MANILA, Philippines - Dinagat Islands vice-governor Jade Ecleo would have been just another singer-politician wanting to get her feet wet in the business. Until a bombshell of an incident shocked her middle of last year.
It was the height of the campaign season. She was running for vice-governor with her mother as gubernatorial bet.
“My mom removed me from the (political) party and took someone in instead. They wanted block voting,” Jade recalls.
Unfazed, she ran as independent and won as vice-governor.
That storm in her life brought out the budding songwriter in Jade. She came up with the inspirational song Lumaban Ka, one of the 10 tracks in her album, Just Jade. It will be launched in two venues: Surigao Gym, Surigao City on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. and on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Metro Concert Bar in West Avenue, Quezon City.
“I wrote Lumaban because I know that no one can pull you down as long as you have faith in God and you’re doing the right thing,” says Jade. The song, she goes on, also advises people in dire straits and tells them that hard times are temporary.
Another composition, Tibok ng Puso, sees Jade shifting from inspirational to light and easy.
Jade the performer is just as flexible. The former Bayanihan dance troupe member and band vocalist would flit from one part of the stage to the other, engaging the audience with her movements.
“I don’t like singers who can’t dance. I get bored watching them,” she explains.
Jade allows for one exception though: Dingdong Avanzado, one of her guests in the show.
“He has a good voice,” is her reason for getting him to guest the second time around. The first was in her show last year.
But it’s her first time to share the stage with Jay-R, her other guest. The two share a passion not only for singing on stage. They turn into livewires on stage.
Jade and Jay-R will not only sing together, they also gave the hit song Reunited an R&B vibe in Just Jade.
The album, like Jade’s concert, will not only entertain. It will also help. Proceeds will go to JEV Foundation (JEV stands for Jade Ecleo-Villaroman) which helps the elderly and grants scholarships to Dinagat youth.
“My work as public official and performer complement each other,” observes Jade. “Politics gives me the connections which I can tap to sell tickets for my benefit shows.”
This is the other reason why Jade wants to try acting. It will not only show the talent she honed as a college student in La Consolacion College. It will widen the network of friends and acquaintance she can tap for her public service programs in Dinagat.
“I want to try character roles like the ones Cherry Pie Picache and Cherry Gil do,” Jade reveals.
Yes, showbiz and politics make good bedfellows, especially if, like Jade, you aim to please, not just your audience, but your constituents as well.