Marco Sison's Top 10 OPM favorites

He was 15 when he sang his first kundiman, a precursor to what is now known as OPM, or Original Pilipino Music.

- MOVIEGOER NESTOR CUARTERO

Marco Sison remembers the occasion quite well. It was for a singing competition among different schools in Laguna.

The song was 'Ang Barong Tagalog,' originally sung by Kundiman King, Ruben Tagalog. Then, as a high school student, he represented his hometown, Binan.

The young Marco, already a veteran of amateur contests in Binan and nearby towns since age 8, ran away with the championship title. It was to be a portent of more and better things to come.

Marco says he was initially hesitant to sing 'Ang Barong Tagalog,' which he found not quite in sync with his musical taste then. Like many emerging youths of the time, he was more partial to the love songs of Frank Sinatra and Mat Monro, his idols.

Besides, those were the songs his mother, Pacita, a former club singer, taught him at home. It helped that Marco had a bit of the nasal quality of balladeer Monro's voice, which would manifest more clearly as he grew older and learned new vocal techniques.