羅德 馬塞達 傳

BIOGRAPHY

My family and I used to live in Metro Manila, but we moved to Cebu City when I turned five. So that’s how I learned Cebuano Bisaya language and I can say that I’m fluent both in speaking and in writing.

Did I say that I’m an artist? I think we all are. I’m just one of the weirdos.
Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve always been fascinated by different colors of light, different sounds – the highest frequency and the deepest or the lowest that is like planet Earth humming. I also love vintage collections, weird visuals and everything in touch with nature. This weirdness of me got little kids of my age wanting to listen to my stories and played with me until late afternoon would come and I would see my mother walking slowly with that sweet smile at me from the jeepney stop, going back home after a long day in her office. Her smile meant,
“That’s enough playing. Go back inside the house.”
She told me that whenever we would go on a family vacation in Southern Leyte, at the ancestral home of my father there, they would get busy talking with our relatives, and I would just go to the forest behind the house and when it’s about time for my mother to look for me, it was not that difficult to find me because according to her, when you see a throng of children gathering around, it meant that I was inside the circle, telling my stories to these children that allowed me to amplify their imagination that perfectly collaborated with mine.

My mother was a stenographer and so I always got to play with her cassette tape recorder when she wasn’t using it at home. I pretended I was a news anchor and most of the time, a singer recording songs… for my album. Hahaha.
My father, on the other hand, was an OFW in Saudi Arabia. So, my mother would tell me to record a voice message onto the cassette tape to send it to my father. He worked for so many years there which meant my brothers and I were not that close to him. He was like a little bit of a stranger whenever he came home, but despite of that, my brothers and I feared him like the respect kind of fear when your father is standing right in front you, telling you to go to bed without saying a word.

As for playtime, it’s so funny to remember that my children neighbors would just let me give them their respective roles. I got to tell them we had superpowers, they listened, agreed, accepted their roles and we would go to different dimensions to fight demons, monsters, fly with dragons and blast each other with imaginary zap coming out of our hands and evade it as fast as we could – just the way we mimic those cool 80s and 90s cartoon characters we had watched on television; back in the days of analog signal.
I wonder how they’re doing now. But it puts a smile on my face as I write this.
Oh yeah. That was my childhood. It was great. They were great.

So as years passed by, the day the magic died when all of us had to go to high school.
I was always the weird one in campus, but I was a little tall and buff for an average Filipino guy at that time that’s why nobody could bully me. All those pussy boys did to me was act like silly mean girls that talked behind my back and spread exaggerated rumors. They didn’t understand why I was weird, but I didn’t give a shit. I was the protector of the short and skinny weird nerdy boys. I was friends with them and I led them. I created our own circle and I thought it was so cool. We would take turns hosting the venue for the entire gang jamming, playing guitar, singing, recording it on blank cassette tapes and pretended we were rock stars. Sometimes, we’d be at my house and to the next one and so on. And when the girls in the gang weren’t present, us boys would go to an internet cafe right in front of the school, chat on mIRC with some girls to eyeball meet in downtown area. To some students in campus, we might have looked like weirdos and losers, but it didn’t bother me.

