MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE 2) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit to the late music icon Francis Magalona in Malacańang on Wednesday.
Magalona?s wife, Pia, and their eight children accepted the medal and accompanying certificate from Arroyo at the Palace?s reception hall, after a video presentation which left some of the brood teary-eyed.
Arroyo also sought to have Magalona?s music, which promotes patriotism, played during the Independence Day celebrations on June 12.
?We still have to plan that...She [President] asked me who I?d like to interpret the songs, so we really have to sit down and think about that,? Pia told reporters after the ceremony.
?We?re very proud...It is just that he received this because he is really a great patriot of the Philippines,? she said.
The ?Master Rapper?s? widow said she was teary-eyed when she received the award because of the video tribute, which was shown earlier. The video was a slide show of family pictures and Magalona at work, with one of his biggest hits, ?Kaleidoscope World,? playing in the background.
Another hit, ?Cold Summer Nights,? filled the Palace hall during the ceremony.
Pia said their eldest daughter, Maxene, shed a tear during the presentation because she was close to her father.
?I think she?s very sensitive about her father?s loss because she was very close to him. I guess she tears up easily,? she said.
Also present at the awarding was the comedy trio Tito, Vic and Joey ? Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Vicente Sotto III, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon ? Magalona?s former co-hosts on the noontime show ?Eat Bulaga,? and the show?s producer, Malou Choa-Fagar of Television and production Exponents (TAPE).
It was Vic Sotto who announced Magalona?s passing on ?Eat Bulaga.?
Magalona, who pioneered rap music in the country and used the genre to promote nationalism, died of complications due to leukemia last March 6. He was 44.
