MANILA -- Danny Javier, the elusive, reclusive member of APO Hiking Society, may have had openly supported Vice President Leni Robredo’s bid for the presidency this coming May elections but fans of the APO Hiking Society won’t be seeing a reunion just yet.
APO Hiking Society is a trio composed of Javier, Jim Paredes and Boboy Garrovillo.
“Sayang,” Paredes told ABS-CBN News via Messenger a few minutes after he posted the announcement on his Twitter account that only he and Garrovillo will join a few sorties of Vice President Leni Robredo in April.
Asked if he and Javier have been in touch after being estranged for years due to their political beliefs, Paredes said, “That was then. We have talked sometime ago and we are OK.”
In 2016, Javier endorsed the candidacy of then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, while Paredes supported Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas and his running mate, then Camarines Sur 3rd district Representative Robredo.
Though Javier has remained a supporter of the Duterte administration, he has shied away from the limelight, preferring a very private life.
It was in January 2010 when APO officially retired as a group, after helping shaped and popularized Original Pilipino Music (OPM) for four decades.
Online messages
“Not possible physically. Medical impairment undergoing therapy. At best, online messages,” Garrovillo told ABS-CBN News also via Messenger. He was referring to Javier.
Even before the start of the campaign period, Paredes and Garrovillo have been among the celebrities who openly support Robredo and her running mate for vice president, Senator Kiko Pangilinan.
Javier revealed on his official Facebook account why he can’t join. On February 27, in a comment thread from a post by retired disc jockey Bob Magoo on Javier’s Facebook account, Javier was asked by a friend from New Hampshire named Jeanne McCann Davis if he’s performing again.
“Can’t perform yet Jeanne. Still recuperating from several medical conditions,” Javier said.
He specifically mentioned congestive heart failure, COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and “now on peritoneal dialysis.”
It was early Sunday morning when Paredes posted on his official social media accounts an old photo of the APO bowing before an audience.
Even Senator Pangilinan commented: “Reunion na!”
He followed it up on March 1 with a collage of their separate posts for Robredo.
Both tweets have been re-shared by APO fans around the world.
Over the years after retirement as a group, Garrovillo and Paredes had occasional performances in concerts here and abroad and on special shows on TV.
Their hits like “Awit ng Barkada,” “Ewan,” “Paano,” “Batang Bata Ka Pa,” among others from about more than 200 original songs have been revived by younger singers.
In recent months, several renditions of “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” have gone viral on social media and music streaming platforms.
It was Paredes original composition about the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution\, a major turning point in history that toppled the Marcos dictatorship.