THE PLIGHT OF DAVAO MUSICIANS

A Qualitative Research Paper Presented to Dr. Daisy Alburo

Of the University of Southeastern Philippines

Mintal, Davao City

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements in Qualitative Research Methods

Submitted By:

John Michael A. Entero

III-PA

1

Abstract

Musicians are involved in creating and/or performing music in a variety

of genres. They can be composers, instrumentalists and/or singers who

perform either in the studio or before a live audience. Some of them perform

to make a living some of them performs just for fun. Musicians may work on

their own, as freelance artists, in collaboration with others, or a group. As

they perform they tend to face such different plight in their career that would

greatly affect them, and shape them toward success. This paper unraveled

the plight of Davao musicians in their profession as a musician. It seeks to

answer what are the reason why they are experiencing a particular plight in

the music industry.

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INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Music is everywhere. When you’re watching TV, most likely the TV

shows and commercials have background music. Turning on a radio, you can

have nearly genre at the press of the button. Music is an important part of

our lives; it has so much effect on our emotions from making as calm and

relaxed to sad to happy and cheerful.

Being a musician is both a rewarding and challenging life, and it's

something that's difficult to understand for those who aren't involved in the

music world. Behind of the beats, tones and voices are those musicians who

play the instruments and performs a particular music. A musician is

responsible for making music, and preforming it to an audience in whatever

form they prefer. But despite of their talents musicians do also experienced

problems that could affect their lives, they keep on coping any plights that

they encounter for them to achieve their goals. Nevertheless, they are

struggling to survive from the plights that they are experiencing in the

profession that they love and valued the most.

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Statement of the problem

This study seeks to answers the following questions:

1. What are the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents in

terms of?

a.) Age

b.) Gender

c.) Civil status

2. Classification of their musical preference in terms of:

a.) What type of Instruments they usually play?

b.) What are their musical genres?

c.) what type of musical performer are they?

3. What are their plights as a musician?

4. What are their possible careers when they get old?

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study could be useful to the following:

Students could use this as a reference or reading material to have a

better understanding on the plight Davao Musicians.

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The Musicians could also make use of this as a source of information

on how to promote and raise awareness to the society of their musical

pieces.

To the Policy Makers this study could serve as basis for policy or

program formulation for the local artist and musician’s promotion that could

help retain our cultural entity by using the different results as basis to

intensify the support to our own music industry.

Scope and delimitations

The study is focused on the Plight of Davao Musicians. It aim to find out

what is the socio-demographic profile of the different participants including

the age, gender and civil status and the classifications of their preferences

including the instruments they play, type of their genre, type of performer

and their answers or the result of the questions asked to the participants.

The study covered selected Musicians and performer that are performing in

Davao City

Definition of terms

Audience - the assembled spectators or listeners at a public event,

such as a play, movie, concert, or meeting.

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Age- refer to the length of time existing or lived in this world, it also

refer to the maturity of the person. It also refers to the person who has the

ability to decide to have a better life. Ability to know what is right and wrong.

Gender- refer to the classification whether a male or female. It

indicates if it a boy or a girl.

Financially problem- a situation where money worries are causing

you stress. Many people are facing hard financial times and the impact on

mental health can be significant. These problems can seem impossible to

overcome, but you can get help and take steps to improve your situation.

Musicians- a person who writes, sings, or plays music.

Musicality- "sensitivity to, knowledge of, or talent for music" or "the

quality or state of being musical”, and is used to refer to specific if vaguely

defined qualities in pieces and/or genres of music, such as melodiousness

and harmoniousness.

Musical Preference- referring to music, whether style or piece, that

people like and choose to at any given moment.

Musical Genre- a conventional category that identifies some pieces of

music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be

distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice

these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

Plight- an unfortunate, difficult or precarious situation.

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Social bond - is the binding ties or social bonding to the family. Social

bond also includes social bonding to the school, to the workplace and to the

community.

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literatures and Studies

What is a musician?

Musicians is defined as the person who plays a musical instrument like

a guitar or a piano or a person that sings. (Wikipedia. Org, 2015)

People have always found music significant in their lives, whether for

enjoyment in listening, the emotional response, performing, or creating.

