MANILA - Philippine officials and politicians on Friday joined prisoners in mourning the death of Michael Jackson, described by the government as an imperfect pop icon.
"We join the world in mourning the death of a music icon," President Gloria Arroyo's cabinet secretary Silvestre Bello said in a statement issued by the presidential palace.
The megastar, 50, who apparently died of cardiac arrest at his rented home in the US city of Los Angeles, "revolutionized music and touched the lives of so many people, and while he was not perfect, he definitely contributed immensely to the music industry," Bello added.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles said Jackson's legions of fans around the world will miss the pop icon and his music.
"We extend our love and sympathy to the family of Michael Jackson and join his fans and supporters in praying for his eternal repose. He will always be remembered for his contributions and legacy," he said in a statement.
Jackson drew an estimated 50,000 people in his one and only concert in Manila in December 1996, when he had to perform on reclaimed land on Manila Bay after the city mayor refused to give a permit on grounds of allegations of child abuse against the star.
Joey Marquez, a former local film star who was at the time the top executive of the southern Manila district that eventually hosted the concert, told local television he now regretted having refused Jackson's offer to give his host his famous sequined hat.
"I should have accepted it," Marquez said.
Some local celebrities such as TV host Jojo Alejar shed tears on nationwide TV as he shared his admiration for the late King of Pop. "I guess pretty much yun talaga, ganun kalaki yung influence niya sa aking career," he said before imitating some of Jackson's patented dance moves.
Singer Gary Valenciano, who has been dubbed the "Michael Jackson" of the Philippines, said he started crying as soon as he heard the news while on a plane to Beijing.
"In some ways it's like part of me has died too. He was an inspiration to me. I still wonder if he ever read the letter I wrote him when he performed here. It was the least I could do for all the years that he inspired me," he said in a statement.
Another singer, Zsa Zsa Padilla, said she had a feeling that Jackson "would die young" and said she was lucky that she was able to see him perform in his one and only concert in Manila.
Meanwhile, Filipino prisoners who spawned a worldwide Internet hit with their version of Jackson's "Thriller" video are to recreate their dance in tribute to the dead star, television reported Friday.
The performance will be held Saturday inside the provincial jail in Cebu, said Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center officials.
"Thriller", a global hit on the Internet video site YouTube, shows 1,400 inmates wearing saffron prison uniforms performing their own version of one of Jackson's most enduring hits.
Cebu prison officials, who could not be reached by telephone from Manila on Friday, introduced dances as a way of improving physical fitness and to relieve stress among inmates.
The four-minute video of the original prison dance has so far generated more than 23 million hits on YouTube.
In Manila, street entrepreneurs rushed out to market cotton T-shirts emblazoned with Michael Jackson's face and the words "Thank You for the Music", AFP photographers saw.
Local radio stations played Michael Jackson tunes while Filipino bloggers paid tribute to the star.
"I just feel sad that my hazy childhood memories are so imprinted by his music," wrote "blogger Paulo".
"His songs were the first to teach me emotions that as a child I wasn't capable of understanding yet. I didn't even understand the words. I just felt," he added. With Agence France-Presse
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Joro have a best friend now while he's here in CdO. My friend next door let me borrowed Pooh so that Joro can play with him. He is so happy now and he don't mind me anymore..heheheh
