Music, Murder, and Mystery in Manila
By COUSIN HOAGY
I had completely forgotten the concert. Once and a while, I think about the video and recordings made that night. It was GB Productions who pulled off the Reunion: Juan De La Cruz show. The producer's name was Edgar Gagay Bentain; hence, GB Productions. Sponsors included RJ Music City and their technical support.  I was focused on Pepe Smith, Mike Hanapol and Wally Gonzales and their music. The music that made martial law (Editor's note: that's circa 1972 for you young 'uns) go with a flow that made some of the stuff around us go-away. Instead of freaking out   on our human rights, we listened to the radio and everyone who was on that wavelength communicated.
Rock Radio was then owned by Ramon Jacinto and managed by Philippine Army colonels for almost a decade and a half. Juan dela Cruz shaped the scene with Pinoy Rock! The Colonels not familiar with the new music of the era, let the staff to its own devices.
   New music every week! Led Zep, Hendrix, Deep Purple and Steely Dan played into the Midnight curfew Hour. Bob Marley was introduced to Manila in an odd ironic manner. Muhammad Ali beat up Joe Frazier at Araneta Coliseum and Ferdinand ruled. And Himig Natin, made you cry, while Beep,Beep,  was funny.
I spoke a couple times to Gagay Bentain, during rehearsals and pre-show prep. A nice guy who was very anxious to succeed in the potential greatness of it all. He was someone that I had never run into in Manila's music scene. Unless he came from the showband circuit? A fan with the money to produce, convinced he could pull it off. JDLC had a magnetism as the band faded and reappeared as the first Hall of Fame awardees in the early NU Rock Awards. They had by now become certified Icons. The band could draw investors to let them fly again. And Edgar Gagay Bentain looked like he had the money -lots of it.
Now does Edgar Bentain's name sound familiar?
He had disappeared after giving the press a video of Erap and company at the gaming tables of Manila's Casinos. Erap is in the hospital and Edgar is lost. Edgar was allegedly tortured and stuffed into a   drum that got tossed in the Pampanga River. Buried in silt and grey ash. Horror stories for any family. Recently his family thought they might find closure and have his body put to rest. Nothing came of the story. The mystery remains.
No video or audio ever surfaced commercially to the public.

Until 2001!!!
The event in 1998 was recorded in both video and on an Alesis ADAT 8-track digital audio recorder. Top engineer Jim Sarthou, formerly of the 70??s rock band Aunt Irma, was on the boards that night in March. Clear and digital! The past four years have not produced a Pagbabalik, video and concert. But copies do exist. The original tapes were edited and passed around. Worked on at this studio and that editing suite. Each time, someone had the chance to run off a copy. Essentially when Gagay disappeared, the concert masters went with him for all practical purposes. The buck had been stopped and killed. Officially, no one knows where they are? No one has the contracts. I often thought, his family should have benefited from the concert masters project he had lost millions of pesos on. I still think about Edgar Bentain losing his investment in recording Pinoy Rock's Juan de la Cruz and then losing his life over a grainy few meters of security film. Blurry overhead shots at the gaming tables.
The documenting of a Pinoy Rock legend and the other as part of an ugly page in Politics. The casino film on file and the concert film a mystery. Edgar had not even been given the chance to present his filmed contribution to the public. Not the silent film clip of Erap but a three hour concert of Pinoy Rock's most remembered band. But fate has its own course. Shakespeare or Baba Ram Das must have said that. People leave stuff for me all the time. The unsolicited mail I receive is varied. Letters, envelopes and music. Some asking for help, comments and many just a listen. Cassette demos are now CD   demos. This appeared on the floor outside my office one day in November, 2001. A dark blue double CD entitled, Pagabablik, it said. Para kay Gagay, superimposed over a 1998 photo of the Juan de la Cruz band. All Rights Reserved 2001, In Memory of Gagay, A Brother and A Friend. But no mention of a  recording company or distributor. Printed on each of the CD's is the JDLC carabao logo and engineered by Jim Sarthou.
What an experience to hear it all over again, some two and a half years later. You could never know there was hardly a soul there.  Then I heard that the reason it's not available on the market is because it is being sold in the Pinoy communities abroad? What a twist. But, why not here? Now here is a case where piracy hurts someone big time. The family of Gagay Bentain should be getting any money. Or at least the pirates should send them a check to the family of Edgar Gagay Bentain! It only seems like the right thing to do. Or whoever has the Concert video maybe give the Master or a copy to Edgar's family? Para kay Gagay?
Pepe Smith isn't happy about it either. No one is.
(Copyright 2002 Wayne Pardo "Cousin Hoagy")
this article first came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Philmusic.com
In 1998, Edgar Bentain was the producer who financed the Juan De La Cruz Reunion, Pagbabalik. His connection to the casinos and his daytime job were of little importance. Nothing to do with anything! In fact, Edgar had commissioned for the entire show to be filmed and digitally recorded on March 7, 1998. If the crowd was low volume, he'd make back his investment on the video and audio sales. There was no rampant piracy in 1998.
(L-R) Wally Gonzalez, Mike Hanopol, fan & Bob Magoo -2004