Well, there were times when I got invited by the cool heartthrob students to hang out with them. The kind of “you should be hanging out with us because we’re the cool guys in campus. Let’s smoke.”, but I just felt like it was so full of shit to smoke outside campus, thinking it’s cool to be a jerk. I could never be like that nor pretend to be one. I was very boring to their kind and to their followers. I never smoked. My father was a smoker and he died because as he aged, it took its toll on him. My third elder brother also died at the age of 39 because cigarette smoking contributed to the reasons of his lungs and heart deterioration. Just an insert flashback on this part. And so, that’s why even though I was one of the popular boys in campus during my junior and senior years, I couldn’t sustain it because the peer pressure when they labeled students was stupid.
I really don’t like it when people tell me what to do or how to lead my life.
Like during that time, those group of popular cool boys in campus would tell me what to do and that I should grab the opportunity when one of the hot campus girls in junior high had a crush on me. They were like “you’ve got your free ticket man. There’s no need to exert effort to court that babe. She likes you. Ask her out. Take her to the fourth floor in an empty classroom after school, grab her boobs and squeeze it, go to the next base if possible, she’s not gonna say no to you. Then, spill the details to us. Alright.”
These are normal expressions in the circle of teenage boys and even men.
Nevertheless, I just wanted to operate alone. I know how to get a girl on my own without a bunch of boys behind me, dictating what I should do or how to do it.
And I never liked a situation when a friend in my gang asked me to talk to a girl for him.
This is a part of me that most people misunderstand a lot. I’m not selfish. It’s just that I believe that we are all the same. That if I can do it, so can you. It means that I believe that all of us have the same capacity if we only believe in ourselves. I always had situations like this. The start of the getting to know each other phase is cool, then as they get to know me more, they start to misinterpret my actions. But this is who I am.
Then, after disconnecting from those popular campus boys, things became awkward.
So, during my junior and senior years, there was a lot of jerks in the wing who enjoyed minding other people’s business. I had to date a girl from another school just to get away from the eyes of them. It’s because I always want to keep my romantic relationship, family and other personal stuff in private.

I remember a girl in junior high who talked to me. She told me that I shouldn’t sing because these two boys from two other sections and this classmate of ours who was also a campus heartthrob TV celebrity sang. She insisted that they should be the popular boys singing during school events and that I shouldn’t be dancing either because some of the boys from other sections, one of them was her cousin or something like that, she thought that they were the ones that should be on that spotlight. She was like a crazy fan of a small showbiz world in campus who thought she had the power to categorize us boys and gets to decide how her favorite artists should live their lives. It felt like it. Like these bunch of toxic people posting demanding comments to celebrities on social media. But I kept my cool.
I was cool with it because that girl was nice to me in some way and she was somewhat a friend and part of my gang. Also, when I would ask her to bring some food for the gang whenever we would go to the beach (we asked permission from our parents telling them we had a school group project to finish and that Monday was the deadline), she never declined my requests or demands.
However, she would always tell me that I was too articulate and well-rounded that I didn’t fit the image of a singer or a dancer in campus, and that I shouldn’t be taking all the spotlight even if I knew I could. She was like “Just keep winning the quiz bowl” or “be one of the smart students who lead the group and other academic-related events.”
To me, it was no big deal. So, I just let these Illuminati-like students take control of who was going to be the most popular couple or talent or who should be trending for that particular week or month in school. It’s like an analog social media back then. It’s insane because little did I know I was going to be experiencing the same atmosphere in the world of arts and entertainment show business where I’m in today. And so the point of all this part is that I didn’t know it became a training ground for me. That’s why now, in showbiz, I’m never bothered by people saying not very nice things about me. I realized showbiz is just like high school. Just that it’s amplified and there is money involved.
Because it is “Show Business”.

