Two acclaimed Filipino bands are reminding Filipinos of the essence of public officials as the 2022 national and local elections near in a performance video.
In a performance video released on Thursday evening, Ben&Ben and SB19 made an important stand on issues concerning abuse of power and public service.
“Kapangyarihan” performance is currently the Top 11 video trending for music on YouTube since it was uploaded on Thursday evening. It has so far garnered more than 284,600 views.
The music video of two of the biggest names in the Original Pilipino Music industry was directed by Dexter Santos.
Santos said they used the intrinsic quality of theater to present “kapangyarihan.” The video likewise included snippets of historical context and stories that question leaders and call for a meaningful change.
“By infusing the music video with narrative, choreography, set, and costume design as well as video, we hope to deliver a sincere and emphatic performance,” Santos said.
“The audience is reminded that this is a performance – yet a call to action is demanded from them; that there are bigger and stronger issues that we have to address after watching the performance,” Ben&Ben said.
The release of the performance video came four days before the elections set May 9 where more than 60 million Filipinos will choose the country’s next leaders.
The nine-piece group said the visual narrative of the performance video is a “constant reminder that speaks to everyone involved in an election.”
“To those in power it’s a reminder that the root of what they should be doing is service to the public, and if there is an abuse of that power then truth shall always prevail, no matter how anyone tries to hide it,” Ben&Ben said.
“To the people it is a reminder not to put politicians on a pedestal, and that we must always hold those we elect accountable for their actions,” they added.
This is the second time Ben&Ben and SB19 collaborated on a track. Before “Kapangyarihan,” the two groups also worked on “MAPA (Band Version),” which has racked up more than 25 million streams on YouTube and Spotify combined.
Meanwhile, following its release, “Kapangyarihan” performance video trended on local online community with online users praising the video.
Some also noticed the historical relevance of the video.
“Them showing glimpses of what happened in the past just screams Never Forget our History. NEVER FORGET,” a Twitter user wrote with Philippine flag emoji.
They also lauded how it raised awareness on voting wisely on election day.
“This song is really timely and relevant [right now] that we have the power to choose, we don’t need to be fanatic of these politicians cause they’re the [ones] who need to serve us,” a Twitter user said.
The track “Kapangyarihan” can be streamed on all digital music platforms worldwide via Sony Music Philippines.
—Rosette Adel