Florante: The quintessential Pinoy folk singer

In the '70s, as he was in the process of completing his maiden album “Mga Tula At Awitin Ni Florante,” the ponytailed folk singer, who initially went by the full name Florante de Leon, had pushed for his first written composition “Pinay” to be his signature song.

- BY TITO TALAO

That one would introduce him to a wider audience apart from his busking days when he belted out Beatles hits.

But the man who had a say in promotions at JEM Recording that time, a guy named Danny Javier - yes, that one - leaned toward another piece for top billing, a material with less shades of melancholy and a touch more of nationalism. The song? "Ako'y Pinoy."

Looking back, Florante says now, moments before he was to perform at My Brother's Mustache Bar in Quezon City, "Maraming maganda don. Iniinsist ko ung "Pinay." Kako, 'di bebenta yan (Ako'y Pinoy). Una, hindi love song. Tapos medyo nationalistic pa. Mali pala ako, kasi pumutok siya e. (I told them that other song will not sell because the public prefers love themes. I was wrong, as it turned out.)"

With an uplifting lullaby and heartfelt message advocating love of country and pride for the national language, the song was a smashing success upon its release in 1977 and launched Florante to stardom in the Pinoy folk scene.