The day Basil Valdez lost his voice

Now it can be told: years back when he wasn’t the Basil Valdez, the country’s most enduring balladeer lost his voice and thought he would never recover it. Had it happened (him not regaining his powerful vocal power), imagine what a great loss the country would have suffered!

"It happened right after I recorded Ngayon at Kailanman," related Basil who is back in harness after a long "now you hear him, now you don’t" period and fresh from a successful two-night Valentine concert entitled Devoted with Kuh Ledesma and Zsa Zsa Padilla. "It just happened. I lost my voice for one month."

The culprit: Epiglottis (Note: Webster describes the epiglottis as "an elastic cartilage located at the root of the tongue that folds over the glottis to prevent food from entering the windpipe during the act of swallowing.")

"The doctor told me that only one in a million babies suffers from it," said Basil. "I was among the unlucky ones."

The ailment scared Basil stiff and drove him into some soul-searching.

"It must be God’s reminder to me, I told myself. You know, The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Your voice is not your own. It’s only lent to you by God."

Ngayon at Kailanman, one of the more than 20 George Canseco compositions propelled to the top of the hit charts by Basil’s flawless voice, eventually became a big hit and established Basil as one of the country’s finest young balladeers at that time.

Since then, Basil has recorded dozens of other songs, almost all of them now classic and some revived by younger singers whose voice(s) could never match "the original." Mention a Viva classic glossy komiks drama flick – and those by other companies – and chances are that Basil sung the movie’s theme song, including several Vilma Santos starrers (Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan and Paano Ba ang Mangarap, among them; and Pagputi ng Uwak, Pagitim ng Tagak, which Vilma herself produced and starred in).

Last February when Vilma and husband, Sen. Ralph Recto, watched the Devoted concert at the PICC, Vilma announced onstage, much to the delight of the SRO audience, "Basil, in my next movie you’ll sing the theme song again, huh?"

His songs have a healing effect not only on the lovelorn and lovesick but also on the physically ill and Basil is aware of that.

"Music is curative," said Basil who, for 11 years, practiced his gift of pranic healing but had to stop because he found it emotionally draining.

More than 3,000 patients saw Basil during that period when he performed little "miracles," such as seeing lumps grow smaller and open wounds close a bit right before his (and the patients’) very eyes.

On April 24 at the Araneta Coliseum, Basil will appear as "special guest" in Piolo Pascual’s My Gift: Piolo Pascual First Time in Concert where he will do three songs (Basil doesn’t know which ones yet) and a duet with Piolo of a Basil Valdez medley.

"I don’t really know Piolo," admitted Basil, "but I did a duet of a medley of my songs on A.S.A.P. He’s a good singer. If he’s not, I wouldn’t have agreed to guest in his concert." (Piolo’s other guests are Akafellas, Old School, Ai Ai de las Alas and The Hunks.)

The concert will hopefully introduce the younger generation of music-lovers to Basil Valdez and vice-versa. For sure, fans of Basil will troop to the Big Dome and they in turn will be introduced to the "Piolo Pascual generation." The musical events will be the merging of two generations.

Asked how he preserves his voice, Basil smiled.

"I don’t. I smoke a little, I drink a little and I even take ice-cold water."

Oh, well, if you have it, you have it.

(Note: My Gift: Piolo Pascual First Time in Concert is presented by Star Records in cooperation with ABS-CBN, PinoyCentral official music channel MYX, ABS-CBN Publishing, Hammerhead, Venice jewellers and official radio stations WRR 101.9, I-FM, 96.3 WRock and Kool 106. Tickets are priced P2,000, P1,500, P1,200, P1,000, P750, P500 and P300. For inquiries, call the Ticketnet at 915-5555 or Star Records at 415-5834/415-5835.)

The Other Bagatsing

Had Don Ramon Bagatsing opted to, he could easily have become a matinee idol like his cousin Raymond (their fathers are brothers). But showbiz isn’t Don’s cup of tea. Politics is.

"Our family has been in politics for 47 years," said Don, grandson of the beloved former Mayor of Manila Ramon Bagatsing. "I was born into politics."

At 18, Don founded the Taguyod Foundation, Inc. for the education of street children. He studied Economics at La Salle and went on to take graduate studies, also in Economics, at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1992 to 1997, acting as district leader for the reelection bid of Bill Clinton in 1996. Back home, Don taught Economics and International Business (1997-1998) at La Salle, and History and Government at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

At 23, he was elected Councilor of the fourth district of Manila. And now, he’s running for Vice Mayor with reelectionist Mayor Lito Atienza.

When Don chatted with movie writers recently, he came with his pretty wife Grace Custodio who, like Don, spent several years in the US (Bay Area, San Francisco). They’re both 29. Seated beside each other, Don and Grace looked like a screen loveteam. They have one child, Donito.

Grace is Don’s not-so-secret "weapon."

"I support him all the way," said Grace who keeps in mind this piece of advice from Mrs. Lito Atienza: Treat your husband like a king, so he will treat you like a queen. "I go with Don to the feeding programs, vaccination projects, Buhayin ang Maynila sorties (in support of Mayor Atienza’s prime project) – I go with him anywhere he goes."

The couple met in the States where Grace’s family resides. They fell in love at UCLA where Grace was also studying. "In fact," said Don, "I decided to also study at UCLA so I could be near her." When he came back to Manila, he wooed her by phone (twice a day) and through letters (at the rate of one a day). She eventually left her job and family and came home to be Mrs. Don Ramon Bagatsing.

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