RAK OF AEGIS: THE FLOOD THAT LED TO FORTUNE

By Dennis N. Marasigan

It all started as a joke.

Over some drinks, musician, Myke Salomon, told PETA (Philippine Educational Theater
Association) Artistic Director, Maribel Legarda, that another theater company was putting up a
local production of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages. Then he added, “We should have Rak of
Aegis.”
Something clicked in Legarda’s brain. Boom! “We’ll have it,” she said.
The songs of Aegis, a band that released its first album in 1998, were already staples on the
airwaves and in karaoke machines. Legarda recalls: “We talked to the management of Aegis,
explained to them what PETA was, and what we wanted to do. Ten minutes into the conversation,
they said ‘It’s yours. Anyway, we both support OPM (Original Pilipino Music)’.”
Award-winning playwright, Liza Magtoto, got the assignment to write a play that would use the
Aegis songs—a process that would take almost a year.
“I was not very familiar with the songs of Aegis,” Magtoto admits. “I listened to their songs every
day. I was overwhelmed. The feeling is different . May hugot talaga. (They really come from
someplace.)”
Magtoto got permission to tweak some of the lyrics, and she decided to situate the play in
perennially flooded Barangay Venizia.
When Legarda got hold of the script, she began to have doubts. “It was so jologs (streetwise). Can
we pull this off? “
But the initial hesitation gave way to a resolution. “I will push jologs to its highest form of kajologan.
It will be my homage.” And for Legarda to do so, the production “has to be real.”
The play was cast, rehearsals began, and Rak of Aegis was on its way to opening night.
Magtoto came to the PETA Theater Center midway through the first matinee and heard spirited
laughter coming from the audience. “They seemed to like it; they seemed to get it.”
In a matter of weeks, Rak of Aegis would be the talk of the town. Magtoto would often find herself
with various theater goers who would tell her that while watching shows by other theater
companies, talk would turn to PETA’s new musical.
Soon, audiences would come to the PETA Theater Center in droves. Some would watch the show
two or three times, if only to catch the performances of the alternating cast whose acting chops and
vocal prowess were also becoming conversation pieces. Soon after, other theater groups would
develop their own “jukebox musicals.”
When auditions were held for the first run of Rak of Aegis, Jerald Napoles could already be
considered a stage veteran and Pepe Herrera was a relative stage newbie who had just finished
working on a cruise ship.
Napoles had auditioned upon the prodding of Salomon, who had told him there was a role that
seemed right for him. Classically-trained Herrera came in wanting to go back to his rock roots.
Both were called back for the role of Kiel, the father of the leading female character, Aileen. Both
ended up playing the boatman, Tolits.
The role had relatively few lines in the script, but Napoles and Herrera jointly worked at creating a
role that quickly proved to be an audience favorite. Because of his stage experience, Napoles served
as acting coach to Herrera. Because of his musical training, Herrera became musical coach to
Napoles.
The role of Tolits became the darling of the crowd, and both Napoles and Herrera soon moved over
to regular roles in television and leading parts in films. A writer from GMA Network recommended
Napoles for a recurring character in a primetime soap. Herrera was picked out by then ABS-CBN
President Charo Santos Concio for a popular series in her station. Both have gone on to earn
recognitions and awards for their work, but they keep coming back to Rak .
“Whatever happened to our careers, we owe it to Rak of Aegis,” says Napoles. “Live performance is
incomparable,” says Herrera; “I am only so happy that I am still allowed to do Rak of Aegis, if only on
weekends.”
Aicelle Santos also auditioned for Rak of Aegis on Salomon’s suggestion. Having been bitten by the
theater bug while working on a production of the musical Katy, she was eager to do another theater
production.
“The audience response was overwhelming,” she remembers. Already a television regular, her role
in Rak opened the door for more projects for Santos, including her daily grind as the “Traffic Diva”
in a popular noontime show. “The producers saw that I could sing and act and do comedy in Rak of
Aegis”, Santos surmises as reasons why they hired her. More live performances were also offered to
her, often by those who had seen her in Rak, and, unsurprisingly, she gets asked to sing Aegis songs
at these gigs.
Salomon and Santos were the reasons Kim Molina was invited to audition for the second run of Rak
of Aegis. They had seen her in the chorus of a musical staged by another company, and thought that
she had what it takes to play Aileen. Auditions were already over by then, but they insisted that
Legarda meet Molina. They were right, as Molina’s Aileen ended up winning for her the Gawad
Buhay for Featured Performance in a Musical.
Rak of Aegis couldn’t have come at an opportune time, as Molina was almost about to give up
performing and look for other work while waiting to go back to school. She had already signed up
as a recording artist after winning in the World Competitions for the Performing Arts, but had only
been doing chorus roles in a number of musicals.
“Rak of Aegis was a blessing. I [can’t] keep count of the number of times I got cast for TV and films
simply because the directors saw me in Rak of Aegis,” Molina admits. The experience also gave

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Molina the chance to sing live on television, which give her parents (who are based in Saudi Arabia)
the chance to see their daughter perform. At the moment, a leading role in a film is in the works.
Rak of Aegis, now on its fifth (and, as announced, final) run, has seen many actors take on the
characters that populate Barangay Venizia. “We started with fourteen actors; now it’s really a
whole barangay,” says Legarda.
One of the relative newcomers to the show is Vince Lim, who alternates in the role of Kenny. But
Lim is happy to be in the show for a significantly different reason: it gives him a chance to work
alongside Gold Villar.
Villar, a PETA member since her student days, was part of the ensemble in the original production
of Rak of Aegis. Lim had seen Villar in the show and they finally met through common friends. It
was not too long before they became an item, and parents to what the production calls a “Rak
baby.” “Perhaps it was my being around Gold in PETA during ‘Three Stars and a Sun’ that made
them invite me to audition.”
With both of them in Rak of Aegis, it is not unusual for Lim and Villar to bring home with them
work-related discussions. “I think it makes us grow even closer,” says Lim. Amidst the almost
daily performances, the two are now preparing for their wedding.
No one seems to accept that this run will be see the final bow for Rak of Aegis. Even now,
preparations for the 50th anniversary of PETA in 2017 are already underway. “PETA is not only
about the productions, and we will be focusing on all the other aspects of our work,” says Legarda.
Hopefully, PETA will be able to come up with a recording of music from its plays, a thanksgiving
concert, a Festival of Windows that will bring together various groups and partners, and an
immersive experience in Fort Santiago, home to PETA for a number of decades.
The actors are one in saying the end of Rak won’t be the end of their relationship with theater. As
Herrera puts it, “We have been lucky to reach many people through Rak of Aegis. We hope and pray
that we can continue reaching even more in the future.” Magtoto is working on another jukebox
musical. She has no regrets being known as the writer of “Rak of Aegis.” While she is glad that Rak
seems to have opened the eyes of many people to the possibilities of original Filipino theater
material, she hopes that the audience response to musicals also gets carried over to straight plays.
For PETA, Legarda and Magtoto, Rak of Aegis was a new experience not without obstacles. Early in
the production, criticisms were raised against having real water in the show. Legarda stood her
ground, and the flooding of the village turned out to be a highlight of the show. “That was part of the
magic,” recalls Magtoto.
Quite like the residents of Barangay Venizia, everyone involved in the production persevered and
proved to be resilient. “Perhaps that is what we should always remember,” says Magtoto; “that we
must dare to believe, always dare something new.”

Published in MVNDO Magazine, Issue No. 1 (August 2016), pp. 38-47.