However, I was a scriptwriter and a director of school plays and an honor student; that’s why a lot of great things happened to me as a teenager even though I was not able to sing onstage in high school; which was one of things I had wanted to do that time.
But I joined a singing contest when I was in 4th grade. I didn’t win. But I kept practicing at home. I joined the Glee Club and also became part of a choir in a church near my house when I was in 5th and 6th grade. That kept me singing.
I also became the Corps Commander of our C.A.T. I didn’t want to get that rank. Didn’t even give a damn about it. I just joined the officers training in summer because a good friend in the gang wanted to join and she persuaded me to join as well.
And I thought it would be so cool to wear those camouflage combat uniforms, white gloves, combat shoes and carrying a sword, plus the merits. It was just all about it. However, the general thought I was the one fit to lead the battalion. So I had no choice but to accept the rank and take full responsibility to keep my fellow officers in line.
To some students, it was like a popularity contest. To me, it was just about the nice uniform because I wanted to look like a soldier like those I’ve seen in movies.
And so it got bigger and bigger. The influence you have when you are popular in campus. I love being popular because I have a good heart. I know I’ m a good person. So I always use popularity to amplify my power; to spread awareness and kindness for whatever campaign I am promoting. But at that time, I always wanted to become part of the talent show performers during school festivals. I’ve always loved writing songs, singing it, playing the guitar and during that analog era, I often did recordings on my mother’s extra blank cassette tapes, acting and promoting people-oriented stuff. I know I have a lot of talent. I am fully aware of it. I don’t pretend to be a shy person. I’m not the best singer out there, but I have the burning passion to sing with all my heart. I know my advantages and shortcomings. But because some high school control-freaks were very good at manipulating teachers that organized the events, I wasn’t able to do it.
So I kept it to myself to give way and to silence teenage suppressors in campus.
Then, I thought that after graduating from high school, I’d go to college, work part-time as a DJ on an FM radio station and also, a ballroom dance instructor to earn and save money; to pay for my ticket to Manila; to pursue my dream in becoming a filmmaker.

It’s heart-warming to look back at those moments. My mother never tried to stop me. Even my father who was already back in Cebu. I told them that I wanted to become a writer, producer and director in movies. I never saw my parents’ face in doubt. Yeah. It makes me sigh right now. They never doubted me, but they never said,
“You’re gonna make it, son.”
They just kept quiet, heads down, but exuded positive energy that felt they just hoped for the best, and they knew they had to let me go… to the wilderness.

After I had bought my ticket, I took my baby brother with me to watch a movie. We were big fans of the X-Men series, and I really love my baby brother so much. We were very close friends and I was so happy at that moment; when I was able to treat him out and watched a movie together. He was a little bit sad because we were going to be separated, but he also knew that I had to go.
And so I did it. I took the SuperFerry on my way to Manila at the age of 19.
My parents and my baby brother brought me to the pier. They blessed me to make sure I’d arrive there safely. I remember that moment very well. I love it. And because it was my first time to be on cruise alone, I felt so free to rock and roll. Oh yeah!
It was a 24-hour trip. As the ship slowed down, ready to dock at the Manila Pier, I could see the tall buildings far behind the seaport area. The ship started playing the song “Manila Manila… I’m coming home Manila… mga babaeng naggagandahan… ”
It was late afternoon when the ship docked. I remember it was around 5:30 PM.
I wasn’t scared or worried. I was smiling. I thought, “This is it. I’m gonna be a movie director”. I just wanted to get there. But when I got there, I didn’t know where to start.

FILMOGRAPHY

I worked as an ESL teacher to Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainians, Russians and Malaysians as a day job to support my self-study on filmmaking. This time, I didn’t want to become an actor or a singer anymore. I just wanted to become a writer, producer and director. I had to learn the prices of celluloid and how it was very expensive to produce a real film back then. However, it was also the beginning of digital filmmaking because a lot of production studios in Manila were trying to cost-cut. I learned that a can of celluloid was 11-minutes long and that if the actors made a mistake during takes, it’s goodbye, and it’s only the negative. That after you had shot the scene, all in all, these negatives had to be converted to positive in a laboratory and then edit, dub and prepare for cinema release. Imagine the convenience digital filmmakers and social media content creators have today.

And now I understand why Jackie Chan always included bloopers on end credits of his films. He would tell his fellow actors, whenever they forgot their lines or got the loud ring of their cellphones interrupt the shoot, “you just wasted our film” or to Jennifer Love-Hewitt in the movie “Tuxedo”, when she kept forgetting her lines, laughing and acting cute, Jackie went “Why is she always laughing? Wasting time. Wasting the film.”

