SAMMY’S GIFT TO MUSIC
One afternoon, I was thinking of a story to feature in The PALiner anniversary issue. Out of the blue, my friend Jay Marfal sent me a link to a Philippine Airlines (PAL) YouTube video. William Smith spoke to the camera, sharing his experiences on the airline’s first fl ight. It was part of a long-forgotten anniversary video celebrating PAL’s 50th year in 1991.
The video piqued my interest, so Jay introduced me to Johanne Climaco, the video owner on YouTube. Johanne is the son of musical director Samuel “Sammy” Climaco, who composed the score of the anniversary video. Cut to one Saturday afternoon—I sat across Sammy, his wife Marvi, and Johanne. Sammy shared his story and deep passion for music, which led him to work on numerous projects, including TV commercials for PAL.
ROCK, BABY, ROCK
Born into a musically inclined family in Manila, Sammy is the son of LVN film director, composer, and actor Jose “Joe” Climaco to Beatriz “Betty” Silos.
Surrounded by a household filled with music, Sammy developed a love for the guitar at an early age, inspired by Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Hendrix. His grandfather, Juan, taught him classical guitar. At age 14, he was the lead guitarist for the bands “Ultimate Jury” and “Child of Morning,” with then-PAL AVP-Advertising and Promotions Jess Garcia on drums.
During these formative years, he began arranging songs for his band, including blending voices, which would later be crucial in developing musical scorings for ads. Music was his world. Sammy’s father, Joe, continuously guided him, ensuring that Sammy grasped music well, not just in theory but in application.
“Some singers of the day started to hear about me. I started arranging for Ray Ann Fuentes, Tillie Moreno, and Richard Tan of the Circus Band. I made arrangements for Ambivalent Crowd and some for New Minstrels,” he recounted.
While arranging for other bands, Sammy was also busy forming, managing, and arranging music for his bands, such as “Apocalypse” and “The Assembly.” He would eventually discover new talent like Vernie Varga, who became a member of The Assembly and clinched the role of musical director of many popular TV shows. One thing led to another, meeting key people from different ad agencies as he honed his skills further as a composer and arranger.
So when his collaborator from REACH Advertising, Manny Gutierrez, became the head of advertising for PAL in the 1980s, all the pieces came together. Sammy landed the assignment to compose music for the airline’s 50th-anniversary campaign. It was an opportunity Sammy wouldn’t pass up as an aviation enthusiast. By this time, he had all the experience to deliver a campaign fitting for a storied company like PAL.
A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
The partnership with Sammy began in 1988, with some campaigns for PAL, including musical arrangements for ad campaigns, such as “The Golf in the Philippines” and other destination ads. This collaboration eventually culminated in the 50th-anniversary campaign.
The 50th-anniversary campaign aimed to give people a deeper understanding of PAL. Sammy shared, “We showed the different facets of the company, the different departments, and what each one is doing and how they contribute to the company as a whole.”
The airline’s story would not be complete without its people. The almost one hour documentary-like video injected interviews with past and present PAL employees, such as Capt. Ben-Hur Gomez, then head of flight operations; Luis Barrientos, the airline’s most senior employee in 1991; and Carmen Madrid, a former flight attendant who was one of the pioneers from 1946 to 1954. The documentary featured the people who have shaped the airline’s legacy.
“IT HAS TO BE CLASS.”
In explaining what goes on in developing the arrangement of the jingle, Sammy said, “Most of the time, lyrics would come from the agency, but sometimes the agency will give the jingle composer the creative freedom.”
He further added, “We were free to be innovative.”
When creating jingles, Sammy emphasized the importance of considering the audience. “When you do something for PAL, it has to be class.”
The process would begin when Sammy receives the director’s offline edit. He sometimes imagines the music, as the offline material often had gaps. In these cases, the footage would only consist of a green screen, and he would refer to the script or storyboard for guidance.
“First, I have an idea of the melody I want. I write it down, real music writing with do-re-mi (notes). Establish the time speed, either 120 or 90,” Sammy explained.
Holding his stopwatch and watching the offline video, he would mark the timing from the intro to the next section for scoring “mano-mano.” He said, “I have to make sure I do not miss a point.”
When developing the jingle, Sammy stressed the importance of measurement, cadence, and phrasing. As a trained musician, he also shared one of his rules is to avoid altering the syllabication of the lyrics and focus on perfecting the melody.
Sammy said that each segment of the PAL documentary had distinct music to reflect different characters, “The stewardess training scene was very dainty, while I wanted the pilots to feel like James Bond, the hero—the man.”
Sammy even compared the opening of the hangar revealing the 747 to a King Kong moment. He asserted, “Don’t be satisfied with the first turnout when composing a jingle. The first melody you think of is what you call typical. It has got to have some depth.”
Fast-forward to 2025, when Johanne, his son, began uploading his father’s works on YouTube, including the PAL documentary. The videos sparked nostalgia. People engaged with them, sharing their PAL stories. Johanne said, “After seeing the video results, it touched many people’s hearts and the relatives of those featured.”
Sammy’s family felt that the video created a connection. The others, the music they heard years ago, continue to make a mark in their subconsciousness.
Reflecting on the PAL material created 34 years ago, Sammy remarked, “It shows we did a good job.”
See more photos in this issue of The PALiner: https://thepaliner.philippineairlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/TPL-2025-March-Issue.pdf
