ABS-CBN artists, personalities, and ordinary Filipinos sing together in the convergence shot at the end of the 2004 Christmas station ID “Sabay Tayo, Kapamilya”. Courtesy: Edsel Misenas
MANILA — Before “Star ng Pasko,” there was “Sabay Tayo.”
The 2009 ABS-CBN Christmas station ID, fully titled “Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko,” often takes the cake for all-time favorite among the canon of Kapamilya carols.
But in many ways, it and the nearly two decades of annual Christmas IDs that followed (and are inevitably compared to it) all trace their DNA to “Sabay Tayo, Kapamilya," ABS-CBN’s Yuletide offering in 2004.
This was not ABS-CBN’s first music video Christmas ID, nor its first star-studded one, but it laid the foundation and established many hallmarks of what has made Kapamilya Christmas IDs a class of their own.
The song, despite having no mention of Christmas and none of the chimes and bells associated with the season, went beyond being a jingle. Instead, it professed a deeper connection between the network and its audiences and ultimately, the Filipinos’ bond with each other.
And like many later iconic ABS-CBN Christmas IDs, it was shaped by a time of crisis.
“Nung ginawa natin ‘to, wala akong kamuwang-muwang na magiging big siya, na kino-consider nilang classic,” said Robert Labayen, who wrote the lyrics to “Sabay Tayo” five years before he penned “Star ng Pasko.”
(When we made this, I had no inkling it would become big and even be considered a classic.)
ODE TO FILIPINOS
Earlier in 2004, Labayen had just left a 22-year career in advertising to join ABS-CBN as head of Creative Communications Management (CCM), the division in charge of its plugs and station IDs.
At the time, “Sabay Tayo” was already the network’s year-round imaging campaign, and Labayen decided to build on it for the song.
“Sabi ko, parang bagay na bagay ‘tong theme na’to kasi ‘yung mga teleserye natin, ‘yung news natin, kasabay ng Pilipino, ‘di ba?” he recalled. “Parang synchronized tayong mga Pilipino sa palabas ng ABS-CBN. Kaya naisip ko, ‘uy maganda ‘to’.”
(I said this theme was very apt because our teleseryes and news go hand-in-hand with the Filipinos, right, as if they are synchronized with our programs. So I thought that was beautiful.)
His lyrics turned into an ode to Filipinos everywhere, to their achievements, and to their dreams.
Robert Labayen, then a new executive at ABS-CBN, during the shoot of the 2004 Christmas Station ID with other employees. Courtesy: Edsel Misenas
Labayen pointed to a stanza that captures the repeated sentiment of “sabay nagsisikap sa iisang pangarap” (striving together for one dream):
Kapag kamay mo’y aking hawak
Para akong may pakpak
Pagsubok man ay umapaw
Ikaw at ako’y mangingibabaw
(When your hand is in mine, it’s as if I have wings; Though trials may flood, you and I will rise above)
The song was an affirmation of a link that at the time was being tested.
NO ‘KAPAMILYA’
Director Luigi Santiago holds the camera as he directs the convergence shoot of the ABS-CBN 2004 Christmas Station ID. He passed away a year later. Courtesy: Edsel Misenas
That year, ABS-CBN Channel 2 lost its primetime audience to competitor GMA 7 in the pivotal Mega Manila ratings.
The first line of the chorus, “Sabay tayo sa bawat pagtibok ng ating puso” (We are together with every beat of our heart) even seemed like a dig at GMA’s “Kapuso” tag launched two years earlier.
But Labayen, who was only new to the company then, said he decided to tell a different story with the song that transcended the network war.
“Ayoko lagyan ng ‘Kapamilya’ or ABS-CBN para itong kantang ‘to pwede siyang i-own ng bawat pamilya. Hindi siya parang commercial o jingle na ipo-promote ng ABS-CBN. Para sa ’kin hindi ko na kailangan sabihin 'yung salitang ‘Kapamilya’.”
(I did not want to put ‘Kapamilya’ or ABS-CBN in the lyrics so this song could be owned by every family. It wasn’t like a commercial or jingle to promote the network. For me, I didn’t need to say the word ‘Kapamilya’.)
Interestingly, for the first and probably the only time, this “Christmas ID song” did not have “Pasko” or “Christmas” in its lyrics, much so the musical tropes of Christmas jingles or even a Christmas tree.
Artists converge around rapper Gloc-9 as he performed the rap midpoint of the 2004 Christmas ID–a first, but not the last, in the Kapamilya Yuletide canon. Courtesy: Edsel Misenas
The closest reference to the season, Labayen said, was the montage of family reunions at an airport, seen in the beginning.
It reflected overseas Filipinos returning home for the holidays -- which he added was inspired by the 2003 Christmas film “Love Actually”.
Working with him were CCM execs Johnny De Los Santos and Danie Sedilla Cruz, with Luigi Santiago (who died the following year) directing the video.
The un-Christmassy feel of the 2004 ID would make it “controversial” internally, Labayen said. But he doesn’t recall why it ended up that way.
“Para sa ’kin na-carry away ako ng aking pagkamakabayan,” he said. (I think I got carried away by my patriotism.)
‘TINODO NA’
What it lacked in holiday spirit, the song and station ID made up for in pomp and scale – and in doing so cemented the elements that Filipinos have come to expect from an ABS-CBN Christmas ID.
But Labayen clarified that these elements were already utilized by CCM under his predecessor Cindy De Leon.
