U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, right, toast as they attend a state dinner at Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines, Monday, April 28, 2014. AP
MANILA, Philippines — What was going on with United States President Barack Obama?
Ask him about his first-ever visit to Manila and he’ll probably tell you about one unforgettable night at the Palace when he “jammed” with three Philippine Cabinet members audacious enough to perform live for their VIP guest.
All of that happened at last Monday’s state dinner during which there was clearly no shortage of professional performers, the likes of Apl.de.Ap, Leo Valdez, Bituin Escalante, Kuh Ledesma, and the Philippine Madrigal singers.
Enter the trio of Secretaries Florencio Abad, Jose Rene Almendras and Rogelio Singson, who belted out their no-holds-barred rendition of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 Motown classic, “What’s Going On?”
It’s one of Obama’s favorite songs (reportedly second on his iPod list), a deeply textured tune inspired initially by police brutality against black kids in the US.
Anyone among the celebrity singers in attendance could have done justice to Marvin Gaye. But Almendras said it was probably better to let the “non-pros” do it, if only to encourage Obama and his delegation to sing along.
“Baka mahiya kumanta kung mga professionals,” he told reporters.
And sing along they did throughout the brief performance. Almendras said Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, was so into it that her boss eventually gave her the microphone.
“Ang lakas ng boses n’ya. Sumisigaw s’ya sa ‘What’s Going On?’” he recalled.
Unlike him and Singson, Almendras said, Abad didn’t have to be coerced into performing, as could be gleaned from the short video clip posted online by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
Toward the end of the 1:56-minute clip, a voice was heard working the crowd asking, “Do you want to hear the President sing?” apparently referring to Obama. Mission accomplished because Obama was “actually singing along” during the performance.
Almendras said the idea of a Cabinet performance came Saturday night during a meeting with President Benigno Aquino III.
Obama, he said, “is known to be very informal… he’s very casual, so the discussion was [on] how do you make something different?”
Almendras noted that Filipino hosts were able to make Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak “sing” during a similar dinner hosted in his honor.
In the end, Almendras said, a member of the US delegation told him: “Of all the places that we’ve gone to, we really had fun here.”
In his speech during the state dinner, Obama described the Philippine welcome as “magnificent.”
“I’ve only been here one day but the kindness that you’ve shown me and the extraordinary hospitality that has been extended to us leaves us with very warm feelings and reflects, I think, the legendary spirit of the Filipino people,” he added.
RELATED STORIES
China assessing intent of Obama’s Asian tour
