Google Philippines is set to launch a special song with five well-known local bands and musicians for the Filipino modern-day heroes, the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The song is meant to recognize and celebrate close to 12 million OFWs and aims to reconnect them with the things they miss back home through music. And every Filipino can be part of this special project because the lyrics will be crowdsourced from millions of Filipinos here and abroad.
Google is working with Sponge Cola, ItchyWorms and Kjwan, band vocalist Ebe Dancel and YouTube star Mikey Bustos, who will be putting melody to the lyrics and will be recording the song together. The song will be released on September 1 exclusively on YouTube, just in time for the National Heroes’ Day.
“Wherever we go, we see how the Filipino spirit comes to life whenever there’s music. The song and the lyrics will hopefully touch their hearts and remind them that wherever they are, we remember them,” shares Ebe, popular singer and songwriter who rose to fame as frontman of pop rock band Sugar Free.
“In our effort to make the lives of Filipinos easier, we strive to provide Filipino families ways to stay connected wherever in the world they may be,” says Ryan Morales, Google Philippines country marketing manager. “This is why we thought of creating this song to deliver the fond memories of our overseas Filipinos across the miles through music and technology. We are inviting every Filipino to join in the fun by contributing lyrics to the song.”
This initiative is part of Google Philippines’ “Balikbayan” campaign which aims to reconnect overseas Filipinos with their families and friends and help them sustain and enrich their relationships despite physical barriers.
Aside from being dedicated to OFWs, every submission to the song will also amount to a Php1 donation made on behalf of the collaborators to the Blas Ople Policy Center & Training Institute. These donations will be used to build halfway houses for victims of human trafficking.
To submit lyrics, simply go to https://goo.gl/vRkjUK or post using #GoogleMissKoNa on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Those living abroad can share what they miss most about the Philippines while those living in the country can share what they miss most about their distant loved ones.