ABS-CBN after all premiered the music video-style all-star Christmas ID video dubbed “Isang Pamilya, Isang Puso Ngayong Pasko” back in 2002 -- the year GMA went “Kapuso”.
Still, 2004 was the first time in years a big group of ABS-CBN artists and personalities would converge in one studio and sing together -- akin to the 1990s iconic station ID of employees singing “The Philippines’ Largest Network” jingle.
At the frontline of the convergence shot were ABS-CBN's young artists: the graduates of Season 1 of Star Circle Teen Quest (including a pre-K-pop Sandara Park) and the Goin' Bulilit cast with comedian Dagul. Courtesy: Edsel Misenas
The task of creating the sound went to Jessie Lasaten, a veteran composer, music producer and arranger who had been scoring ABS-CBN shows (which he does until today) and had worked on its station IDs.
He and Labayen had worked together on occasion during the latter’s ad agency days, and the executive looked highly at the prodigy musician’s work.
Getting no pegs from Labayen, Lasaten found the lyrics “beautiful” and wrote the music in around an hour.
He also decided to put out all the stops -- getting not just one but two award-winning choirs and an orchestra even for a song that would feature a rap part by up-and-coming rhymer Gloc-9.
Jessie Lasaten conducts the orchestra for the 2004 ABS-CBN Christmas ID. ABS-CBN screengrab
“Pagbigay sa akin ng lyrics, sabi niya (Labayen), ‘Bahala ka na’. So, siyempre, ako naman mangangarap ako talaga. Ginawa ko, tinodo ko na,” he said. “‘Yung opportunity na, ‘Oh, gawin mo’, parang dream come true sa akin to. Ito ‘yung pinakamalaking production na ginawa in my time in ABS.”
(When Labayen gave me the lyrics, he said ‘Do what you will’. Of course, I would dream big. I went all the way. The opportunity to be said ‘Do this’, it was like a dream come true for me. This was my biggest production in my time in ABS.)
ASAP’s top singers Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Vina Morales and Kuh Ledesma opened the song, with young champions Sarah Geronimo, Erik Santos, Christian Bautista, Mark Bautista, Rachelle Ann Go, Sheryn Regis, and Frenchie Dy also lending their voices -- the start of a new tradition.
Then-“Popstar Princess” Sarah Geronimo poses with ABS-CBN CCM staff during the shoot of the 2004 ABS-CBN Christmas ID–her first ever. Including this she has sung the themes to 15 Kapamilya Christmas IDs as of 2025. Courtesy: Edsel Misenas
Performing were groups making waves internationally: choral groups UP Madrigal Singers and Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir, Powerdance of dance icon Douglas Nierras, and the Bayanihan Dance Company.
The shoots took place on a tight schedule, mostly at Studio 1, now the Dolphy Theater. Many of those with singing parts such as choirs recorded their audio portions on the stage just before they shot for the music video at the same venue.
Aside from showcasing Filipino pride, the station ID would for the first time include shots of ordinary Filipinos singing along both in the Philippines and abroad.
The Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir, which became the first Filipino champions of the Choir Olympics in Bremen, Germany in 2004, cap off the year performing in the ABS-CBN Christmas Station ID. Courtesy: Robert Labayen
“Ang favorite ko diyan 'yung ‘sabay tayong lumuha, sabay tayong bumangon, sabay tayong magsaya’. 'Yung contrast nun, na talagang kahit anong mangyari, magkasama tayo,” Lasaten said of his favorite lines in the song.
(My favorite is the one where ‘We cry, get back up, and celebrate together’. Just the contrast of those words that whatever happens, we will be together.)
‘SABAY AAHON’
With its appeal to connection and emotion, “Sabay Tayo, Kapamilya” led the way for future ABS-CBN station ID songs to transcend the confines of TV branding -- of which “Star ng Pasko” eventually made the biggest impact.
Labayen said he encounters many, especially millennials who came of age when the station ID came out, who consider “Sabay Tayo” their favorite ABS-CBN song next to “Star ng Pasko.”
And its words, while not exactly for the Christmas season, remain relevant despite the many other challenges and changes ABS-CBN and the country has gone through over two decades.
“Kadugtong na natin ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino sa lahat ng ginagawa, dinadamayan natin sila. ‘Yung mga teleserye natin, salamin ng buhay; news natin, pinapakita natin kung ano ang pinagdadaanan nila sa araw-araw. Hindi 'yan nagbago.”
(We are connected to the life of every Filipino in all we do, we help them. Our teleseryes still mirror life; our news still documents what we go through every day. That hasn’t changed.)
It is heartwarming, Labayen said, that after all those ups and downs -- the loss of a franchise, a pandemic, political shifts, and others -- the Kapamilya Christmas ID remains bright with stars and ABS-CBN continues to draw audiences as a content company without a “station” of its own.
“Hindi tayo iniwan ng ating Kapamilya. Sila mismo, mga Kapamilya natin ang nagpapatunay na sabay tayo sa lahat ng pinagdarasal natin, inaambisyon natin, at sana sabay-sabay rin tayong aahon sa mga pinagdadaanan natin.”
(Our Kapamilya did not leave us. They themselves prove that we truly are together in our prayers, ambitions, and I hope we rise together from the challenges we all face.)
The original lyrics end with “Magkaramay sa lumbay, magkasama sa lahat ng tagumpay (Sharing each other’s burdens, together in every victory).”
It’s a continuing promise to the Filipinos ABS-CBN has committed to serve–and a message that’s ripe for a revisit more than 20 years later.
RELATED VIDEO: