Francis Magalona in Memoriam

On the cover of Happy Battle is a Nintendo-era bare-knuckles fighter. He is shirtless. He is on bad-ass karate stance. He is wearing an expression that says “kill.” His face, however, does not give away his age easily. He is eternally in limbo between adolescence and full-blown adulthood. He is both fifteen and thirty. He is simultaneously twelve and forty. He is both a young teenager on Ninja Kids and a baby-faced father on Eat, Bulaga! He is Francis Magalona, and—like his likeness on that album cover—he is a superhero.
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