MANILA, Philippines – Like countless others, he says he’s a rock star in the making.

He worships Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead, The Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin. Locally, he only jams to the likes of Up Dharma Down and Urbandub.

He dreams big – he wants to be famous worldwide.

The catch? He rocks from his wheelchair. His stage? The streets of Metro Manila.

Meet 38-year-old Joon Baltazar, also known as JooBalt, Da Rakenrol Busker.

Defying the odds

He began busking – or street performing – in 2011.

You might have heard him at some point: He has played on various streets and establishments along the Metro, including malls, parks, and even hospitals.

Nowadays, you would hear him belting out some classic rock song on Bonifacio High Street, where he is a regular street performer. He also sings 90s, new wave, reggae, and croone.

JooBalt usually performs accompanied by his Yaya Marie, who assists him with his busking equipment and who shoots his performance videos. His pet bullmastiff, Janggo, is also with him every time he busks.

Despite being paralyzed from the neck down due to a diving incident when he was 23, JooBalt can busk for as long as 7 hours, with 10-15-minute snack breaks in between.

He says he earns enough from busking, and he finds the craft to be very entertaining.

“Why do I play the streets? You don’t need ramps. You don’t need to talk to bar owners. There’s no very cold air-conditioner,” said JooBalt, who acquired breathing difficulties from his accident.

He says he wants to prove that persons with disabilities (PWDs) are not supposed to be confined at home. “I’m trying to break that stigma. You don’t have to pity us. We can do things. We can rock!”

He also wishes to change Filipinos’ negative perception on street performing. According to him, most equate busking to mendicancy, and only a few in the country see it as an art form.

During the interview, JooBalt shared several brushes he had with security guards, who were usually ordered to shoo him away.

“It’s more of going against the flow,” JooBalt quips. “I’m the type of person who doesn’t want to conform. If I think that’s the usual [way to do things], I try to do something completely opposite and make it work.”

JooBalt calls himself a renegade of sorts, and he has been fighting the odds for a long time so he could continue doing what he loves the most: Playing music.

Intimacy in the streets

Before he decided to busk, however, JooBalt ventured into small businesses and various online jobs, but none of these worked out.

“I hate sales. I hate kissing ass. I hate selling stuff,” he says. He also had to drop out of college in his third year due to his injury.

Later on, the idea of a person on a wheelchair rocking the streets popped into JooBalt’s head.

A musician even as a kid, he initially considered playing in bars and restaurants, but he had to reconsider when he realized that the working environment wasn’t agreeable with his paralyzed condition. So he decided to become a busker, and JooBalt loved it.

Instead of just playing for 40 people in one night in a bar, JooBalt says busking has allowed him to play for thousands more every day. In 2011, he performed in the Manila North Cemetery during Undas.

“I busked for 3 million people for 3 straight days,” JooBalt says. “How can we compare that with bars?”

Furthermore, JooBalt says, “there’s this intimacy in the streets.”

 “You’re really up close and personal with your audience. They can come up to you and talk to you, and you’d want them to do that. It’s not more of a performance; it’s more of an interaction.”

His Facebook profile, in fact, is filled with photos of him and his fans who have nothing but praise for the disabled busker.

For JooBalt, busking has allowed him and his audience to share a language that does not have any barriers – music.

“That zone is open! It is a forum for everyone to get together. There’s no race, there’s no color, there’s no disability, there’s no gender. It’s just music.”

Living free

JooBalt is currently affiliated with Life Haven Incorporated, a non-governmental organization advocating for independent living among PWDs.

The organization envisions a society where PWDs are self-determined and where they participate actively in promoting self-development.

According to JooBalt, it’s not simply about being able to fend for your own, however.

“You should decide everything for yourself, do it with full conviction, but also be accountable for your decisions,” he says. “Be the manager of your own life.”

For JooBalt, the key to his independent living is busking. He sees himself doing it in the long run. After all, he’s having fun, he’s earning money, he’s providing inspiration to others, and he’s spreading social awareness about PWDs.

 “It’s the ultimate fucking freedom that you can do. It really is,” says JooBalt with a smile.

With nothing but a positive attitude for his craft, it seems that JooBalt’s dream to be rock star may just come true. Today, the streets. Tomorrow, the world. – Rappler.com 

Mara Cepeda is a Communication senior from the Ateneo de Manila University. She is currently the editor-in-chief of The GUIDON and an intern at Rappler.