new UP song

I just got my copy of the Carillon, UP Alumni Newsletter, for June-September 2005. I can’t remember if I got a copy last quarter.

What interested me was an article about Ryan Cayabyab’s new song for UP.

sayong

09-24-05 11:55pm

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Mr. C writes a new song for UP



Last April, a "true-maroon" son of the University of the Philippines came home to Diliman to inspire the graduates as this year's commencement speaker.

But it's not as if he left. Because he never did.

Acclaimed musician Ryan Cayabyab (BM'83) has been and will always be a son of UP Diliman. He spent his childhood in Area 1, a neighborhood located at the campus periphery. He never went to any other school, from primary to college. Afterwards, he went on to teach at the College of Music where he met his wife Emy, and now his firstborn is enrolled in the same college. No doubt then that he topped the shortlist of commencement speakers for the Class of 2005.

"I do not like delivering speeches, I'd rather write music. When I was offered to be the speaker, I considered after giving it much thought and consultation with friends. Not one of them dissuaded me. Everyone told me to go for it," Cayabayab said. Known as the inimitable Mr. C in the entertainment industry, Cayabyab had previously turned down an invitation to speak at a UP Integrated School graduation ceremonies for exactly the same misgivings.

Ironically, Cayabyab never heard the commencement speaker at his own university graduation simply because he did not attend. "Nahihiya ako because I overstayed," he confessed, laughing. But now he realized that it was time to give back to the university that honed him to be what he is now.

Although, he didn't really know what to say. For one thing, he didn't want his speech to be long and boring.

"It took me just one sitting and several revisions before I finalized my speech. I rehearsed it in front of my wife and she said, nangilid daw luha niya. Puno daw ng UP, mapuso. That's when I knew that I could already deliver it," Cayabyab said.

His speech was meant to show that he never went to any other school except UP. "I wanted to inspire them [the graduates] and make them realize that here I am, a 100-percent Philippine-trained, UP-trained musician, and I didn't learn it from any other school, here or abroad," Cayabyab related.

Mr. C was not, however, without surprises.

Longer than he worked on his speech, Cayabyab spent more hours putting together a song that would show the young graduates, and not just tell them, the beauty of creativity and innovation, which was this year's theme.

Putting music to the poem of high school classmate Romeo Candazo titled "Salamat sa 'Yo, UP" originally written for their UPIS class, Cayabyab thought it best to turn it into a song, give it a totally pop arrangement and premiere it on graduation day. He commissioned friends from the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Miguel Master Chorale, most of whom came from the UP Concert Chorus and the UP Madrigals, to perform with him. The result was a first in the history of UP graduations: a commencement guest who did not only speak his heart out, but who sang his profoundest gratitude to his Alma Mater.

Here is what Cayabyab (and Candazo) surprised the Class of 2005 with:

Salamat Sa 'Yo, UP

Sa 'yo UP maraming salamat
Ikaw na aking tahanan
Mula sa aking pagkamulat
Hanggang sa aking huling hininga

Sa 'yo UP maraming salamat
Ang iyong mga aral ang aking gabay
Baon ko ito sa paglalakbay
Hanggang mapanaw ang buhay

Kami'y lumaki sa iyong pag- iingat
Natutong mag aral, natutong magsaya
Dulot mo ay init tuwing kami ay nagiginaw
Sa lahat ng panahon bigay mo'y pagasa

Sa 'yo UP maraming salamat
Ang iyong mga aral ang aking gabay
Baon ko ito sa paglalakbay
Hanggang mapanaw ang buhay

It is not surprising that faculty and alumni have started clamoring for a copy of "Salamat sa Iyo, UP" which, as early as now, is touted to be the new UP song.

UP President Emerlinda Roman talked to Cayabyab and asked him about the possibility of using the song for the fundraising activities in line with the UP Centennial in 2008. Targeting to raise P5 billion, university officials will go on a sort of a road show and travel abroad to rally alumni to support the endeavor.

"I told her that the university may use the song in anyway they deem best. I even suggested that we could produce it, and ask prominent UP personalities to sing it and record it," Cayabyab adds.

With its lyrics, the song is indeed appropriate for the alumni of the university. "It is also subliminally appealing to the hearts of the alumni to give back," said Ryan. "Music has this way of creating an emotional attachment, and I hope this song will do it for the alumni."

Article by Ivy Lisa F. Mendoza, reprinted from the Manila Bulletin