Ben Zubiri's lasting legacy

If there's a search for the consummate Cebuano artist, whether from the past or present, the legendary Ben Zubiri can make it to the top of the heap. Ben Zubiri, who passed away nearly four decades ago, is immortalized by his invaluable contribution to Cebuano arts.

Zubiri during his heyday was often described in superlatives. For much of his professional career during the 50-60's era, Zubiri was viewed by many as the best-known and most popular radio entertainer in the Visayas and Mindanao.

On top of that was being hailed as a giant in Visayan music, especially with his enduring composition "Matud Nila," regarded to this day as one of Cebu's greatest masterpieces in the vernacular.

From his youth to adulthood, Zubiri, born Wenceslao Zubiri to a Spanish father and Filipina mother on September 28, 1911 in San Nicolas, Cebu City, was always known among friends and family as an unabashed lover of music, song and poetry. Even as a child, he was perpetually singing, humming or whistling a tune-a habit he would never break.

According to his family, before World War II broke, he became a regular fixture and consistent victor in amateur singing contests. Zubiri, just going by his mestizo good looks and towering height, was already hard to miss, but it would be his stylized singing that would secure the attention of Major Harris Fenton, then manager of KZRC, the pre-World War II predecessor of now DYRC radio station, signaling his entry into the world of showbiz. He would become a lead actor in Cebu's first Visayan talking movie and first Visayan top box office hit, "Bertold-Balodoy." Another movie role come in later years.

Under Major Fenton, he was said to have trained in composing songs-and during this time he would pen his first recorded composition, "Matud Nila (They Say)."

When he fell in love and married Luz Butalid after the end of the WWII and started a family, he redirected his energies towards directing radio plays and musical programs. His active radio work would soon after make way to the "inimitable" Iyo Karpo, a radio character whom an article dated in the 50s described as "the worldly-wise, earthly and garrulous old man of radio, who in an ancient, quivering and slightly graveled voice, lampoons, chides and counsels listeners…" Except, of course, the man who essayed the wizened Iyo Karpo with wisecracking flair was far from being a sexagenarian.

"Iyo Karpo" grew to become an institution, supplying bursts of hilarity to households across the Visayas and Mindanao, many thanks to exposure maximized in the free-wheeling advice program "Pangutan-a Ako" and the record-breaking "Purifico Amateur Hour." It was reported that when "Iyo Karpo" would take on the airwaves, 99.9 percent of radio owners would be tuned in to him!

While his singing career took a definitive pause, and the career in radio became his topmost priority, he, nevertheless, sustained the songwriting. His family has lost count of the number of songs Zubiri had written in his lifetime. Wife Luz, now 90 years old, told this writer that his mind was ever the workhorse; he would make songs even until he was in bed and ready to sleep. He was never formally trained in music, but he would play the piano by ear. To his dying day, he proved to be an indefatigable composer/writer. In fact, one of the mementos he had left behind included scribbles of many an unfinished poetry.

While the poignantly haunting love song "Matud Nila" achieved nationwide fame, after being interpreted and popularized by singers like Pilita Corales and even the former first lady Imelda Marcos, he came up with songs that equally bared his inherent sentimentality. He also wrote "Karon Ulahi Na," "Pagkatamis nga Handumon," "Ngano Bang Mipakita Ka" and "Ikaduhang Bathala," which he dedicated to his wife.

"Ben was very funny and sociable, but he was also romantic and serious," recalled Luz, a retired University of the Visayas teacher, adding that her late husband, a fan of the famous American crooner Bing Crosby, wooed her with songs.

According to Edwina, 54, the youngest of his five children (other siblings are Elnora, 68; Edna (deceased), Elvin, 59; and Eleanor, 57), her father would easily get emotional over things, including the troubles and tribulations of his listeners in "Pangutan-a Ako." Nevertheless, his being an incorrigible jokester would find its way to his songs as evidenced by "Pasayawa Ko Day," "Inday Mahimo Ba," among others.

She said her father was never after fame and fortune (he didn't want to sell his songs), in the same way, he worked for the love of it and not because of economic motivations (he was loyal to a single station despite tempting offers to pirate him). "I will always remember him as a very simple man even when his work could afford him some [luxuries] in life. He had a good work ethic; early to bed, early to rise. And he was a very good provider. Even if his job took him to the different parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, we always felt that his heart and mind were on us, his family."

Edwina added that her father's foremost concern was building a lasting legacy that he would leave behind to his family, fellow Cebuanos and country. Her most lasting memory of her father was one instance, when in the middle of playing the piano; he suddenly turned silent and pondered out loud that he finally had a legacy to leave the world. A few years after this episode, on November 9, 1969, Zubiri would pass away.

Like his unforgettable songs, his impact lingers to this day. On February 28 at the Casino Español de Cebu, Ben Zubiri will be honored as one of the recipients of the first ever Jose R. Gullas awards for attaining the "pinnacle of achievement." Achievement, it is said, can be measured in countless ways; and with Ben Zubiri, it was through a life well lived.