Ang Bagong Harana needs our support

MANILA, Philippines - Unlike so many young Filipinos today, I had the pleasure of experiencing — albeit vicariously — real, honest-to-goodness harana. Way back in my tween days, during our family summer vacations to Tayum, Abra, Cabugao, Ilocos Sur and Ifugao, Mountain Province, my older sisters Mareyca and Margot and cousin Jo, who were all teenagers at that time, were serenaded by the locals of the towns we visited. Harana was a dying tradition then and was said to have been reserved by the local swains of faraway provinces for visiting beautiful Manileñas.

I was so thrilled watching my elders giggling by the closed windows, listening to beautiful male voices accompanied by a guitar while singing love songs (with their accents, of course!). The girls would peep at the young men by the windowsill and if found interesting enough, would open the windows and let them in after a few more songs. If otherwise, the lasses would just let them sing on and on, feigning sleep, not to be disturbed, until the men would get tired and just leave. Unfortunately for me, when I became a teenager myself, the tradition was completely dead (or maybe I wasn’t meant to be flattered so?).  

It saddens me that the Filipino youth of this generation, who are bombarded with foreign tunes and games from their iPods and other hi-tech gadgets, are missing out on such wonderful, truly Filipino practices of old. Even more lamentable is that they seem to be completely clueless of our rich cultural heritage that includes beautiful kundimans (such as Gaano Kita Kamahal and Nasaan Ka Irog?) popularized by great Filipino singers like Ruben Tagalog and Diomedes Maturan, and even batang-kanto songs (Leron, Leron Sinta and Pen Pen de Sarapen) that my childhood barkada in Kamuning and I used to sing while resting from playing patintero, tumbang preso and piko in the streets, which were still very safe then.

Very much unlike our time (oh, my God, am I dating myself?), the kids today are much, much less familiar with Filipino music, spending hours and hours listening to songs popularized by Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. Quite unlike European kids who are immersed in their own culture with required museum visits and are acquainted with the artwork of their distinguished artist, our children would rather go to amusement parks and big malls for their field trips and would think that Botong Francisco is the name of a classmate’s driver. They would easily shell out P5,000 for a ticket to a concert of a foreign act (with the consequent export of much-needed foreign exchange) and yet would not let go of P1,000 for a world-class Philippine production, not realizing that the much smaller amount would certainly go a long way in putting food on a Filipino family’s dining table. Clearly, then, there is a strong need for us to inculcate love of country and protection of our culture in every Filipino.

This is the reason why all of us should be committed to supporting great Filipino productions, which as it is, do not stand a chance in head-to-head competition with giant foreign acts with their humongous budgets. This brings me to Ang Bagong Harana — a very beautiful production showcasing classic Filipino music and costumes. Produced by the Philippine Opera Company headed by the dedicated Karla Gutierrez and directed by the multi-awarded Floy Quintos, Ang Bagong Harana features top-caliber performers: Aizel Prietos, Charley Magalit, Janine Santos, Marian Santiago, Lawrence Jatayna, Jack Salud, Nazer Salcedo, Marvin Gayramon, Al Gatmaitan, Jurgen Unterberg, Floyd Tena and Karla Gutierrez herself, who all work passionately to resurrect immortal Filipino pieces now relegated to the baul, songs from different Filipino regions and Filipino songs from different music genres, so as to educate the Filipinos on the beauty of our music and cultural practices.

Ang Bagong Harana will not disappoint the nationalist in you. Aside from depicting love of country, it also imparts love for family and nature, the Filipino way. It gives a new lease of life to beautiful songs of yesteryears consigned to the dustbins of history, like Paki-usap, Anak Dalita, Hatinggabi, Kastilyong Buhangin, Sana’y Wala Ng Wakas, Sitsiritsit and Si Filimon. It integrates past and present, north and south, colonial and post-colonial Filipino experiences with re-arranged suites that showcase who we are as Filipinos and where we have all come from.

Contribute to the promotion and protection of our cultural heritage by watching Ang Bagong Harana with your children. Go see this world-class production and marvel once again at what it is to be Filipino.

(Ang Bagong Harana has a limited run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at 8 p.m., with a matinee show at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 1, at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. For details, call the Philippine Opera Company at 881-7168 or 091-5272880 or TicketWorld at 891-9999. Email author at [email protected] or text 0927-5000833.)