Music have immense worth for our society; however, the problem we all

know in this field is that this music is little known and hence

underappreciated. Musicians often like to talk about the time when they lose

their “day job”, they are open to the possibilities that they will not have a

permanent source of income. (Anna Windermere, 2015)

Some instances in America, Most of the musical performers plays in

different corporate events like, weddings, burials, birthdays and etc. to make

a living. And just like the doctor and salesman and barista and truck driver,

they work hard so that they could make money out of it.Money will be tight

initially, can correspond to losing their career as a musician and they could

have difficulties in sustaining their needs. (Hingham, 2015)7

According to (Adam Nyhan, 2012) Guitarist, Marketing and publicity is

also another important factor. Modern pop singers such as the guy who sang

Baby, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus might not necessarily be the

best singers even when compared to your average busker on the street, but

they have a very strong marketing factor that enables them to reach the

masses. Regardless of whether the masses like them or not, they have

successfully managed to capture the attention of a big audience,

subsequently aiding to their publicity.

On the other hand, according to an article authored by Kausahal, the

biggest challenge a budding musician, independent musician or any

musician for that matter faces is: getting an audience, you cannot go on

making music and just hope to get noticed out of nowhere. At the same time,

getting noticed doesn't guarantee that you have a stable group of followers

or audience that you can bank upon. (Kaushal, 2014)

An article authored by Silvestri entitled “5 reasons why bands break-up

states that one of the reasons of it is Creative Differences, In a romantic

relationship, someone may feel like he/she does not have much in common

anymore with his/her partner, and that they simply grown apart. A similar

scenario happens to many bands whose members want to go in different

directions with their music. Often this tends to be the case in manufactured

boy and girl bands. One Direction’s ex-member Zayn Malik has been

rumored to be recording material for a solo career, possibly following in the

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footsteps of N*SYNC’s Justin Timberlake. The Jonas Brothers broke up before

a scheduled world tour, and now Nick Jonas is pursuing his own solo career.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney struggled to maintain a unified vision for

The Beatles’ music as well. (Silvestri, 2015)

According to (Punches 2014) Depending on your area and type of

music you write, audiences can be non-existent. It is important to remember

that you don't have to change your music to gain an audience in an area,

just find another place that appreciates your particular sound.

On the other hand (Mattox, 2014) also cited that the biggest problem is

figuring out how best to connect their music to the people that would like

them and support them.

In connection, every artist needs a way to connect with their audience,

some musicians need to seek much needed advice on the subject of story-

telling and finding ways to create a lasting, deep, and meaningful connection

with fans who want to know you. Your music matters, but your story gives

your music even more power. Musicians should able to know what stories

people are looking for. Awesome voice and catchy melodies are actually

pretty much meaningless. Additionally, musical ability is the first thing you

must master on your way to becoming a professional musician. However, it

is the context with which your present music will give you the edge when it

comes to getting the gigs, fans, and attention you will need in order to

sustain your career. (Grassrootsy 2015)

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In the Philippines, According Original Pinoy Music Article (2013), the 4

main struggles of a Filipino musician today,are,making a viable business

around their art, live performances (finding performances and making money

from them) Promotion of their music and building an audience, Time

management & productivity.

Despite the growing clamor forthe local Philippine music industry,

which is located in Manila, is still skeptical in making investments. Some of

their major reasons include the language barrier, the still-small market, and

the demonization of regionalism in the Philippine Islands. (Vergara 2012),

The Philippines should take measures to protect its local artists and

further promote Filipino music, the OPM bill needed to be passed as

popularization of OPM among Filipinos “remains a colossal challenge” given

the proliferation of foreign music and the arrival of more foreign artists on

local shores, thus posing stiff competition with Filipino artists. (Bugliat 2012),

One the other hand as stated by Alcasid (2012), I challenge all

Filipinos to patronize town music, by listening, buying records or

downloading songs from legitimate sites. Doing so will fuel the development

of the local industry which needs revenues to allow composers to write,

singers to perform, and record companies to invest in Filipino talent. On the

other hand, a statement from (congress.gov.ph)House Bill 4218 or the OPM

(original Pilipino music) Development Act of 2014, purportedly about to

develop because of the reason that the foreign artists and their music is

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killing the local music industry, foreign artists dominate the local concert

scene, where there is no month in a year where a foreign artist would be

holding a performance in the Philippines, where foreign artists compete with

each other completely obliterating any competition from local artists, that’s

why thePhilippines should take measures to support and promote its local

artists and prevent the imminent death of OPM.” (congress.gov.ph)

Locally in Davao City, Many local bands and artist experiences

problems, Our music has its own identity and originality, The trouble in us is

our connection to get to the mainstream and Davao audience are so passive

to their own local talents. We need someone who can produce our music

here in Mindanao. No matter how good the quality is, as long as no one

would produce it, it will never hit the mainstream”. Aside from the problems

of the local bands, some music artist does not know how to handle money.

