Virgilio Petchellier, otherwise known to most Ilonggos as “Pirot”, was born on October 6, 1954 in Brgy. Pontoc, Lemery to Mr. Ignacio and Teresita Petchellier. Both of his parents had farming as their source of income. During the interview, Pirot shares that he has probably inherited his talent from his father who knew how to play a guitar and was a “haranista” during his time.
Pirot went to school up to fourth grade level in Buenavista Elementary School. He was married to Consejo Jaula-Petchellier and had seven children, namely: Reggie, Lizle, Mary Ann, Gilbert, Jachel, Divine Grace and Joven. In 1994, Pirot sung in duet with his eldest son, Reggie and in 2011 with his youngest son, Joven.
He was recognized as a Pinoy Icon Awardee in 2010 and had guested in several radio stations such as Bombo Radio, Aksyon Radio and DY FM. He was also featured in ABS-CBN and GMA.
Pirot is now living in Brgy. Caranas, Janiuay, Iloilo. He grows different crops and raises pigs, chickens and ducks for his livelihood. Recently, he is composing Christian songs and all of which are still unpublished.
The composing of native songs was already a part of our Ilonggo culture that was passed down from generations before us by our ancestors. Such an example was banggi-anay which was popularly played by adolescents especially when there was mourning of the dead. Its aim was to alleviate pain by providing some sort of entertainment through a debate or a dialogue between two people. The most popular topic on banggi-anay was about courtship.
Another example is the komposo, a song that usually has a moral lesson or advice for the younger generation from the adults. Most of the topics are about vices and addiction that would eventually lead the young ones astray from the values that were taught by their parents. Although this was practiced for many decades, there was no actual proof because komposo was only passed by mouth from generations to generations. During the interview with Pirot, he shared that most of his songs were from his forefathers that were passed down to him.
Also an example of native songs was lowa, a short verse mostly composed of four lines and has a rhythm. It was also intended for entertainment and was light and comical in nature. There are no limits regarding the topic of composing lowa.
Some of Pirot’s songs deal with historical facts regarding stories about Panay. One of which is the story of ten Bornean datus who settled in Panay after buying the land in exchange for a golden salakot and a long pearl necklace which was said to touch the ground. There were also two other songs about the history of places in Panay, namely: Guimaras and Barotac.
Most of the songs composed by Pirot were love stories that were either unrequited or unreciprocated. These love songs expressively describe the pain of rejection, the frustration of never being loved back by the person that he had sent his love to and the longing emotion for someone that he loved yet he could only watch from afar.
There were also songs that were about the real life scenario in the barrios and provinces. These songs vividly tell about the poverty experienced by people living in areas that are far from urbanization: the clothes they wear, the kind of food that eat, the houses they live in, their life at school, the rough road they tread on in going to school and their day-to-day struggle in earning a livelihood.
It is important to patronize these Ilonggo songs because we could learn a lot from them such as traditions and beliefs of our ancestors. These songs also encourage us to use and be proud of our native tongue, Hiligaynon.
Knowing that these native songs, which are unpopular to the contemporary times and are declining in the music industry, it is imperative that the government should help in promoting Ilonggo songs. One of the suggestions is utilizing these songs in teaching children under the K-12 Education Program the use of our mothertongue which is Hiligaynon.
There is also a need to help the native Ilonggo singers like Pirot in form of financial support. During the interview, he shares that he stopped singing and composing due to the financial constraint in reproducing CDs. His songs were pirated and the original ones weren’t as sold out as he hoped since the pirated copies are cheaper.
He has sung over a hundred songs and most of these songs were passed down from his ancestors which were known as “komposo” (composition that are usually about history or events), “lowa”(short rhyming verse intended for entertainment purposes)and “banggi-anay”(a dialogue on a certain topic, mostly on courtship). His first ever original composition was entitled “Kaanugon” while his favorite one is “Ako ang Namunit”.
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