Remembering Rene
Rene Garcia lived a life dedicated to empowering the local music industry. He may not be in the flesh anymore, but his music lives in hearts forever.
Rene Garcia lived a life dedicated to empowering the local music industry. He may not be in the flesh anymore, but his music lives in hearts forever.
It was a typical Sunday - one that the Garcia family has always regarded as their family day. It has been tradition for them to hear Mass, go out for dinner or for shopping, then have their never-ending catch-up over coffee - even though they have all just caught up the previous week.
Sept. 2, 2018 was no exception. Rene Garcia and his family went to a shoe outlet in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, as he wanted to buy a new pair of shoes for his upcoming gig in Jakarta. It was a gig that he has been so excited about since it was confirmed in June.
“As our dad said, it was a day well spent,” Anna Garcia-Salgado, second of Rene’s children and eldest of the daughters, recalled to Bulletin
Entertainment in an exclusive interview. The family got home at around 6 in the evening. Excited as he was, Rene immediately sat down to try on his new pair of shoes.
But he never got to finish was he was doing. Without a warning, Rene collapsed.
Anna, who was on her way back to her own house, got a frantic phone call from her mother, asking her to hurry back.
“I hurriedly drove back to their house, honking the car horn frantically, hazard lights on, not really paying attention to the world around me,” she narrated. “I received two more phone calls from her while I was on the road. It felt like the longest 10-minute drive I’ve ever had.”
In a matter of seconds, Rene, famous musician and founder of iconic band Hotdog, was gone. He died at age 65 due to cardiac arrest.
“When I got to their house, I was greeted by a sight that I’d never imagined I would see - Daddy on the floor, lifeless. I tried to talk to him but he was already gone,” she said.
That particular Sunday – one that they thought would be just another Sunday – turned out to be one of the saddest days of their lives.
“I do not think we will ever get over our father,” said Katrina GarciaDalusong, youngest of the brood.
“Children who have lost their parents would most likely agree. We have started to acknowledge that he is no longer with us, and that there is a process that we would have to go through. But you cannot really put a time frame to it.”
Despite this understanding, the sisters are still hoping they would see their dad right there at home, tying up the laces of his newly-bought shoes - even for just a moment, as quick as a blink of an eye.
“We are still coping with the loss. For me, it still has not sunk in completely that he is no longer with us. Hearing his songs and seeing him in videos make it feel that he is still very much alive,” said Anna.
“Sometimes, I still wish it’s just been one long nightmare.”
I think my dad deserves more credit for being the originator of the ‘Manila Sound,’ which is now globally recognized.