Hello,

Filipinos, especially Cebuanos, are known for their love of music. Almost everyone here in the Philippines knows how to sing or play an instrument.

This is a very popular song in our country. It's called "Babalik Ka Rin" by a very popular artist of ours named Gary Valenciano. Translated to English, it's "You Will Come Back" It's all about Filipinos abroad goign back to their home country.

Whenever this song is played, it brings tears to the millions of Filipinos workign abroad. There was even an account when a Filipino sang this song en route to Manila from Japan. Every Filipino on board that flight sang in unison. All of them were smiling and crying with joy, hugging and shakign hands.

When an American asked his seatmate, a Filipino, about what is going on, the Filipino explained that they were very excited in returning home. He said they have been away from home for so long that in many cases thier own families don't recognize them. That's the sacrifice that they have to take so that thier families will have better lives. They are willing to endure the hardships, blood, sweat, tears and even death in working in a foreign land just so that their families and children will have better lives than themselves.

After he explained the lyrics of the song, the foreigner, a huge tough looking guy, cried.

Click on the second song from this link. You can download it if you wish to (Right click and "Save As). I also placed the lyrics of the song. The text in parenthesis is the english translation. Take note, you CANNOT sing this in English.

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/audio/Babalik%2BKa%2BRin/1/-/1/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/417/top/-/-/0

Babalik Ka Rin
by Gary Valenciano

Saan ka man naroroon ngayon (Wherever you are right now)
Saudi, Japan o Hong Kong (Saudi, Japan or Hong Kong)
Babalik ka rin, babalik ka rin (You will come back, you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (You will come back)


REFRAIN 1
Ano mang layo ang narating (How far away you may have been)
Singapore, Autralia, Europe o Amerika (Singapore, Australia, Europe or America)
Babalik at babalik ka rin (You will come back)

CHORUS
Kay tagal mo nang nawala (It has been so long since you were gone)
At babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (You will come back)
Kay tagal mo nang nawala (It has been so long since you were gone)
At babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (You will come back)

Sa piling ng iyong pinagmulan (In the presence of your origin)
Sa iyong nakaraan (In the presence of your past)
Babalik ka rin, babalik ka rin (You will come back)
Babalik ka rin (You will come back)

REFRAIN 2
Ano mang layo ang narating (How far away you may have been)
Iyong maaalala mga dati mong kasama (You will remember all your friends and loved ones)
Babalik at babalik ka rin (You will come back)

[Repeat CHORUS]

BRIDGE
Sa nakalipas na panahon (For all the times you missed,)
Sa iyong kahapon (For all the memories of your past,
Sa alaalang naghihintay sa 'yo (Everything here is waiting for you)

CHORUS
Kay tagal mo nang nawala (You've been gone for so long)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Kay tagal mo nang nawala (You've been gone for so long)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)

Kay tagal mo nang nawala (You've been gone for so long)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Kay tagal mo nang nawala (You've been gone for so long)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)
Babalik ka rin (But you will come back)

At babalik ka rin (And you will come back)
At babalik ka rin (And you will come back)
At babalik ka rin (And you will come back)

If you know Filipino colleagues or friends who are living in your country, please share this to them. Observe their reactions.

****One more thing, would you know any site where I can store mp3 files? I want to share with you some Filipino songs.

Angela

This particular news item is all about unity. It also reminds us who we actually are:

Filipina Wins It Big in London
The Philippine Star 05/16/2004

Patricia Evangelista, a 19-year- old, Mass Communications, sophomore of University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, did the country proud Friday night by besting 59 other student contestants from 37 countries in the 2004 International Public Speaking competition conducted by the English Speaking Union (ESU) in London.

She triumphed over a field of exactly 60 speakers from all over the English-speaking world, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

The board of judges' decision was unanimous, according to contest chairman Brian Hanharan of the British broadcasting Corp. (BBC).

This is her speech:

BLONDE AND BLUE EYES

When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue eyed, and white. I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake upon Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of "greener pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino diaspora. Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.

There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.

Seen this way, the Filipino diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity . Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a million seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End.

Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!

Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire travelled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balikbayans or the 'returnees' -- those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities that come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me.

And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.

Mabuhay and Thank you.