Danny Javier
Jojit Lorenzo
The Filipino singer’s passing was confirmed by his daughter Justine
Daniel “Danny” Javier, who is credited for coining the term Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and for being one-third of the legendary APO Hiking Society, has passed away at 75. His daughter Justine Javier Long shared the news on Facebook, as reported by GMA news.
She wrote that her father “never stopped fighting for what he loved, what he believed in and what he was passionate about.” Javier Long continued by saying his will and passion were intact when he left the world.
Javier’s fellow bandmates have since voiced their grief, with Boboy Garrovillo writing on his social media that he was “feeling the loss of an old faithful friend who knew what love is although sometimes it just doesn’t show.” He ended the post by saying that Javier lives on in his music.
Jim Paredes also expressed his grief over Javier’s passing in a phone interview with ABS-CBN. Paredes said he had recently spent time with his ailing bandmate, who was under intensive care.
Javier, along with Paredes and Garrovillo, made a pioneering mark on Filipino music history. APO Hiking Society had its early beginnings as a band in Ateneo de Manila High School. The group started as Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society. This was both a witty play on their high school’s acronym AMHS and an ironic yet cheeky nod to the national hero, who was paralyzed due to polio.
The band’s first break came when they played a “farewell” concert as they ended college, playing for their first citywide audience at Meralco Theatre. Since then, they have recorded 22 albums. They became the first Filipino artists to perform at Carnegie Hall and in a public concert in Saudia Arabia, as well as one of the first Filipino artists to record on a compact disc.
Their music became one of the anthems of the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. The lyrics to their song “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” are inscribed on the wall of Our Lady of Edsa Shrine, the monument which honors the historic movement.
Though the group officially disbanded over a decade ago, their youth anthems and love songs will continue to live on for generations, along with the memory of Danny Javier.
