Professor, community organizer and public servant Karina Constantino-David died on May 7, but her legacy of music and activism will endure, said the women…
Professor, community organizer and public servant Karina Constantino-David died on May 7, but her legacy of music and activism will endure, said the women whose lives she touched.
Constantino-David, who was Civil Service Commission chair during the Arroyo administration, was also half of the music duo Inang Laya for nearly 30 years as guitarist and composer, while Rebecca “Becky” Demetillo-Abraham was its singer.
Abraham, now 70, credited Constantino-David with opening her eyes to the possibility of using music to further an advocacy. She’s not about to say goodbye, she added.
“We will always be together through the songs, through our dreams. My basket is full, and I will carry that until we meet again,” Abraham said.
Inang Laya is known for advocacy songs such as “Babae,” “Titser,” “Sana’y Mayaman” and “Atsay ng Mundo,” which talks about the plight of domestic helpers.
Mind-blowing
She didn’t always sing these kinds of songs, Abraham recalled.
“I was doing Western folk in the late 70s, when Karina and her husband Randy and some faculty friends would come to watch us in a bar in Kamias,” she said.
One night, Constantino-David went up to the microphone and sang a rendition of Jess Santiago’s “Halina,” which was about union workers killed while protesting.
“It blew my mind,” Abraham said, adding that shortly after, in the middle of a set, she left her previous singing job in pursuit of something more progressive.
“Then I called Karina, and told her, ‘I’m ready,’” Abraham said.
At the same time that their career was blooming — Inang Laya released several albums — Constantino-David was diving deeper into community organizing.
