ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 28 March) — A song composed by locals to boost the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo is making a hit in Basilan.
Ahmed “Amin” Hataman, one of the 35 young leaders from Asia chosen to be part of the first cohort of the Ramon Magsaysay Transformative Leadership Institute’s NextGen Leadership Program in 2020, continues to draw a crowd by singing their campaign song for Robredo, titled “Rosas na Umaga,” since the start of the local election campaign on March 25.
Hataman, 21, who is gunning for a seat in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan under the Basilan Unity Party, is the eldest son of Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman and Isabela City Mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman, who are both seeking reelection.
”We wrote the song because we wanted to further support her campaign and because I wanted Basilan to contribute something as well, apart from the rally we had and other forms of support. A rallying cry, in a sense. I hoped the song would be that,” the younger Hataman said.
“Rosas na Umaga” drew a wild applause from the 45,000 crowd who attended Sahaya BasiLeniyo, the rally staged by Basileños on March 16 to support the candidacies of Robredo and her running mate, Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
Hataman co-composed the song with Khrystel Kate Beron, which can be rendered in four minutes. The maiden performance was accompanied by the Last Minute Band. Hataman sung the song while strumming the guitar.
The song inspires the person who looks at the horizon yet feels the warmth and joy upon the sight of the rays of the sun, Hataman said.
“The sunrise is a sign of better things to come,” he said. “When we see the light, and feel the warmth, it is then when we know it has arrived.”
Here’s the full lyrics:
Madaling masanay sa kadiliman
Kung saan lamig lang ang nararamdaman
Sa pait at lumbay na dinadanas
Tila ba nawawalan ng pag-asa
Oooh, wag munang bumigay
Oooh, wag munang sumuko
Chorus:
Kapag nasulyapan mo na ang abot-tanaw
At naramdaman mo na ang init at sigla
At kung makita mo ang liwanag ng pagsikat ng araw
Nandito na (nandito na)
ang rosas na umaga
At sa pagsapit ng bagong umaga
Umagang puno ng pag-asa
Hinding-hindi ka na mag-iisa
Hinding-hindi ka na mangangamba.
Oooh, wag nang mabahala
Oooh, liwanag ay andito na
(Repeat Chorus)
(Guitar solo)
Oooh, wag nang mabahala
Oooh, liwanag ay andito na
2x Chorus
At sa pagsapit ng bagong umaga
Umagang puno ng pag-asa
Hinding-hindi ka na mag-iisa
Hinding-hindi ka na mangangamba.
The young Hataman said: “We definitely wrote it as a more subtle Leni song. The lyrics have no explicit mention of her or her campaign.”
Mayor Hataman said that their son “has always been his own person.”
“He always struggle to build his own identity, separate from me and his amah (Mujiv). He never easily accepts facts and opinion from us simply because we are his parents. He’d engage us in debates and grill us with his queries. And he’d always ask for evidence, his mind being trained to think scientifically. If you can only hear their squabbles, him and Mujiv,” the mother said.
“His choice of candidates is purely his own. And when he composed a song for VP Leni Gerona Robredo , that’s when I knew he has put his whole heart in supporting her,” she added.
His parents earlier expressed their support to Robredo. (Frencie Carreon / MindaNews)
