MANILA, Philippines?Street protests in the years leading to Edsa 1 found a musical rallying symbol in Freddie Aguilar?s stirring cover of the patriotic folk song, ?Bayan Ko.?

At the height of Edsa 2, Ramon Jacinto played ?60s rock ?n? roll that parodied an ex-President?s crimes to the tune of ?Wooly Bully?: ?Huling-huli...?

In today?s demos, the invited performers howl with the fury of punk and metal.

The recent student-led rally at Liwasang Bonifacio featured edgy rock bands performing original material that captured the spectators? antigovernment sentiments.

There were exceptions to the noise, though, like ?70s folk singer-songwriter Jess Santiago, whose song, ?Salot? was contemplative, yet powerful in its metaphor of an evil virus spreading through Philippine society; and the college chorales that sang the usual marching agit-prop pieces.

The speeches tended to bore because a number of the speakers discussed the same stuff that was coming out of everybody?s ears. One of them, Joey de Venecia, was an actual embarrassment, fumbling with Balagtasan-style lines as he read from a codigo.

A few others were plain rabble-rousers who virtually goaded the people to revolt. The best of the lot focused on the youth?s crucial role in nation-building.

And as far as the youth was concerned, music was the tonic needed to digest all that rhetorical fire and brimstone.

It was a surprise to see former Put3Ska guitarist Arnold Morales performing with Music Front, which he formed after the Urban Bandits. He sang ?Nagpapapansin Pansinin? and ?No Future sa Pader??two tracks from the Bandits? classic 1985 album, ?Independence Day.?

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The lyrics, resonating with images of poverty and misery (?Makaapak ka ng daga??), and punctuated by disjointed punk lines (?F?you, sorry, goodbye...?), used to incite wild slam-dancing in concerts. This time, a few guys in the audience wearing punk attire merely sang along.

Overall, the crowd wore a blank expression, perhaps unfamiliar with the tunes and unimpressed with Morales, who looked uneasy, as he kept sticking his finger into his right ear.

Datu?s Tribe was a blast. Fronted by UP Los Baños alumnus and teacher Eric ?Cabring? Cabrera, the band launched a litany of tirades that spared no one. One of the songs, about Filipinos being fed like meat products to consumers around the world, was particularly stirring.

Cabrera?s shrill vocals upped the band?s screeching metal sound. Faces lit up, bodies twitched and many students were seen waving banners of their respective groups.

Cabrera concluded the set with a terse, ?Pabagsakin na ang rehimeng ito!?

The Jerks demonstrated that the most affecting songs were those that sometimes used satire. In the calypso-inspired ?Sayaw sa Bubog,? the lyrics recalled the euphoria of Edsa 1 and the painful frustration that followed it, with a cautionary reminder: ?Ang naglalakad ng tulog ? nauuntog ??

Chickoy Pura, the lead singer, still packed the vocal punch that fueled his legendary performances as a punk Mick Jagger?although now he has become a mean lead guitarist as well. His rendition of another original, ?Rage,? was vintage Clash and Bob Dylan.

Through those two songs, a motley group danced near the stage, waving banners and exhausting what was left of the day?s youthful energy.

Earlier, we had walked around the plaza, asking some of them what they liked about bands performing in rallies. All were convinced that music?especially by the Jerks, Datu?s Tribe and others such as the Wuds?helped make political gatherings more interesting and alive.