Some of the music artist spend a lot to make none! You can ask any

independent musician- it takes a lot of time, effort and money to be a

musician, but not enough support is given to our local artist. It is a huge pool

of talent that shouldn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. (Formilleza 2014)

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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the research design, source of data, data

gathering instrument, data gathering procedures and methods of analysis of

the study.

Research Design

This study is a qualitative research paper which used Key Informants

interview and observation about The Plight of Davao Musicians. These

methods are useful to generate information from the Musician and

performers in Davao city. The researcher created descriptive questions as a

part of ethnographic data analysis on those specific answers from the

respondent. The study also used primary data which has been analyzed

qualitatively including secondary data taken from several sources in the

internet and reading material like books to support primary data.

Source of Data

The study used primary data which are responses to a questionnaire

and Key informant’s interview among the Musicians in Davao city

Data Gathering

The collection of data was done through the following:

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1. Survey Questionnaire- structured questions prepared by the researcher

to elicit direct response from the respondents.

2. In-depth Interview- used in validation of data gathered through a

survey questionnaire.

Sampling Technique

This study utilized Purposive Sampling. The participants are from

Davao City. Information on the socio-demographic profile, Classification of

instruments, type of group, and genres are gathered from 4 participants that

are performing artist and musicians.

Procedure of the Study

In conducting the study, following steps were observed. First, the

researcher identified the problem and questions to be asked. Then the

instruments together with the proposal were gathered and presented to the

Research Adviser for improvements and propositions and for validation and

approval. After this, suggestions from the Research Adviser were merged to

the final copy of the questionnaires. When the questionnaires were retrieved,

the responses were tabulated for analysis and interpretations.

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Chapter 4

INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

This chapter presents the results of the data gathered in thematic

presentation. The data is arranged in thematic order that is based on the

different responses of the participants.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics

Socio-demographic characteristics include in this study are age,

gender and civil status.

Table I. Distribution of Participants According to Age

Age Frequency percentage

20-27 2 40%

28-42 1 20%

43-60 2 40%

Total 5 100%

Age. Table I presented the distribution of participants according to age. As

shown 40 percent of the participants are 20-27 years old; 20 percent are the

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28-42 years old; 40 percent are 43-60 years old. Thus, most of the

participants are the middle ages and the old ages.

Table 2. Distribution of the Participants According to Gender

Gender Frequency Percentage

Male 5 100%

Female 0 0%

Total 5 100%

Gender. Table 2 shows the distribution of participants according to gender

100 percent of the informants are male; Hence, the majority of the

participants are male.

Table 3. Distribution of Participants According to Civil Status

Civil Status Frequency Percentage

Single 2 40%

Married 3 60%

Separated 0 0%

Widower 0 0%

Total 5 100%

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Civil Status. Table 3 presents the distribution of the participants according

to civil status. As shown 40 percent are single; 60 percent is married. Hence,

the majority of the participants are married.

Musical Preference Characteristics

Classification of their musical preference characteristics includes types

of Instruments they usually play, their genres and what type of performer are

they.

Table 4. Distribution of Participants According to Instruments they

play

Instruments Frequency percentage

Drums 1 20%

Guitar 4 80%

Piano 0 0%

Total 50 100%

Instruments. Table 4 presents the distribution of the participants according

to instruments they play. As shown 20 percent of the participants play

drums; 80 percent of the participants play guitar married. Hence, the

majority of the participants are guitarist.

Table 5. Distribution of Participants According to their Genre

Genre Frequency percentage

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Reggae 2 40%

Alternative 2 40%

Ballad 1 20%

Total 5 100%

Genre. Table 5 presented the distribution of participants according to

their genre. As shown 40 percent of the participants are inclined with reggae

genre; 40 percent are in to alternative genre; 20 percent are in to ballad

genre. Thus, most of the participants are in lined with reggae and alternative

genres.

Table 6. Distribution of Participants According to Group

Group Frequency percentage

Solo 1 20%

Duo 0 0%

Band 4 80%

Total 5 100%

Group. Table 6 presented the distribution of participants according to their

group. As shown 20 percent of the participants are solo performer; 80

percent are in to a band. Thus, most of the participants are in a band group.

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Their Plights as a Musician

As the researcher interviewed various musicians in the study, the

researcher is able to find out the different plights that has been experienced

among the musicians in Davao City. These are the following plights of the

musicians in Davao city.

