In a scene in ‘Jingle Lang ang Pahina,’ filmmaker Chuck Escasa’s documentary on the late and lamented influential music publication, one of its writers, Juaniyo Arcellana, described teenage life during martial law in the Philippines: ‘Either mag-aktibista … mamundok ka, or another outlet is to become an artist, writer, guitarist.’
Those who gravitated to the second choice discovered Jingle Chordbook-Magazine. For at least two decades, from its first issue in 1970 till the early ’90s, Jingle was sought after by kids who learned to play the guitar through its list of songs with their corresponding chords. Others looked forward to laughing at the jokes on the Grin Page and reading the feature articles and record reviews.
Many writers who graced the pages of Jingle went on to pursue various careers in business, the academe, media, and other fields. But one of the few who stuck to chronicling the music scene was Tony Maghirang – who had maintained a column, Sound Sampler, on the pages of SoundStrip until his death on Sept. 21 of natural causes.
He was 71.
Maghirang – who finished Industrial Engineering at UP Diliman and also wrote extensively on computers and technology – would always be known to his readers as a music journalist.
SoundStrip asked six of Maghirang’s colleagues and friends to recall the times they spent with him.
Ces Rodriguez
Former Jingle managing editor
‘Tony got into Jingle via Bongga and Boquilla, our letters page. He impressed us enough to ask him to write, beginning with record reviews.
‘He famously gave a bangaw [the lowest] rating to Tommy Tanchanco’s [Chaos] album, ‘New Move for Error,’ which prompted Tommy to turn the bangaw into a pun he wore at gigs.
‘He also had a snit with the Apo [Hiking Society] when he called one of its albums either mediocre or middle of the road.
‘These were moments we would look back on and have a giggle over.
‘The thing with Tony is, he knew how to capture the scene as it was. He observed it but also conveyed the energy of the moment. Solidly. And he never stopped writing, exploring, baring his guts.
He was supposed to write a book about Pinoy punk for Jessica Zafra’s writing workshop. It got stalled because of [what he referred to as] ‘other irons in the fire.”
Edwin P. Sallan
SoundStrip editor and former Jingle contributing editor
‘Incredibly prolific, remarkably efficient. That pretty much sums up Tony’s storied career. Tony was the original short and sweet reviewer. Subconsciously, he was a big influence in the way many of us in Jingle, myself included, wrote our reviews and feature stories.’
‘One fellow reviewer, the equally late, great Didits Gonzalez, later came up with his own ‘fast and furious’ reviews after his Jingle stint. But I think Tony created the template. And he made it look so easy. What many other writers, myself included, can’t sum up in so many paragraphs, or even in a full article, Tony could do in just one to a few paragraphs.
‘That was his gift. That is what I will miss most about Tony Maghirang.’
Bernie Bagaman
Former San Miguel Corp. PR executive and Jingle contributing writer
”Di ako talaga punk fan, pero noong binigyan ni Tony ng angel [highest rating] yung Urban Bandits at Betrayed, bili naman ako. No future sa pader!!!’
Bert Sulat Jr.
Former University of the East PR executive and Jingle contributing writer
‘In the early years of Facebook in our Pinoy lives, I would often refer to him as Tony Toni Tone whenever his birthday came up. Genre-wise, that pop reference might have been ill-fitting, given his much heavier and less glammy preferences, but it was meant in the spirit of being a kindred soul in music appreciation.
‘More recently, in early 2022, he [gave] me a soft copy of his novel, ‘Ang Kagilagilalas na Makeup Artist (Karma Mo, Kakambal Mo!),’ to give it a read and provide thoughts. Not sure that I deserved the advance read, but it sure helped to keep me preoccupied, habang nakapila for some four wee hours para mai-register ang aking first-time voter na anak, back when social distancing and face-masking were still mandatory.
‘When that enjoyable, engrossing, and barreling odyssey of a novel saw print later on, I scored two copies, and Tony delivered the books himself and invited me to its launch.
‘Technically, I did not know him well enough, but in the brief and few dealings I’ve had with him, in person or through chats or his published writings and low-key damn-it opinions, [I felt that] he truly embraced the writer’s life, including its glorious loneliness…’
Jing Garcia
Current Manila Times Sunday IT editor and former Jingle contributing writer
‘When I was working at A2Z Records, sinita niya ako for playing Blue Monday too loud, kasi wala sina Ces at Leslie [David]. And I was alone with him in the shop. Coming from a man who reviews heavy metal records.’
The day Maghirang died, Garcia posted on Facebook: ‘He was my very first tech editor when I started contributing to PSICOM in the ’90s. That was really where my journey in tech journalism started. Tony was patient with me, especially with my very limited knowledge of tech in those early days of the internet.
‘When I came back to The Manila Times, Tony became one of my regular weekly tech columnists. He covered the enterprise side of tech like it was second nature to him.
‘Masaya kasama si Tony. Ang sarap kausap, lalo na pag music [ang topic]. He was one of the true-blue, legit rock journalists who really knew and understood the local music scene.’
Dinna Bellosillo-Sacris
Former Score Magazine contributing writer
‘While on break from college, I worked at The Shop, or A2Z, the record store Tony once co-owned with his Jingle cohorts [led by Ces Rodriguez]. He was already a favorite music critic then, [either] revered by readers who were delighted by his ‘angel’ reviews, [or hated] by displeased music fans who wanted to disembowel him over his ‘bangaw’ ratings.
‘Since then, he became Kuya Tony to me – one of three lifelong friends I would see whenever I am in Manila, long after going back to college, starting a family, working as a record label executive, and uprooting to Cebu.
‘Now my heart feels like it is getting pulled between two poles. I know I am going to grieve for a long time for this loss. Yet, it still doesn’t feel like goodbye to me, not just yet. But the realization is now sinking in.
‘I won’t get updates from him anymore on the goings-on in the local music scene, new artists and album recommendations, or movies and TV series to binge on, or jokes and puns pulled out of nowhere to cut the monotony of my uneventful days.
‘Ate Ces, Manny Espinola and I have lost one true friend. Over the phone a couple of months ago, Tony was suggesting that I write a music review. I told him I would do it once I could review a BTS album [in the style of Tony Maghirang.] Then a quick ‘he he!’ response from him.’
Tony Maghirang is survived by his wife Aurora, daughters Arianne and Arabelle, and son Arnel.