The 1999 selection of Parokya Ni Edgar’s “Harana” video as the Asian Viewers’ Choice at the MTV awards in New York City cemented what local Filipino audiences had known for years: the Manila-based band were far more than a scrappy underground act with a penchant for goofy stage shows. Forged by six high school classmates who met at Manila’s Ateneo High School — vocalist Chito Miranda, back-up singer and dancer Vinci Montaner, guitarists Darius Semana and Gab CheeKee, bassist Buwi Meneses, and drummer Dindin Moreno — the group first came together under the name Comic Relief, building their early setlists around parodies of well-known songs that let them lean into their shared love of irreverent humor and subversive takes on popular music.