Remembering Iya Tikay

Presentacion “Iya Tikay” Dakoykoy passed away quietly at the ripe age of 79 in 1989 with nary an obituary in the local dailies. Today we remember her as a teenager who, on February 8, 1930, claimed the distinction of being the first Cebuana mezzo-soprano ever to record Cebuano songs on Victor discs, earning her the title “Cebuano cantariz”. On that day, the Erlanger and Galinger Company announced the arrival of four of 14 records by Iya Tikay, who trained under the Italian baritone Giaccomo Brigardi in Manila. Among the songs she sang count “Mingi”, “Dalaga Sa Bukid”, “Payabon”, “Ania sa Abanico”, “Halaga sa Akong Yuta”, “Milagay” and “Amahan Namo”, which were recorded in the Iloilo Studios of Victor Company in August 1929.

Iya Yikay, who never married, went on to become the other half of the “Iyo Tikoy-Iya Tikay” show that aired over DYRC and later DYHP up to the early 1960s, in tandem with the famous entertainer and composer Pio “Piux” Kabahar.

- Ybarra