APO HIKING SOCIETY -The 

Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, later popularly known as APO

Hiking Society, or simply APO, was a Filipino musical group.[2] The group had its fledgling
beginnings in 1969 at the Ateneo de Manila high school, with fourteen members:[2] Lito de Joya,
Sonny Santiago, Gus Cosio, Renato Garcia, Chito Kintanar, Kenny Barton, Bruce Brown, Butch
Dans, Kinjo Sawada, Ric Segreto, Goff Macaraeg, Doden Besa, Jim Paredes, and Boboy Garovillo.
The group's name was created from the acronym AMHS representing their school with a witty twist
having an irreverent reference to the paralyzed Philippine revolutionary intellectual and
hero, Apolinario Mabini, and later shortened to "Apo", an Ilocano term for a wise man or
a Tagalog term of grandchildren, and later re-branded to "APO" (all caps). Contrary to popular belief,
the "Apo" name was not a reference to the Philippines's highest peak, thepotentially-
active stratovolcano Mount Apo.

As the students advanced into college, Danny Javier joined the group. After graduation, the majority
of its members left to pursue individual careers, with only three members remaining, [3] made up of
Jim Paredes, Boboy Garovillo and Danny Javier. [4]

In the span of their professional career, Apo emerged as a principal adherent of the musical
movement termed Original Pilipino Music (a.k.a. OPM), a milieu in which their original musical
contributions and cultural influence became essential. [3][5][6] The Apo became involved in record
production, talent management and organizing artists under the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-
aawit(O.P.M., acronym translation: "Organization of Philippine Singers/musicians" ). The group expanded its activities
into establishing and furthering the careers of new OPM artists in the Philippines.[6]

To date, the group has released 27 albums in four decades of its career. [7] Two hugely
successful tribute albums were produced in 2006 and 2007 by its management group, featuring
numerous young bands freshly reinterpreting Apo's expansive repertoire.

The group frequently utilized their brand name, "Apo," as a clever component for Tagalog puns in
titles for television shows, live programs and marketing materials, for example, as in nA PO, which
transliterates as "already" (polite/formal usage), and also as apó(meaning, "grandchild"). The puns
have been minimally extended into English, as in (APOcalyptic
Joey Ayala (born José Íñigo Homer Lacambra Ayala; 1 June 1956, Bukidnon, Philippines) is a
Filipino singer, songwriter and former chairman of the music committee of the National Commission
for Culture and the Arts. He is well known for his style of musicthat combines the sounds
of Filipino ethnic instruments with modern pop music. His public music life started when he released
an album recorded in a makeshift-studio in 1982 in Davao City. To date, he has released fourteen
albums. He is the brother of singer-songwriter Cynthia Alexander.

Some of the Filipino ethnic instruments Ayala is known to use include the two-stringed Hegalong of
the T'Boli people of Mindanao, the Kubing, the bamboo jaw harp found in various forms throughout
the Philippines, and the 8-piece gong set, Kulintang, the melodical gong-rack of the indigenous
peoples of the southern part of the country. He also uses modern instruments in his music, such as
the electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer/sequencer and drums.

The name of his band "Bagong Lumad" literally means "New Native" - a name and philosophy that
has been carried over into Bagong Lumad Artists Foundation, Inc. (www.blafi.org), now a UNDP
Responsible Party working on SiningBayan (Social Artistry) capacity-building projects with the Civil
Service Commission, the Department of Education, and other GOs and NGOs in the Philippines. He
served as the (2008–10) Chairman and Vice-Chairman (2011–13) of the National Committee on
Music under theNational Commission for Culture and the Arts.[citation needed]

In 2013, Ayala entered the second Philippine Popular Music Festival as a composer and interpreter
for the song called "Papel" where it was named as one the twelve finalists. The song features
collaborations with rapper Gloc-9 and guest vocals of Denise Barbacena.[1][2] He previously
participated in 2012 as an interpreter for the song "Piso" written by Kristofferson Melecio.

In 2014, Joey Ayala was featured in the BBC Travel show episode for Philippines. [3]
ART and CULTURE are outcomes of the interaction between people and their environment/reality.  Art and culture also
become part of other people’s environment/reality.
 
If there is blasphemous art, ask what is in the artist’s environment/reality that triggers such
blasphemy.  Ask also what it is in the offended party’s environment/reality that causes that party
to take offense.  Dare to ask: if there were no “spiritual authority,” would there be blasphemy?  If
a Supreme Being exists independently of authority, do we need interpreters for that Being?  Does
that Being need protection?  What is Blasphemy?
 
If there is corruption in high places, ask what is in the corrupt person’s environment/reality that
triggers corrupt deeds.  Ask also what it is in the offended party’s environment/reality that
caused that party to take offense.  Dare to ask: if there were no such thing as “public money,”
would there be corruption?

If my child does not agree with my set of values and principles, ask what is in the child’s
environment/reality that triggers such disagreement.  Ask also what it is in my
environment/reality that causes me to take offense.  Dare to ask: do I expect my child to think
and feel the way I do?
  -------------------------------
INTENTIONS are not crimes.  Normally, one cannot be imprisoned for intentions, only for
ACTS.  Intentions can be GUESSED AT and CRITICIZED but this is all noise.  What is the
actual ACT?
 
When someone does something that offends me, I ask if that was the intent.  Does a thief steal in
order to offend me?  Or is the offense I feel an effect of the loss of something I value?
 
