Posted by Christmas is around the corner. And once again, I’m missing home.
Home where the street carolers are singing “Sa may bahay ang aming bati, merry Christmas na malualhati.” Or “Ang Pasko ay sumapit, tayo ay magsiawit.” Or if by chance you ignore them, you’ll hear “Thank you, thank you, ang babarat ninyo, thank you!”
One song that I have not heard for a long time is this song: “Payapang Daigdig.” It is perhaps our Filipino equivalent of Silent Night.
It was written by Felipe de Leon. The song has been inspired as they said, by the turmoil brought by World War II. It was first sang during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. De Leon penned the lyrics of this hauntingly beautiful song, after seeing his hometown, Manila (my hometown too), in ruins.
If you listen to the song, it is quite amazing that its message is in stark opposite of the reality of that time.
To all the OFWs, expats, and all Filipinos who are missing home this Christmas, may you find peace, despite of all the unrest, on this holiday season.
(*video taken from YouTube, posted by Analyn Solano)
Pinoy Transplant in Iowa 
So peaceful I fall asleep…
Yeah, it’s a lullaby. 😊
Hello, it is not actually a Filipino equivalent of Silent Night but rather a thanking song because it was a memoir of the aftermath of World War 2, when Manila was flattened by bombing done by the Kamikaze forces. After the war, everybody was so peaceful that De Leon had had to write this song, according to historians.
Yes, Felipe wrote this song after seeing the devastation of Manila. It is just ironic that he wrote a seemingly calm picture despite the turmoil of the war. Thanks for the input, and thank you for stopping by.