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Philippines, 13 Sep 2025 |
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Florante: "Manny Pacquiao will only destroy himself in politics" By Granville Ampong PhilBoxing.com Tue, 01 Dec 2009  Brief notes - I had a wonderful night last Saturday sharing thoughts with one of the most admired singers-songwriters of the Philippines. As soon as the attendees of the concert left the venue after buying his CDs and having him signed his autographs on them respectively, I had to accompany this same man, along with his wife and youngest daughter to the parking lot. In his usual down-to-earth stance, Florante de Leon had just helped the Adventist University of the Philippines Alumni Association of North America's fund-raising campaign for the victims of typhoon "Ondoy" in the Philippines. His performance, along with some local talents, rekindled the hearts of both young and old at the White Memorial Church in Los Angeles, California. A man of genial disposition, Florante de Leon, popularly known simply as "Florante", who emerged as the early leading exponent of Pinoy folk-rock during DZRJ-AM radio boom in Manila in the 1970s, admonished Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao not to delve into politics. "Pacquiao can help the poor Filipinos even without getting into politics," said Florante when asked by this writer about his views of Pacquiao who is bent on running for an elective post this 2010 Philippine Elections. "He should just focus on his boxing career or simply retire from boxing." Conversely, "Manny Pacquiao will only destroy himself in politics and he will create disunity among the people," said Florante whose witty stage patter and memorable lyrics reveal a weathered and multi-talented performer, a “one-man-show” plucking his guitar. Florante is a Filipino folk singer, guitarist, songwriter. He is most famous for composing the hit ballad, "Handog" (translation: offering) and several other enduring modern Filipino songs, including "Ako'y Isang Pinoy" (translation: I am a Filipino), "Abakada" (translation: abc), "Digmaan" (translation: war) and "Pinay" (translation: Filipina). Other singers-songwriters in his wake during the emergence of OPM include Freddie Aquilar and Heber Bartolome. To view a part of his rendition, please click this link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/maharlikan/videos/1/ Top photo: Florante (R) with the author. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Granville Ampong.  |
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