When someone vandalizes an icon sacred to me, did the vandal intend to offend me?  Or is the
offense the effect of knowing that what I value is not valued in the same way by everyone?
 
If an offense taken is PURELY INTERNAL – meaning, emotional and mental, with no damage
to property, life or limb – what is the crime?  What is the loss?  Reputation?  Credibility?
Authority?  Peace of mind?  Who is responsible for such inner states?  What external
transactions are affected?  Will I lose business?
  -------------------------------
(Note that people do SHARE an internal reality – this is basically what CULTURE is, a shared
internal reality or interpretation of external realities that manifests as attitudes, norms, morals,
laws, and material creations such as art and tools.  This sharing can be so rooted that people
come to believe this as factual, true, and unarguably good. 
 
But it is not necessarily so.  Not all things in a culture are productive or beneficial.  In fact, many
things in a given culture are counter-productive.  Dare to ask: what in my culture is counter-
productive?)
  -------------------------------
COMMUNICATION MEDIA frame and amplify selected parts of reality.  Dare to ask: if media
did not expose something, how much outrage would there be?  Dare to ask: what is the intent of
media organizations?  If I do something stupid and this is captured and broadcast by media, who
benefits from the amplified stupidity?
  -------------------------------
FREEDOM is a strange concept.  Freedom from what?  All thoughts and acts have natural
consequences.  Are these consequences what I wish to be free of?
 
If something I do offends another, even if that is not my intent, would I be free of their outrage?
 
If I steal food to feed a hungry child, even if it is an inhumane society I live in that allows such
inequity to exist, would I be free from persecution by that unjust society’s police?
 
If I offend an authority’s sense of authority, would I be free from that authority’s reaction?
 
It seems that REAL freedom from anything depends on my possessing the POWER to enforce
the desired “freedom”.
 
Do I have the POWER to enforce my “freedom” or do I need another “authority” to enforce it for
me?
 
To accept an authority is to invest my personal power in that authority.  Dare to ask: what
authorities do I really need?  What authorities or institutions do I need to enforce the freedoms I
cannot enforce myself?  Dare to ask: what personal powers do I have to enforce my personal
freedoms?
 
Dare to ask: what freedoms do I want to enact that may be taken as offenses by other people? 
Can I live with their reactions?  Do they have the power to make my life miserable?  What can I
do about that?

Steve Jobs’ Last Words:

Nakamit ko ang ituktok ng tagumpay sa mundo ng pagnenegosyo. Sa paningin ng iba, ang buhay ko
ay ehemplo ng isang tagumpay.
Gayonpaman, bukod sa trabaho, may munti akong kaligayahan. Sa huli, ang yaman ay isang
katotohanan sa buhay na aking nang nakasanayan.
Sa puntong ito, habang nakaratay sa sakit at binabalikan ang naging buong buhay ko, napagtanto
kong ang lahat ng karangalan at yaman na aking ipinagmamalaki, ay nangagsikupas at nawalan ng
saysay sa harap ng naghihintay na kamatayan.
Sa gitna ng kadiliman, tiningnan ko ang berdeng ilaw mula sa makinang nagdurugtong ng buhay at
narinig ko ang haginit ng mekanikal na tunog, nararamdaman ko ang papalapit na papalapit na
hininga ng kamatayan.
Ngayon ko napag-isipan, kapag nakuha na natin ang sapat na yaman upang tayo ay mabuhay,
kailangan nating gawin ang mas mahahalagang bagay na walang kaugnayan sa kayamanan.
Maaaring mga bagay na higit na mas mahahalaga:
Maaaring relasyon, maaaring sining, maaaring isang pangarap mulang pagkabata...
Ang walang tigil na paghahangad sa yaman ay nagiging dahilan ng pagkabaliw ng tao tulad ko.
Pinagkalooban tayo nga Diyos na mga pandama nang ating madama ang pag-ibig sa bawat isa,
hindi ang kahibangang dulot ng kayamanan.
Ang kayamanang aking pinagwagian ay hindi ko madadala.
Ang tanging madadala ko lamang ay mga alaala na dulot ng pag-ibig.
Ito ang tunay na kayamanan na susunod sa iyo, sasamahan ka, na magbibigay sa iyo ng lakas at
tanglaw upang magpatuloy.
Ang pag-ibig ay makapaglalakbay nang milya-milya. Walang takda ang buhay. Makapupunta ka
saan mo man nais. Abutin ang ituktok ng nais mong maabot. Lahat ito ay nasa iyong puso at mga
kamay.
Ano ang pinakamahal na kama sa mundo?-"kama ng mga maysakit"...
Maaari kang umupa ng tao magmamaneho para sa iyo, kumita na salapi para sa iyo ngunit hindi ka
makauupa ng isang tao na aako ng sakit para sa iyo.
Ang mga materyal na bagay na nawala ay makikitang muli. Pero may isang bagay na hinding-hindi
mo na muling makikita kapag nawala - "Buhay".
Kapag ang isang tao ay ipinapasok sa operating room, maalala niya ang isang aklat na kailangang
niyang matapos basahin -- "Aklat ng Isang Mabungang Buhay".
Nasaan man tayong estado ng buhay ngayon, sa tamang panahon, haharapin natin ang huling araw
na ibababa na ang tabing.
Ipagpasalamat ang pag-ibig para sa pamilya, pag-ibig sa asawa, pag-ibig sa mga kaibigan...
Ituring nang mabuti ang sarili. Ikatuwa ang ibang tao.
Salin sa wikang Filipino ni Genaro R. Gojo Cruz
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