Activist, artist, cultural worker, and musician Budoy Marabiles has passed away.
On December 4, 2025, media outlets announced Marabiles’ death. While the cause of death has yet to be shared with the public, the news has shaken communities across Visayas and Mindanao.
Marabiles is best known as the frontman of iconic reggae band, Junior Kilat. His love for reggae and dub was first shaped during his years at the University of the Philippines – Cebu, when professors at the Fine Arts Department would show students various cassettes of reggae artists.
“Sa una wala pa’y access sa mga reggae…bisag mga tapes, gamay ra naa. Pero sila, naa na sila — ang usual, mga Bob Marley, UB40…mga early ’80s, late ’90s na banda na sikat sa gawas (At the time, no one had access to reggae…even [cassette] tapes were hard to come by. But [the professors], they had — the usual [artists], like Bob Marley, UB40…the bands in the early ’80s, late ’90s that were popular worldwide),” Marabiles shared in an interview with Billboard Philippines on the origins of reggae in Visayas and Mindanao.
The reggae scenes of the ’80s, ’90s, and early noughts set the groundwork for musicians and adjacent scenes, especially in Cebu. Marabiles recounted that members of iconic bisrock bands like Powerspoonz and Urbandub came from the reggae, ska, and rocksteady scenes before establishing their careers in rock.
Aside from his work with Junior Kilat, he was also a celebrated visual artist and a political activist. He was also an electronic musician and DJ, performing as budoyX. His track, “Positibo,” was listed as one of Coast2Coast’s 25 top songs of 2024, where we wrote, “Budoy Marabiles’ electronic project budoyX constantly pushes the boundaries of sound and rhythm, and ‘Positibo’ featuring J.C.O.Y and CHOCO is no different. Marabiles blends organic drums, a chopped up Japanese vocal sample, and ambient synths to make something that you can’t help but move your body to.”
In the wake of the bombshell Department and Public Works and Highways (DPWH) flood control corruption scandal that shook the country earlier this year, Junior Kilat’s “Kawatan” (Bisaya for thief) started making waves. The song, originally written after the 2013 pork barrel scam, became a national cry for accountability.
Marabiles was an active participant in political protests and activities following the flood corruption scandal. Most recently, he performed at Counterflow Productions’ Kurapsyon Ang Tinuod Nga Kalamidad! A Concert Against Corruption.
Coast2Coast is one with the Marabiles family and the whole of the Bisaya music community in mourning Budoy’s passing.
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