At the height of the pandemic, I received a distress call from one of my closest friends. She just gave birth to a cute baby boy, we nicknamed Sinag (I call him Pisngi nowadays) a few days prior and needed help with her newborn because she needed to undergo some more tests. And so, Tita Yayey came to the rescue, even though I have really no idea how to babysit days-old babies.
After some “kumustahan” and couple of “bilin” about feeding the baby, changing diapers and what have you, off the couple went to the hospital, leaving me with Sinag, his ate Thea, and Tito Dex, our reliable friend-slash-driver-slash all-around guy.
Everything was going well until the baby started crying. We couldn’t feed him yet because the breastmilk was still frozen solid and we were just thawing it. We checked if it was because of the diaper. (It was not, thank God).
Before I knew it, I was singing-dancing while carrying the baby. I tried a couple of songs until the baby seemed to settle down with the “Macarena.” I didn’t know why he liked my version of that popular dance song in the 1990s, but the baby stopped crying and soon after fell asleep.
In hindsight, while singing the foreign song worked, I would have actually liked it if I sang him Philippine lullabies. But unfortunately, my lullaby repertoire was composed of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” followed by other foreign songs and even a couple of Kpop songs. As far as I could remember, I’ve never sang him a Filipino lullaby.
And I think most parents and other nurturers have the same dilemma. While paghehele, or the act of singing lullabies, has always been part of the Filipino childcare culture, we tend to forget our own lullabies and folk songs. Quite unfortunate really, since we have a rich repertoire of lullabies. Each region in our country has their own lullabies.
Good thing that the Cultural Center of the Philippines launched Himig Himbing: Mga Heleng Atin, a project featuring eight music videos of lullabies from different regions of the country. jAudience Development Division, Himig Himbing reintroduces the Philippine indigenous lullabies to contemporary audiences and develop nurturers that are grounded in our Philippine songs and hele.
Based on the research of ethnomusicologist Sol Trinidad and arranged by musical director Krina Cayabyab, eight filmmakers create their film interpretation of the featured lullabies, including “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan,” “Katurog na, Nonoy,” “Wiyawi,” “Aba-aba,” “Hele,” “Dungdungwen Kanto,” “Tingkatulog,” and “Ili, Ili, Tulog Anay.”
The filmmakers are Sigrid Bernardo, Mes De Guzman, Law Fajardo, Teng Mangansakan, Thop Nazareno, Carla Ocampo, Milo Tolentino, and Alvin Yapan.
During the launch recently, the Main Theater stage turned into a huge cradle, with kulambo embracing the nurturers and their babies. I have to give credits to the production team, led by director Ariel Yonzon and production designer Ricardo “Eric” Cruz, for that beautiful set.
While lounging at the banig spread all over the stage, the Breastfeeding Pinays members bonded with their children while watching the new cinematic interpretations of the indigenous lullabies.
For Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, filmmaker Sigrid Bernardo captures Filipino mothers and nurturers of all kinds across the world in this nostalgic documentary style black and white music video. Baihana sang the music track for the video. The Tagalog lullaby, composed by National Artist for Music Lucio San Pedro with lyrics by National Artist for Literature Levi Celerio, is often sung from the point of view of an adult feeling nostalgic about sleeping in the baby hammock with their mother.
Filmmaker Alvin Yapan creates a dreamy fairy tale-like music video for the Bicolano lullaby “Katurog na, Nonoy.” He uses imagistic parallels between babies and bananas, inspired from a collection of riddles by the late Bicolana literary historian and researcher Lilia Realubit, while the fisherman comes from another Bicol folk song “Si Nanay, Si Tatay.” Often sung by one whom a little boy looks for to put him to sleep, this particular folk song melody was popularized as a choral piece; Phoebe Bitoon lends her voice to this lullaby.
Filmmaker Carla Ocampo takes on the traditional Kalinga lullaby “Wiyawi.” Often sung by caretakers (usually Cordilleran fathers), it describes the warm weather that makes the baby cry. Its music and text were collected by Dr. Felicidad Prudente during her fieldwork in Buaya, Kalinga and transcribed for publication in the book Antukin by Tahanan Books for Young Readers. Sung by Bullet Dumas, the music video opens with a montage of the traditional Cordilleran home. As the Kalinga father attempts to soothe his child, the viewers are transported in a dream where a higante, dressed like a king and carrying a sword, slowly reveals itself.
“Aba-aba” is a lullaby indigenous to Southern Mindanao, particularly sung by the indigenous group Subanon. Its field recording was taken and documented by National Artist for Music Ramon Santos and is now accessible through the archives of UP Center for Ethnomusicology. Filmmaker Teng Mangansakan envisions a Subanen mother being convinced by her two friends to seek greener pastures in the city. As they leave, the mother is revisited by the memory of the river goddess cementing her resolve to stay in the Subanen homeland for her baby. Music track is performed by Rolinda Gibaliga, “Hele,” a lullaby from a 1986 field recording of Dr. Elena Mirano taken in San Mateo, Rizal, is a Tagalog song sung by a caretaker to a child, with lyrics alluding to an afternoon nap. In the music video, filmmaker Milo Tolentino created a visual narrative anchored on a tale of familial love and loss and reversal of role. The lullaby, sung by Nica Del Rosario, gives voice to a woman’s statement of love to her child and spouse – a nurturing anthem that bounces back to soothe a debilitating grief that threatens a once loving bond.
“Aba-aba” and “Hele” are both unpublished lullabies. The launch was the first time they would be released, apart from their field recordings.
Dungdungwen Kanto (translated as I Will Love You) is the first line of the Ilocano wedding song “Duayya ni Ayat (Lullaby of Love). While mostly associated with weddings, it is also often sung as a children’s lullaby. Sung by Abby Clutario and Joshua Cadelina, filmmaker Mes De Guzman’s animated music video features the quintessential rural Filipino household, where one can see a baby hammock flying over Ilocos’ iconic landscapes and landmarks.
With JD Tena on vocals and Daniel Calingasan playing bandurria, filmmaker Thop Nazareno produces a loving story of two siblings trying to take care of each other in their mother’s absence in Tingkatulog (Sleeping Time), a folk lullaby from the area of Bohol. Playing the mother is actress Yayo Aguila, with Marco Masa and Juharra Zhianne Asayo as the siblings.
A Visayan lullaby, “Ili, Ili, Tulog Anay” (Little One, Go to Sleep) is sung by a caretaker to a child and mentions a mother who is out buying bread. Its music and text transcription were published in the book Folk Songs: Songs of the Visayas by Priscilla Magdamo.
Filmmaker Law Fajardo’s music video features the daily life and struggles of a family and shows a glimpse of the sugar cane workers’ routines in the barrio. It focuses on women who strive to raise their children in the absence of their partner. Coleen De Guzman and Nica Tupas perform the lullaby in Hiligaynon.
You can watch these music videos on the official CCP YouTube and facebook accounts “Aba-aba” and “Dungdungwen Kanto” were already uploaded. Catch the release of the other lullabies: “Hele” on November 26; “Katurog Na, Nonoy” on November 27; “Tingkatulog” on December 3; “Wiyawi” on December 4; “Ili, Ili, Tulog Anay” on Dec. 10; and “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” on December 11.
Please, do take time to watch these music videos. Or better yet, play them to your children and see the magic of our own lullabies unfold.