https://youtu.be/2Oaz7Lm8tl8
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino band Agsunta has announced that it is “signing off.”
The band revealed the news in a video titled “Agsunta, Signing Off” posted on their YouTube channel on Wednesday.
Following the announcement, the four-member group comprising of Jai Singson, Mikel Arevalo, Stephen Arevalo, and Josh Planas deleted all their previous YouTube videos.
Screengrab from Agsunta’s YouTube channel.
In the video, the band’s vocalist Jai Singson shared that they have been receiving “harsh comments” on social media.
“Hindi naman tago sa kaalaman ng iba na may mga harsh comments sa amin. May mga nanglalait, may mga nagagalit, may mga todo pa nga magsalita, maganda lang pakinggan kasi english,” Singson said.
(It’s not really a secret that there have been harsh comments directed at us. There are those who insult us, those who have expressed anger, and those who really speak up. It’s just nice to hear because it’s in English.)
“Galing ito sa mga iba’t ibang tao mula sa mga followers namin, kaibigan ng mga followers namin, bata, matanda, magulang, sa mga katropa at hindi namin katropa sa industriya,” he added.
(The comments were from different people, including our friends and followers — young and old, our parents, our colleagues in the industry and those who are not from the industry.)
Singson said they have been ignoring the comments because they respect the right of other people to voice their opinions.
“Wala kaming sinabi, wala kaming ginawa. Tumahimik lang kami, hindi dahil sa tama ang mga galit, ang mga panglalait at comments, kundi dahil sa respeto namin sa boses ng iba,” he said.
(We haven’t said or done anything. We just kept quiet, not because those who expressed anger and comments were right, but because we respect the voice of other people.)
Guitarist Mikel Arevalo recounted how they talked about this matter many times, even leading to arguments: “Kaya after ng ilang paguusap namin, ilang beses kaming nagtalo, pinagusapan namin yung mga goals namin as a band, yung vision namin as a band, napagdesisyunan naming apat na sabihin sa inyo to kasi syempre deserve niyo naman malaman to.”
(So after several discussions — we’ve argued and talked about our goals as a band — our vision as a band, we decided to tell you this because you deserve to know.)
“Kaya masakit man, at mahirap man, kailangan na muna namin itigil to. Kami naman muna (So even if it hurts and it is difficult, we need to stop this),” Singson said. “It was 4 years of solid OPM. Ilang taon ng pagsasama at pagpapadama sa inyo ng pagmamahal naming apat, ang pagmamahal nating lahat sa OPM (several years of togetherness and expressing our love for OPM).”
Singson, however, clarified that they are not saying goodbye.
“Muli, mula sa Agsunta, hindi naman to goodbye. Magkikita pa tayo sa labas sa mga kanto, dyan sa mga fiesta, sa mga events, invite invite niyo lang kami (Again, from Agsunta this is not goodbye. We will still see each other during fiesta, events. Just invite us). We will see you around.”
Nonetheless, Singson promised they will always create music for the people who have supported them
“Isa lang ang pangako namin, patuloy kaming gagawa ng musika para sa inyo (We can only promise one thing: we will continue making music for you),” he said.
INQUIRER.net has reached out to Agsunta’s talent manager, PPL Entertainment, to clarify if “signing off” meant the band is leaving social media, going on a hiatus, or disbanding, but has not received a response as of posting. /ee