By Umer Nangiana


With a blend of four great voices from yesteryears, the local Filipino community is all set to welcome the OPM Hitmen this November for a grand concert. The concert will surely be a treat for fans of musical hits from 80s and 90s.
As part of their Middle East tour, the Hitmen will stop by Doha on November 6 at Al-Arabi Sports Club. Chad Borja, Rannie Raymund, Richard Reynoso and Renz Verano are singers who have individually produced songs that became hits and have continued to be favoured even by the younger generation.
The four balladeers joined forces in the form of OPM Hitmen to conquer the music scene once again.
Chad Borja, who had recently beaten thyroid cancer with healthy lifestyle and yoga, is a veteran of singing contests and made a great impact in the music industry in 1991 through his hit songs such as All About Love.
Unknown to many, his journey dates back in 1987 when Chad formed the group C-60 in Cebu, his hometown. In 1988, Chad went to Manila and joined The New Minstrels Band and performed not only locally but also internationally.
He was considered one of the in-demand singers in the 1990s. In 1997, after doing a series of shows in the United States, Chad, at the peak of his career, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Although he was thankful that this was a curable type, he couldn’t help but lose hope as he was unsure of what is to happen in the future. His operation was a success, but the radiation treatments and medications continued for years.
He decided to shy away from the music industry. Twelve years after the ordeal, Chad was declared cancer-free by his doctors and was ready to conquer the music world again.
In the 12 years he was away from the limelight, Chad lived for five years in Davao, where he became a businessman. But the love for music lived in his heart, so he formed a band, which had shows in different areas in Mindanao.
Rannie Raymund is dubbed as the great OPM hitmaker. He entered the music scene by way of testing the waters by submitting a demo tape to the radio station 99.5 RT just to see if the listeners will like his music.
Luckily, after only one week, the song entitled Hanggang Kailan was in the station’s top 40 and in less than a month, it hit top 3. He saw this as a sign and decided to join the industry in 1992. That same year, he released his self-titled album, which included the phenomenal hit Why Can’t it Be, and became his signature song.
Rannie is a composer too and has composed songs not only for himself, but also for fellow artists and did theme songs for movies. His talent did not go unnoticed as he was recognised three times in the Awit Awards as Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist, Best Inspirational Religious Recording, and for Best Performance by a Duet.
His musical talent is not limited to just being a singer and composer as he can also play several instruments. In 1984, he was the drummer for the Kundirana group. He has also directed and hosted TV shows, conventions, and company gatherings.
Named as the country’s Prince of Ballad, Richard Reynoso started his singing career through the talent show Bagong Kampeon in 1984. Though he did not emerge the champion, this opened the doors for him to show business.
In 1987, he was placed second in the 1st KBP Musicfest. He was then tapped by movie outfits to sing the theme songs of their movies such as Doon from Hitman, Dito Sa Aking Mundo from Balweg, The Rebel Priest, Imortal from the movie with the same title, to name a few.
He recorded his own albums with Alpha Records, the first of which was released in 1990. His second album was released the following year and both of them reached the Platinum status. He had several nominations from different award-giving bodies like Awit Awards.
Renz Verano debuted in the music industry with his self-titled album in 1995, which contained mostly songs that are adaptations of international songs but had lyrics written in Philippines’ native tongue. This album reached Platinum status.