MANILA – What do Filipinos abroad miss most back home?
According to a new song from Google Philippines, among them are tapsilog, TV teleseryes, fiestas, videoke, halo-halo and getting drunk with Tito Bhoy.
For the last month, the tech giant has been busy crowdsourcing lyrics here and abroad to answer this enduring question with an anthem dedicated to overseas Filipno workers (OFW).
The result is “Miss Ko Na,” performed for the first time by its creators Sponge Cola, ItchyWorms, Kjwan, Ebe Dancel and Mikey Bustos last Tuesday, September 1 at K-Pub BBQ in Bonifacio Global City.
The feel-good hymn captures scenes and details every Filipino can relate and recall like noche Buena, eating with bare hands and even street lingo like “bochi.”
It even made fun of things most locals won’t miss – EDSA traffic, crazy floods, surprise brownouts and the hot weather. While forgettable, Dancel shares with adobo that they are still part of the whole experience of missing the country and our loved ones.
As expected from one of the world’s pioneering tech companies, Google took the chance to introduce the first 360-degree YouTube video in the Philippines with the “Miss Ko Na” music video.
The press was given free Google Carboards to see it in its full glory. Exclusively available on YouTube, Miss Ko Na also has a karaoke version of the song.
The best part? Google pledged to donate a peso for every lyric they got getting to the Blas Ople Policy Center & Training Institute, to be spent to build halfway houses for victims of human trafficking.
The song is the third phase of its “Balikbayan” campaign that started last 2014. It kicked off with an awareness campaign last February, promptly followed with the second phase launched in time for Christmas – a special “Balikbayan” Google page and the viral “Miss Nothing” video spot.
McCann is their partner for this phase. Previous ad agencies they have worked with for the Balikbayan campaign are DM9 Jayme Syfu (Phase 2) and Singapore-based ad agency Villains (Phase 1).
