Remembering Freddie Aguilar: His Hair, Hat, and Historic Hit

Way back in 1978, the Marcos government came up with measures to help the Philippine music industry, which was then dominated by foreign labels and also to bring local talent to the world stage.

- BABY A. GIL

The first move was the mandatory airplay of one Filipino recording every hour in all radio stations. The other was to put up the Popular Music Foundation. Its first project was the Metro Manila Pop Music competition where songwriters would vie for the grand prize of a million pesos.

With Imee Marcos as chairman, it was easy to get all of the local labels together to support the contest and all the entries. The first Metropop was held in 1978 and the winner was Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika by Ryan Cayabyab, interpreted by Hajji Alejandro.

Vic del Rosario Jr., president of Vicor Music Corporation, had his eyes and ears on another finalist, Anak by Freddie Aguilar. He picked up Anak