Unique Salonga, former lead vocalist of IV OF SPADES, releases his own personal statement a few days after the band announced his departure. The statement gave us more questions than answers:
Written in Filipino, Unique addresses fans looking for answers in a cryptic, bitter tone. “Manigas kayo,” Unique writes as he points out that the statement isn’t a tell-all of why he left the band nor is it a denial or confirmation of all the rumors surrounding his departure. You can feel the frustration while reading the whole thing. Obviously the rumor-mongering hasn’t done any good. With that regard, we can’t blame him.
“Thank you sa tatlo na itinuring kong kaibigan,” goes the second half of the statement, assumingly pertaining to the three of his former bandmates from IV OF SPADES. The past few days there has been some mudslinging from the other party in the form of tweets. Again, we can’t blame them for acting this way.
There is a lot to unpack in this loaded, beautifully written statement (Unique writes eloquently), but the big picture of this whole mess points to deeply seated issues that have cracked the surface. All we’re seeing are shadows of the aftermath, and looking for answers could probably make things worse.
The truth is, we don’t have the right to know the truth. Unique intentionally didn’t want to specify of clarify the details he’s sharing and though our first instinct is to dig deeper and theorize, it’s probably best to leave the band be while we do it.
Image from Edward Joson