TYBOX: Songs from Budoy aka Original Sigbin

MindaNews / 13 December – When news broke out that Cebu reggae-dub musician Budoy Marabiles died on December 4, I always thought he would have lived forever like the sigbin.

He is going to live forever. His songs, his version of Visayan reggae, of life, lore and lyrics of sigbin, lumay, Buwad, Suka, Sili.

Mention Cebu and he comes to my mind, along with Sinulog, Santo Niño, Lapu-Lapu vanquishing Magellan, the radio comedic duo Teban & Golyat, Bisaya poetry, Yoyoy Villame.

Cebu is Queen of the South, the treasure trove of language, rhythms, humor, and Budoy embodied that in his songs.

I discovered Budoy in 2004 through the CD Island Riddims, the compilation of reggae-dub-ska musicians, mostly based in Visayas and Mindanao. Budoy was frontman of the band Junior Kilat, and their song Original Sigbin got me tickled with these lyrics:

kon molakaw magtuad
abtik molayat, kusog molupad
moabante pina-backward
moatras pina-forward

The rest of the song is wordplay, describing the sigbin through our fears (kon takdol, ang kanahan magsuroysuroy sa dalan) and adventure (nangadto mi sa langob aron ang sigbin sikopon). This is my favorite song from Budoy.

There’s another song in that compilation, K-Fyne, that captures the culture and language revolving around cellphones, and this was still the pre-android era. “Escobido bido where are you? Escobido bido unsay ayo?”

The following year in 2005, their song Ako si M-16 won Song of the Year at the NU Rock Awards in 2005. I still don’t get it how that song won, but what matters is Junior Kilat, Budoy’s eccentric stage presence, Cebu reggae, all conquered Pinoy rock that year. Try to search for that video of Junior Kilat and Radioactive Sago Project doing a mashup of their songs M-16 and Astro, it’s the wildest performance from Budoy and Lourd de Veyra, great spoken word artists, ripping up the violent Pinoy culture of cigarettes, machismo and warlordism.

  Buy-one take-one kung walay gyera
  Presyo times two kung election o kudeta

  Bratatatatatatatatatatatatat!

Four years later, the country was rocked by the most violent election-related murder in Ampatuan.

Another popular song is Suyop, which narrates the spiraling habit of substance addiction. It’s dangerous territory for a song, but its wordplay digs in.

Sudyop diri, suyop dadto, 
Baligya resibo, cellphone ug relo, karsones, electric fan mga gamit made in japan, 
singsing ni tatay areyos ni nanay  gipalo-gipalo aron lang maka-lanay
Sungkod ni lolo, lola pustiso
Batireya sa auto apil na ang stereo
Cge lag jaming-jaming

Years after, Budoy left Junior Kilat, but his appearances and Visayan artists performing their songs still show their place in the reggae music scene.

Last September 15, Budoy performed at the anti-corruption rally held in UP Cebu, his alma mater (he’s a fine arts major). His song Kawatan, struck a chord with its indictment of the cycle of corruption which rocked the house.

Mata’g buwan atong sweldo kaltasan
Gibayad nga buwis ato mang gihagoan
Apan gikawat ra diay sa mga kanahan

That was perhaps the last time everyone saw Budoy perform. But that will be remembered. How his songs always strike us in the most timely moments. How he embraced the core of reggae as music of social awareness, mixed with Visayan vibe and wit.

Sige bye, sige go, lobatt najud ko – K-Fyne

The Original Sigbin has gone to the skies. Salamat sa mga awit ug adventure, Budoy

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Tyrone A. Velez is a freelance journalist and writer.)