Record label pulls out Banana singer's album, heeds bishop's call

The record company that distributed the Banana single has decided to pull out the album from music stores after a bishop raised the alarm over the song's sexual undertones. Alpha Music Inc., pulled out Blank Tape's album Friday, after Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. called for a ban of the song on the radio. "Alpha holds in high respect the views of the Church and it is not the intention of our company to release a recorded work that is deemed offensive," Alvin de Vera, EVP of Alpha told GMA News. Banana, which is a Filipino adaptation of Akon's catchy Right Now, had been playing extensively in several FM radio stations and was also featured in several TV shows for months, prior to the bishop's call. Despite denying any sexual innuendos in the song's lyrics, Blank Tape apologized to the Church for producing the song. "Hindi naman namin sinasadya na ganoon (That wasn't our intention)," Blank Tape said. The singer/rapper maintained that the song merely tackled the health benefits from eating a banana. "Kung hindi kayo mahilig sa banana lalabo mata ninyo (If you don't eat a banana your eyes will get weak)," he added. But the bishop still wants at least one more song yanked off the air for what he claimed were sexual connotations. Iñiguez said the song Nagmamahal Ako ng Bakla (I Love Gay Men) by Dagtang Lason has disturbing sexual undertones. "The song has a meaning that is sexual," Iñiguez, who heads the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines public affairs unit, said in an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas Thursday. Excerpts of the interview were posted on the CBCP website Thursday night. In calling for a ban on the airing of the songs, Iñiguez feared that the songs could lure most teenagers to engage in casual sex. "They should be banned because of (their) sexually explicit lyrics," he said, "That will affect their thinking and their concept of morality regarding those matters." He also called on music composers to think first of the negative effects of the lyrics to the young listeners. "I think those composers should have social responsibilities," he said. - with Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV