{{short description|Filipino folk singer (1951–2024)}} {{use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox musical artist | background = person | name = Coritha | image = | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = Coritha in 1976. | birth_name = Socorro Avelino | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1951|6|27}} | birth_place = | origin = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|9|27|1951|6|27}} | death_place = Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines | genre = {{hlist|Folk|Country}} | occupation = {{hlist|Singer|composer|songwriter}} | instrument = | discography = | years_active = 1960s–2017 | label = | current_member_of = | past_member_of = | spouse = <!-- Use article title or common name --> | partner = Chito Santos | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} or {{Official URL}} --> | module = | module2 = | module3 = }} '''Socorro Avelino''' (June 27, 1951 – September 27, 2024<ref name="pep-dies">{{cite news |last1=Franco |first1=Bernie |title=OPM folk singer Coritha dies |url=https://www.pep.ph/news/local/183135/opm-folk-singer-coritha-dies-a717-20240928 |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=PEP.ph |publisher=Philippine Entertainment Portal, Inc. |date=28 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref>), commonly known professionally by the mononym '''Coritha''', was a Filipino folk singer. She is best known for the 1979 song "Oras Na", and other songs such as "Sierra Madre" and "Lolo Jose".
==Career== Coritha popularized the songs "Oras Na" ({{Literal translation|It's Time}}) and "Sierra Madre" in the 1970s.<ref name="mb-passes-away">{{cite news |last1=Requintina |first1=Robert |title=Oras Na: OPM folk icon Coritha passes away, 73 |url=https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/27/opm-folk-icon-coritha-passes-away-73 |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=Manila Bulletin |date=28 September 2024 |language=en, fil}}</ref> She also performed "Awit Kay Leandro" ({{Literal translation|Song for Leandro}}), "Gising na, O Kuya Ko" ({{Literal translation|Wake Up, My Older Brother}}) and "Lolo Jose" ({{Literal translation|Grandpa Jose}}).<ref name="mt-dies">{{cite news |last1=Cua |first1=Aric John Sy |title=Folk singer Coritha dies |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/09/29/news/national/folk-singer-coritha-dies/1975578 |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=The Manila Times |date=29 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=malaya>{{cite news |last1=Domingo |first1=Gay Ace |title=Coritha’s legacy |url=https://malaya.com.ph/corithas-legacy/ |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=Malaya |date=29 September 2024}}</ref><ref name="music-legend-abs">{{cite news |last1=Cuadra |first1=Addie |title=Philippine music legend Coritha passes away at 73 |url=https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/2024/9/29/philippine-music-legend-coritha-passes-away-at-73-1324 |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=29 September 2024}}</ref> Peaking in the 1960s and 1970s, she is noted for her folk-country songs which devises native Philippine instruments.<ref name="rappler-dies">{{cite news |last1=Reyes |first1=Juno |title=OPM legend Coritha dies |url=https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/music/filipino-music-icon-coritha-dies/ |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=Rappler |date=28 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240928035225/https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/music/filipino-music-icon-coritha-dies/ |archive-date=28 September 2024}}</ref><ref name="journal">{{cite news |last1=Vivar |first1=Vinia |title=OPM legend na si Coritha pumanaw na|trans-title=OPM legend Coritha passed away |url=https://journalnews.com.ph/opm-legend-na-si-coritha-pumanaw-na/ |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=Journal News Online |date=28 September 2024|language=fil}}</ref>
"Lolo Jose" was an own composition which was an entry at the Metro Pop Songwriting Contest. She is also a recipient of two Cecil awards for Best Folk-Pop Song and Best Folk-Pop Vocal Performance.<ref name="pep-dies"/>
Coritha retired from full-time performing in 2000.<ref name="mt-dies"/> She also composed the song "Mabuhay Ang Kalayaan" ({{Literal translation|Long live Freedom}}), which was used as the theme song of the 2002 film ''Lapu-Lapu'' and was nominated as Best Theme Song in the 2002 Metro Manila Film Festival.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coritha, nag-walkout din |url=https://www.philstar.com/pilipino-star-ngayon/showbiz/2003/01/03/190203/coritha-nag-walkout-din|access-date=23 November 2024 |work=Pilipino Star Ngayon |date=3 January 2003 |language=fil}}</ref>
The song "Oras Na" was used a protest anthem in the 2001 EDSA Revolution which deposed president Joseph Estrada. Coritha personally took part in the protests. The song composed in 1978 and released a year later was made during the Martial law era under president and dictator, Ferdinand Marcos.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oras Na: A song that has inspired millions |url=https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2001/03/30/94264/oras-na-song-has-inspired-millions |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=The Philippine Star |date=30 March 2001}}</ref> The song, particularly the line ''Ang takot ay nasa isip lamang'' ({{Literal translation|Fear is only in the mind}}) was also referenced by Corazon Aquino in a rally against Marcos in 1986.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oras Na: A song that has inspired millions |url=https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2001/03/30/94264/oras-na-song-has-inspired-millions |access-date=23 November 2024 |work=The Philippine Star |date=30 March 2001 |language=en}}</ref> It was also used as a theme for the 2018 film ''BuyBust''.<ref name="mt-dies"/><ref name=malaya/>
==Illness and death== Coritha was diabetic and became bedridden in her final years of her life after suffering from a stroke in February 2024.<ref name="pep-dies"/> Coritha died on September 27, 2024, at her partner's residence in Tagaytay.<ref name="mb-passes-away"/><ref name="music-legend-abs"/> Her condition was first publicized in July 2024 by her partner through a video by Julius Babao's vlog channel in YouTube, with Coritha's colleagues in the industry organizing a fundraiser for her.<ref name="journal"/><ref name="inq">{{cite news |last1=Pasajol |first1=Anne |title=Folk singer Coritha dies |url=https://entertainment.inquirer.net/578772/folk-singer-coritha-dies |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=28 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> Coritha's remains were subsequently cremated.<ref name="music-legend-abs"/>
==Personal life== Luisito "Chito" Santos was Coritha's domestic partner who found her after Coritha's house in Quezon City burned down in 2018.<ref name="music-legend-abs"/><ref name="fire">{{cite news |last1=Tupas |first1=Emmanuel |title=Fire destroys folk singer’s house |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2018/10/07/1857868/fire-destroys-folk-singers-house |access-date=20 October 2024 |work=The Philippine Star |date=7 October 2018}}</ref> She first met Santos in the 1980s during a concert in Escolta.<ref name="mb-passes-away"/> Following the fire, she lived in Santos's residence in Tagaytay in Cavite until her death.<ref name="rappler-dies"/> She also had a sister and a brother.<ref name="inq"/><ref name="fire"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:1951 births Category:2024 deaths Category:Filipino folk singers Category:Filipino songwriters Category:Filipino women singer-songwriters Category:People from Quezon City Category:20th-century Filipino women singers Category:Filipino women activists