Celluloid to Digital

I can say it was a good learning experience seeing the transition from celluloid to digital. I’ve seen it.
But I agree with what some of the pioneers of filmmaking often say. That celluloid is still the best and its resolution is infinite. And digital filmmakers like me are not real filmmakers, but just video-makers. Film is celluloid.
Well, they may be right. I couldn’t afford to shoot movies on celluloid even if I wanted to. It was way too expensive. All I had was the burning passion to write, produce and direct movies. So, I just didn’t let it bother me. It didn’t stop me. I just went on and did my own thing in Manila Showbiz.
I was able to write, produce and direct quite a few Tagalog indie films.
I had them screened at art film houses.

I was happy successful in my own reality and that’s the most important thing in life.
Then, as I went on doing my stuff in Manila Showbiz, I learned the dirty tricks publicists do to make celebrities get talked about. It’s part of the industry. Dirty as it may seem, but if you look at it in a positive way, I would have to say;

“Don’t take it personally. It’s just business. “

The universe doesn’t care if I feel or most people in this industry feel like it’s a dog eat dog world. It doesn’t matter. The most-focused mind of getting what it wants gets to manifest good things. Part of my learning experience in show business.

I also got to produce, write and direct a television movie pilot way back 2010.
I felt I was on top of the world during its presscon.
A lot of people from the Manila Mainstream Media came.
Of course, they had to come because I paid them. If you’re new in this industry, learn from here. Hehe.

So, as a producer, I learned during that time, that making a movie in this industry is not just making a movie. The planning must all be there. From shooting, to editing, to making a buzz so people would talk about your movie and get their interest to watch it in cinemas and everything that comes with it. Including politics and hidden agendas.

Reporters will never talk about your movie or whatever project you have canned if they don’t get anything from you.
Others take free tickets, while others, you have to pay them some money so that they would write about you in the newspaper or feature you in magazines and on television.
Civilians don’t care about this. Young artists trying to get in this business, learn and check it up for yourselves. Good luck.

In 2012, I wrote, produced and directed another Tagalog indie film that hit five million views on World Cybervision Network Official YouTube Channel.
It was awesome. I wanted to keep it going, but my father died just weeks before Christmas. It was devastating. I had to fly back to Cebu.

Bisaya Film and TV Drama Production

After that, I realized that it’s my calling to take care of my mother. I wanted to take her with me to Manila as I continue my filmmaking career there. But Manila was getting too congested and my mother felt it was better to stay in Cebu City. It was a big decision for me. I had to leave Manila and at first, I would let my actors fly to Cebu City, my own expense, to shoot movies. But it got more and more difficult to sustain. I had to let it go. I started over in 2014 by producing films and television dramas with Cebuano actors. However, it was not good to let them speak in Tagalog because there was this accent.
It didn’t fit in. Not that it was bad, but I just thought,

“Hey, it’s cooler if they spoke Cebuano Bisaya and turn this whole thing into a mainstream entertainment industry in Southern Philippines”
So it went on like that. I kept producing short films and TV dramas in Bisaya language. The Bisaya public reception was great in terms of views and positive comments online, but it wasn’t enough to finance my production studio.
So, I continued using my personal money.

As I tried to orient my actors about how the business side of arts and entertainment works, they were too anxious to get themselves fully engaged. Only a few of them would seriously promote our projects with me on radio, television and on social media. It was very difficult because many Cebuanos were too meek way back 2014.
They were worried about getting bashed, laughed at, labeled cheap or whatever that is civilians would say negative stuff about things they do not understand.

Bankruptcy

I kept losing money that time because after one project got successfully released and started to attract viewers, the lead actors would abandon the production and work with another production that is associated with a producer from Manila or has connections that would allow them to get exposure on the Manila Entertainment Scene.
It was really frustrating since they were so meek, they didn’t realize the damage they had done to me and to my production. But this was how I observed reality during that time. I was so angry and I hated them for it. I though that they should’ve told me right from the very start that they were not taking it seriously. In that way, I could’ve just spent all that money for myself. Travel abroad or take my mother and the whole family to Boracay. That’s how exactly I thought and felt. I was angry with those young artists.
I used my personal money to produce movies with the hopes that they would stay with me until we get that break we wanted. But life doesn’t promise you loyalty in return from people you had bestowed kindness upon. It just doesn’t work that way.

