The Philippine Online Chronicles

It boggles my mind why a lawyer, a UP Law and Harvard Law alumni at that, allowed his campaign team to infringe the rights of singer-songwriter Rico Blanco when they used “Posible” for his tv ad. It’s even more of a mystery why Gilberto Teodoro hasn’t pulled the ad off the air despite the controversy. Here is his answer when we posited the issue during blogwatch.ph’s “Coffee Chat with Presidential Candidates: Gilberto Teodoro” yesterday.

In short, Mr. Teodoro said he was surprised when it became an issue and that he will pull out the ad if his campaign team couldn’t reach a fair settlement with Rico Blanco.

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The jingle’s composer came out with a statement in defense of Gibo.

I was recently tasked to score the music for a Gibo Teodoro TV material. Given a free hand to use whatever music (existing or original) I want… I opted to go OPM.

I didn’t use any of my songs cause parang hindi bagay (Bongga ka, Gibo… Behhh buti nga, Gibo… O lumapit ka, Gibo... Ikaw ang Miss Universe… Manila Manila, Gibo... B.A.D.A.F Forever... forget it!!!!)

Why OPM? Primarily because Original Pinoy Music always gives a TVC a refreshing new dimension, a big lift (as was my recent exhilarating experience with the Bongbong & Loren spots).

But, more importantly, OPM needs every push it can get. (Especially if you'd stop and realize that Piolo Pascual & Willie Revillame are slugging it out for top spot in the nation's Top 10 songs!)

I chose a gem I heard extensively during the SEA Games in Manila a few years back. The song was "Posible"…  and I tracked down the artists and the publisher through my Viva friends. I had the paperwork prepared, the details spelled out… and paid the agreed-upon license fees (being a composer myself – I tend to get charged cheaper and the savings are always passed on to clients. Friend's price!).

I recorded the tune with the intention of staying faithful to the inspiring spirit of the song – with just one, solitary lyric change ‘Gibo’ instead of ‘Laban’.

Everyone involved was happy with the results. The music, though merely there for setting the mood, was a great fit.

However when the TVC aired…  a million speculations and conspiracy theories were hatched.

Each one – wrong.

No. The song was not illegally used. (I’m one of the staunchest defenders of Intellectual Property Rights – and will fight for its enforcement… patayan kung patayan.)

No. The song was not created to make it appear the band was endorsing the candidate.

No. We didn't hire a sound-alike to fool people. (The singer is one of my in-house talents who NEVER mimics other voices)

No. Gibo was not ignorant of IPR laws. (A trusting soul… Gibo left things up to me – showing a complete faith in my judgment, in my knowledge of how to be fair to my fellow musicians and songwriters… and in my inherent desire to always be on the side of Original Pinoy Music.)

I relayed all these points to uber talented Rico Blanco (legendary front man/creative guru of Rivermaya) who had been bombarded by tweets that mostly peddled innuendos. He listened and showed appreciation for the facts… and the truth.

I just wish the dirty tricks people of Gibo’s opponents can be as sensible as Rico and stop mining this non-issue to death…

The above is taken from Dennis Garcia’s Facebook post.

A bit of a backgrounder. Rico Blanco is the former frontman of Rivermaya and he composed “Posible”  when he was still in the band. Blanco left the band to pursue a solo career and Rivermaya is currently in a legal battle with their former manager, Lizza G. Nakpil, over the rights of the songs and the band name.

Warner Music Philippines Artist Management released a statement in behalf of Rico Blanco:

Napkil registered the song with the National Library as owner and publisher of the song last September 24, 2009, the same date she received IPO’s letter stating that Intellectual Property on Rivermaya is pending.

From Rivermaya’s Official Facebook Page

The Intellectual Property Code (IPR) of the Philippines states the following:

178.2. In the case of works of joint authorship, the co-authors shall be the original owners of the copyright and in the absence of agreement, their rights shall be governed by the rules on co-ownership. If, however, a work of joint authorship consists of parts that can be used separately and the author of each part can be identified, the author of each part shall be the original owner of the copyright in the part that he has created;

178.3. In the case of work created by an author during and in the course of his employment, the copyright shall belong to:

(a) The employee, if the creation of the object of copyright is not a part of his regular duties even if the employee uses the time, facilities and materials of the employer.

(b) The employer, if the work is the result of the performance of his regularly-assigned duties, unless there is an agreement, express or implied, to the contrary. From http://www.chanrobles.com/legal7copyright.htm

We do not know what the contract between Rico Blanco and Lizza Nakpil says but how can Gibo Teodoro allow something questionable be used for his ad?  Ignorance of what his campaign team does is not an excuse and casts doubts as to his competency as a leader. He should stop using this recurring defense of “I didn’t know” (DND deliveries to Ampatuans, rubber boat fiasco) and own up to it instead of relying on advisors and fall guys. Now that he knows there is an issue, and a request has been issued by Blanco, why is his seal of approval still stamped on that ad? My guess is the reason for it is that the issue is giving him more airtime.

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During yesterday’s “Coffee Chat with Presidential Candidates: Gilberto Teodoro”, a camera crew from GMA News arrived at the venue and told Gibo's staff that they were from the gmanews.tv. The people of Blogwatch.ph were the ones who arranged the meeting with Mr. Teodoro but the interview ended before our alloted time because the presence of the crew added pressure to Gibo's schedule.  It is saddening to know that in addition to ruining our schedule , GMA News aired our story on Saksi without attribution. Blogwatch.ph and thepoc.net follows Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA-3.0 Philippines (Attribution, Noncommercial, Share-Alike) under the following conditions: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph.

Photo: “copyright” by , c/o Flickr. All Rights Reserved

Photo and video by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some Rights Reserved.