phils., Inc. (PPSP) whose main task is to protect performers' rights through collections. It is a wonder that Mr. Olivares, who is a member of a collecting organization, and whose activities are the same as those of OPM and AMP, should now question the authority of the same to collect. It is obvious that Mr. Olivares is playing safe and is acting the role of opportunist. He should therefore resign from the PPSP as a sign of delicadeza for his media statements and join the National Philharmonic Society instead.

Lastly, Mr. Romero has threatened to file a suit with his "good friend," Atty. Homobono Adaza. To inform Atty. Adaza, after relentlessly attacking the two organizations through letters, Mr. Romero applied for clearance from AMP and OPM one day before his Romanian violinist performed at Makati, and immediately got it. The next day, he attacked the same organizations that assisted him in a newspaper by another "good friend." We lament the fact that his "good friend" never bothered to seek the other side of the fence.