Starting Over

And one day, it all came back to me the memory of the Tagalog indie film I produced in 2012; which starred Karlo Manalo, Khalid Gunting and Mary Anne Masangkay.
(They’re indie film actors based in Manila and they’re amazing.)
Anyway, the film “The Pattern” is about the law of attraction and that everything happens for a reason. Then I thought to myself that I should be applying it to my life.
I told myself that it’s time I walk the talk.
I was beginning to get the full experience of what I had been promoting to my viewers.

Fast-forward, I let go of the heavy stuff. It was all my fault to begin with because I was trying to create a separate film industry from Tagalog movies; which was splitting my vibration. The intention was not clear that’s why the universe couldn’t manifest what I wanted and my intention was not clear either. Actually, there was no need to create a new one. It was for the wrong reason and that’s why it didn’t work out. Those Bisaya artists who left my production, looking at the bigger picture of this universe, no showbiz stuff, it was to give way to new opportunities.

The birth of Rod Maceda. That’s me. Hehe.

So in the last quarter of 2019, I decided to shelve all upcoming projects on WCN.

I meditated. Removed all the obstacles in my way.

And with all those artists my movie production outfit had launched, Rod Maceda is the one who had brought in “Return of Investments” via ticket sales, record sales and merchandise. So, I thought there was no need to launch new artists to manage.
There is already an existing entertainment industry in the Philippines and I didn’t need to go against it. All I have to do is contribute a huge impact and be part of it.
That’s why I am a solo artist now, but not a newbie in this industry. I’m using everything I’ve learned from Manila Showbiz Industry and applying it to the Rod Maceda Team.
I have my publicity team on social media, connection with a few trusted tabloid writers in Manila and road manager to help me organize my events.

And I did it as an indie artist. Isn’t that just a luck?

Why am I writing all these happenings here?
I don’t think I’m going to become a vlogger anytime soon as social media, by this time, is starting to fade and will soon go away. I don’t think I’ll be making a tutorial video helping young new artists understand the navigation of the business side in the entertainment industry. So just in case, some of you reading this are indie artists; getting into showbiz, take this as a subtle kind of tutorial.

Going back to the time when I was a little boy, I had always wanted to become a singer and actor, but forgot about it due to the surroundings that pollute the mind. Others say, we just grow up. I say I am very lucky to have realized that if the human body is still healthy and fit even when I was already in my late 30s, I could still catch up with my dreams, but I had to make sure it would match my age.

I wasn’t worried about it. I was too old to worry and I just didn’t give a shit about what ignorant people would have to say. I felt so free when I posed nude with my two female leads for the promotional images of the Bisaya Bomba Film “Na Unhan” in 2020.
It went trending online and people started to notice me. I liked it. Hehe.

The film did well on Pay Per View and I was very happy to keep going.
We have different levels of truth about how we perceive the happenings on social media. So, it’s not something for me to keep up with. I just love what I do now as an artist and a vegan advocate.

It’s true that the universe doesn’t say “No”. It’s always a “Yes”. We just block the good stuff when we focus on negativity. So, the bright side, I thank those young artists that ended their story in my journey because had they not left, Rod Maceda would not be here today. And being Rod Maceda is so much better than managing several young artists who didn’t want to be part of my vision to begin with. It’s not being bitter.
It’s being thankful and fully understanding how the universe works.

But I still have to get angry sometimes in order to be human. Just because I understand everything happens for a reason, doesn’t mean I have to stop feeling some human emotions. As long as we are here in this physical plane, learning from new human experiences doesn’t end. It never does. We are eternal beings.

As of now, I am fully based here in Cebu City for my film and music career.
I have completed my LP Album of 12 Original Bisaya Songs. I sealed the album in the last quarter of 2024.
I started recording it in 2021, but life challenges shook up my situation causing delays, but it had its reasons. It was for the best.

