Readers of Skiverz, the date is March 6, 2009.

The Philippine music scene lost somebody great today.
Francis Magalona died a few hours ago after battling leukemia.
One of my earliest musical influences, Francis Magalona was a man I respected and looked up to when I was a kid.

I still remember the time when I heard his song screaming "Mga Kababayan Ko!" for the first time and right there and then, being only a little kid, I seemed to know how being patriotic could feel good.

No other man has changed the Filipino rap scene as much as Francis M.
He could rap in both Tagalog and English and showed us that hiphop could fuel a political sentiment among others.
It showed us that music could open eyes just like how Jose Rizal did with his writings.

Much respect to the Man from Manila.
I hope the Philippine hiphop scene will learn from these words of wisdom:
"Ang magka-away, ipagbati." (Let enemies have peace with each other.)

We love you man!
Thank you for helping change the Philippines one song at a time.