Financial Problems

Majority of the musicians where asked on the plights that they’ve

experienced, they constantly pin point the financial problem as the primary

concern of all the musicians. Money is very essential to them especially in

sustaining their basic need as well as to some musicians that doesn’t have a

decent job that could generate income. Some of the musicians answered

they have been experiencing financial problems because of the fact that

most of the time when an event organizer calls them for an event into

a far venue , they are having a difficult time in finding money for them to

spend in their trip. Several of the informants also has no alternative source

of income and some problems that they’re experiencing is that they tend to

not provide new set of instruments, or fix their broken instruments because

of the lack of funding. Few of the musician experienced performing and

being paid in an inadequate amount of money because of their beginner

skills and performance in music. All of the musicians considered money as

vital in the way of surviving in the music industry.

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According to Jasper, a drummer of the band last element, said that they’ve

experienced such financial problem, when the time the event organizer call

them into an out of town event, they tend to borrow some cash to their other

peers in order to finance their transportation expenses. He also added, the

most unfair thing that the event organizer usually do is that, they don’t give

the actual amount that they earned in an event in which they performed, it

correspond to an effect that the earnings they gain would not be enough to

sustain their needs. A 27 years old man named Adrian, the vocalist of the

band Nairud sa Wabad which is ( Durian sa Dabaw) also said that, they

always find their pockets empty when they were going to another place just

to perform because of the expensiveness of the fare in that particular

location.

On the other hand, Al Galleros guitarist of the band Flight 99 stated

that one of the major causes of financial problems that a musician

experienced are the fact that some of the musicians doesn’t spend its money

right. Some of the musicians has a lot of vices like smoking, drinking

alcoholic drinks, girls and using prohibited drugs. These vices of some

musicians’ leads them usually to zero, or in other words it’ll they will earn

nothing because of their vices. Instead of making use of their profits that

they earned in their performance, some of the musicians spend it all just to

aide their vices. In other words these kind of musician doesn’t care of his or

her future but instead, it spends all of his or her income just for nothing. He

added, these musicians will never be successful because of their tantrums

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and lack of passion in their profession, because they use music only to gain

profit for them to sustain their vices without securing their future if their

career will end- up.

In Addition, the renowned artist named as Popong Landero A.K.A

“Kaliweting Gitarista” also said that if you are a newbie in the music industry

as a band with nothing at all you will have difficulty in gaining profit because

of the fact that some musicians are new and does not have the enough

experience to lure people in their performance.

Weak social bond as a Group

One of the musicians that has been asked about on their plight as a

musician pointed out, their mishaps on their bands because of the mere fact

that they have weak social bond to each other on their own band, and it

adverse effects is that the bond would not be able to stay as a whole, it

become separated due to the miss understandings that eventually lead to

conflict and etc.

One participant named Jasper, a drummer of the band last element, said that

weak social bonding can be a factor that could destroy the band or group. He

cited an example, In a band you have a boy drummer and a girl vocalist, and

they seemed to have a mutual understanding or they already have a

relationship, it might have some instances that the girl can lure other guys,

they may be taking pictures with her or, asking her number or the worst is to

kiss her in front of her boyfriend. And that could trigger the emotion of his

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boyfriend to get mad by her, and them the domino effect will occur, her

boyfriend will get angry to her other and to his bandmates that keeps on

scolding about to his reactions etc. Eventually, that could result to conflict

and then the worst they will be separating to each other.

Only jasper’s band has experienced such problem of weak social bond

of their group. The rest of the participants doesn’t experienced such problem

in the group.

Getting an Audience

One participant named Popong Landero A.K.A “Kaliweting Gitarista”

stated that every musicians experienced problems in getting an audience

especially if they are on tour in other place. The audience might experience

such newness and somewhat not oozing to their musical preference on a

musician that they witness performing in their place for the first time , as a

result the event will have few spectators because of the fact that no one

recognizes the band or a performer. He added, the point that they are not

recognized as a performing artist is a cause that the audience might not like

their performance. The musicians that had not been to manila tend to be

unrecognized because they are not even known. He also added that, for the

artist to be famous or will be known they should go to the Center of the

musical industry which is located in Manila, there are tons of opportunities

and exposure that could create some identity and distinction as an artist. On

the other hand, Al Galleros guitarist, also had cited that when you perform

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you should identify the demands of your audience like knowing their musical

wants and etc., to avoid some mishaps in their performance to have a nice

and creative performance.

