Mañanita

One of the few Hispanic traditions that had managed to survive to this day in Zamboanga City is the practice of singing salutatory songs to someone celebrating his birthday before he rises early in the morning. I say this because, though few and far between, I still get to enjoy hearing these enthralling morning renditions in my barrio.

I owe it to a mawkish coterie of barrio women and a few pious men, almost certainly belonging to some parish league, for keeping the tradition alive. They gather together to rehearse a well-kept selection of morning songs in some neighbor’s house where the younger of kin come to learn and join in the singing and hopefully will keep the tradition going.

Their trained voices will be heard with the strum of the guitar in the wee hours of the morning as they sneak up at the celebrant’s doorsteps to rouse him melodiously from his sleep. The song that goes … how beautiful is the morning, is often sung first, followed by a motley collection of birthday songs and some of the celebrant’s favorites as well. It is customary for the celebrant to offer his well-wishers something to eat and drink after the singing like native delicacies served with tea, coffee or ginger ale.

Unlike a serenade sung in the evening for a beloved, it is considered folk song sung before sunrise on a person’s birthday. It is popularly thought to be of Mexican tradition. The practice however came to be associated with the Roman Catholic Church Cursillo Movement that originated from Spain in the 1940’s. Its repertoire took on many localized versions with its spread in the Philippines.   

Chavacano songs have evolved and grown through the years from the No Te Vayas and Zamboanga Hermosa of long time ago, the popular ditties of Titang Jaldon, the unforgettable tunes of the Major Chords, the romantic ballads of Marc Velasco, to the recent explosion of rap and pop music produced by Chavacano bands. But the local musical landscape with its kaleidoscope of sounds can further take on new patterns by drawing on our traditional songs and music of an upbeat Mexican format.

Our posture as Latin City of Asia provides yet another outlet for such songs. I’m referring to “Combanchero” type of music with its lively and danceable rhythmic sounds. Who can deny our musical affinity with such Mexican songs as El Racho Grande, Cielito Lindo, La Cucaracha or La Bamba? Do we not feel they are as much our own? Well, Chicanos and Chavacanos do share a lot in common.