Rico Blanco niresbakan ng kampo ni Gibo

Sinagot ng kampo ni presidentiable Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro ang issue sa paggamit umano ng kantang Posible ng walang paalam sa kumanta at composer nitong si Rico Blanco. Ayon kay Mr. Dennis Garcia, ang gumawa ng Posible (political ad) ni Gibo, nagulat sila sa mga akusasyon ng rakista.

Ayon sa paliwanag ni Mr. Garcia na kilala sa paggawa ng mga ‘di malilimutang TV ads para sa mga pulitiko, hindi si Rico ang dapat maghabol dahil alam ng may hawak ng copyright ng kanta na si Ms. Lizza Nakpil ang tungkol dito.

“Recently, I was 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 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.

“The publisher turned out to be Ms. Lizza Nakpil. I had the paperwork prepared, the details spelled out… and paid the agreed-upon license fees (one of the perks of my being a composer is the fact that I tend to get charged much, much cheaper fees. Of course, 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 push for Original Pinoy Music.)

“Through my nephew Toti Dalmacion, head of Terno Records, I relayed all these points to Rico Blanco (front man/creative guru of Rivermaya) who was being bombarded by tweets that mostly peddled innuendos. He listened and showed appreciation for the facts… and the truth.

“I set a meeting with him on Jan. 6 to clear the air and correct any misconceptions. And he readily accepted. On the appointed date, he said there was no need to meet... that he knew there was no bad faith involved and that I should just inform his manage­ment team at Warner Music about the license.

“Not content with just a phone call, I took pains to have the license sent to Warner Music’s offices on Jan. 7 for their review. (This completely creates doubts about Warner Music’s assertion in their press releases on Jan. 8 and 9 that “all it would have taken was phone call” to fix the matter.)

“With the combative actions of Warner, I contacted Lizza to provide me with additional supporting papers for the song… which she did.

“I now wonder what motives are behind this whole episode. There was never an instance of bad faith. So why make a mountain out of a molehill? Why so many press releases? Why target Gibo ruthlessly?

“But what worries me more is the fact that this incident will needlessly scare candidates from using Original Pinoy Music for their campaigns,” paliwanag ni Mr. Garcia.

Umaasa sila na maglalabas ng apology si Rico at ang kanyang music label.

“ I also intend to file a case of piracy of my lyrics for the songs O Lumapit Ka and Ikaw Pa Rin which Warner Music brazenly used without remuneration and permission. Hey guys, practice what you preach,” pagtatapos ni Mr. Garcia sa isang e-mail na ipinadala ng isang taong malapit sa kanya.

Sa Twitter account ni Rico unang lumabas ang akusasyon tungkol sa paggamit umano ng kanyang kanta sa nasabing political na wala siyang kaalam-alam.

“I’d like to understand how can a presidentiable can overlook a simple matter such as intellectual property. Command responsibility.

“Even HS students ask permission from me if they want to use my songs for their school projects.

“To be fair, he is on my very short list. So I hope things get sorted out. He seems to be smart and all. But if you can’t run a good campaign how can you run a country?” sabi ni Rico sa kanyang Twitter account.

Pero kabaligtaran sa sinabi ni Rico ang kuwento ng mga taong nasa likod ng nasabing political ad.