My first live performance was in 2022 at the SM Seaside Cebu for the Tribute Event of Gloria Sevilla – The Queen of Bisaya Movies. It wasn’t planned. I was supposed to sing only one song.

It was “Sa Pangandoy Lang”. But the audience requested for a second song that’s why the producer of the event – Dandin Ranillo (brother of actor Matt Ranillo), had to ask me to sing another song. I wanted to perform my album carrier single “Tambay” on television with my backup dancers. That was the plan, but I guess Source has other great plans for me. Hahaha. So there I went singing and dancing without backup dancers, wearing the Barong Tagalog. But it was worth it. I’m forever grateful to Director Marlon Douglas Hofer of ABS CBN and Mustard Seed Production for allowing me to perform live and be part of that historical event.

I was with Asia’s Timeless Diva “DULCE” in this event. She performed “Usahay”.

Music Producers

I lost my music producer Quiel Silva in 2023 when he died of multiple organ failure. Then, my second elder brother, who was always supportive of me, died three months after. I was so depressed and didn’t want to continue my film and music career.
I don’t know what happened. I just let life happened. Those were dark tormenting hours and then more dark hours that weren’t so tormenting anymore. And I just woke up one morning and went “I gotta get up, get back into shape and rock and roll again.”
It was part of the process. Funny as it may seem but it was. I’m sure Quiel Silva and my two big brothers are looking upon me now in heaven. And I had met a new music producer. He is G.I Real from Pampanga. He is the one who arranged the songs “Langga”, “Ali Day”, “Angkunon Tika” and “Ngari”. Quiel Silva arranged the songs
“Tambay”, “Ayaw Jud Ay”, “Hangtod Karon”, “Ingna Ko” and “Ana Guada”.
And because of this twist in my life, I got forced to unlock my hidden skill of being a music producer myself. Yes!
In my album, I am the music producer/arranger of the songs
“Tanan Tanan”, “Bahandi Sa Kagahapon” and “I’m Happy”.

In “Bahandi Sa Kagahapon”, my fellow Bisaya artists Hanna Remorosa, Alex Ilaya, Ofelia Enriquez and Aya Sanada join force by letting me feature their voices in the song.

Life is so full of surprises. We don’t have a choice, but to let life just happen.

The album is multi-genre. I wrote the lyrics and composed the music. I don’t stick to one genre because I love all kinds of music. I really do. And I don’t give a shit about rules.
I am in full control of my film and music career so what negative stuff others would say about it is none of my business. My fry scream in my new age metalcore rock song “Tanan Tanan” is an influence from my third elder brother who passed away before I started my career as an actor and singer in the Bisaya Entertainment Scene.
His energy is in the song.

My other elder brother that also passed away was able to tune in and listen to me perform on the radio during my radio tour in 2022. I will always be grateful to Joey Morales – the station manager of DYFX 1305 Radyo Agila of NET 25. He allowed me perform live on air and to promote my debut single “Tambay” and second single “Ayaw Jud Ay”. Then, he let me sing live on air my third single “Hangtod Karon”. It was amazing.
My elder brother was so proud of me. Also my mother, baby brother and my co-artists.

I’m excited because as you read this part, my team and I are fixing my schedule for TV appearances, radio guesting and free mini concerts here in Cebu City to promote my album. The songs in the album are official soundtracks to films, TV dramas and for content on social media I’m producing.

Also, as a vegan, I have so much to promote to all the people in the world.
This is my calling. This is my mission in life.

I may not be one of the biggest film and musical artists on this flat earth, but I’m happy with what I do and with what I have right now. That’s all that matters.

And as our lives go on, you may not be following me anymore on my next journey and it’s alright with me, I just wish you all a good life and strength to stand tests of time.
As long as I’m still breathing in this physical plane, I will continue making movies, music, infomercials and more good stuff to entertain, educate and inspire people.

Thanks for reading my biography. Be free. Say “I’m Happy”.

– ROD MACEDA