Their possible careers when they get old

According to Popong Landero stated that if the time comes that he will

become old probably his career will end as a musician or a musical

conductor, and to compose more songs. He said that ‘I love music and I’m

passionate about it, my body will not function compared before, but my mind

and my heart will keep on doing that things in order for me to survive,

though I will not be able to perform due to my age but I could generate a

little income when it comes to coaching and composing music. Popong also

is a Mechanical Engineer so he could quit to music because he has an

alternative option to generate income. On the other hand, Majority of the

participants had stated that after reach sentential age they probably be

engage in composing and coaching to the newbies of the music profession,

for them to generate earnings but all of them is not sure if they are able to

perform despite of their age all of these artist are uncertain if some

organizers would still hire them to perform in a particular event Adrian, Al,

Jasper had the same answers. According to them the fact that they’re

illusoriness in their career will fade is very obvious when they get old. They

all have the same perception that when they grow old, they’ll probably end

up with nothing unless, they have invested on a business, a job etc. that

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could help them in sustaining their needs but one thing they are sure with a

musician will always and always be a musician even if they age.

Chapter 5

Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

This chapter is consist of the summary, conclusions and

recommendations that had come up based on the results of the study

conducted by the researchers.

Summary of the Findings

The findings of the study are summarized according to the objectives

of the study. The main plight that Davao musicians and performers

experienced in their everyday lives as a musician are; financial problems,

weak social bond as a group and getting an audience and it is based from

the responses, answers of the participants. Moreover, the result of the study

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In terms of their possible career if they get old, all of the participants have

answered that their future career will end up as a musician but not likely into

performing, but most likely they will be engaged in music writing and

coaching to the newbies of music.

Conclusion

The researchers came up to a conclusion that the reason why some

musicians experienced financial problems is because they have vices like

drinking, using drugs, and girls. These vices affects the expenses and

expenditure of a certain musician. This type of musician doesn’t consider

proper spending of the income generated thus, they are not hesitant to

spend money to sustain their vices and to have fun, without considering that

their profession doesn’t always generate money. Also the other plight that

musicians in Davao experienced such as, Weak social bond in the group and

getting an audience are problems of the artist in their musicality or skills and

lack of closure in a certain group. These are the two reasons why they

experience such plight.

Recommendations

The researchers had proposed some recommendations for the

musicians that experienced plight in their career.

Musicians who earns big profit should spend their money wisely by

saving or investing in a business or securing a bank account.

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Musicians should establish good relationship with other bandmates.

Musicians should avoid having vices because it could be harmful to

them and it could destroy their band.

Musicians who perform out of town must be able to identify the

demand of the audience by knowing what the most requested songs

are.

Musicians should have alternative source of income in order for them

to sustain their needs.

Musicians should be passionate in making musical pieces for them to

be successful in their career.

Bibliography

References:

Adam Nyhan (2012) the musical professions

Retrieved from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/music.aspx

Anna Windermere

Retrieved from: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-reasons-that-

musicians-or-bands-despite-being-very-talented-dont-become-famous

25

Formilleza (2014)

Retrieved from: http://www.manilatimes.net/rushing-an-opm-bill/167766/

GRASSROOTSY

Retrieved from: http://www.grassrootsy.com/2015/02/23/crafting-your-story-

connecting-with-your-audience-through-your-art/

Jad Montenegro

Retrieved from: http://www.jadmontenegro.com

Jon Mattox

Retrieved from: https://www.quora.com/What-Are-The-Biggest-Problems-Independent-Musicians-Face

Kaushal, 2014

Retrieved from: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-reasons-that-musicians-or-bands-despite-being-very-talented-dont-become-famous

Larry Bugliat

Retrieved From: http://www.kabayancentral.com/articles/Pinoy-Bands-Still-Making-Waves-in-The-Philippine-Music-Industry.htm

Original Pinoy Music Articleby : Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Retrieved From: http://business.inquirer.net/166464/filipino-musicians-artists-demand-support-from-govt-people

Punches 2014

Retrieved From: http://www.academia.edu/2479137/Music_makes_the_people_come_together_social_functions_of_music_listening_for_young_people_across_cultures

Silvestri, 2015

26

Retrieved From: http://www.musicindustryhowto.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-5-full-time-musicians-what-you-can-learn-free-ebook/

Vergara, Mark Daniel: The State of Philippine Music and Current Legal Challenges

Retrieved From: https://ausltechlaw.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/vergara-mark-daniel-the-state-of-philippine-music-and-current-legal-challenges/

Wikepidea.Org

Retrieved From: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/music.aspx

Key Informants:

Adrian Cubillas Vocalist of the band (Nairud sa Wabad)

Al Galleros Guitarist of the band (Flight 99)

Jasper Apas, Drummer of the band (Last Element)

Ronulfo Landero Vocalist/Guitarist of the band P.L.O (Popong Landero Organization)

Documentation

Adrian Cubillas Al Galleros

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Ronulfo Landero Jasper Apas

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29

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