UAE-based Pinoy musician writes song for ravaged Catanduanes

A 34-year-old Filipino radiographer at the Wellness One Day Surgery Center in Abu Dhabi composed a song last Thursday to inspire the people of Catanduanes, an island province of Bicol region, devastated by super Typhoon Rolly on November 1.

“I made the music and lyrics of ‘Tindog Catandunganon’ on November 5, days after Rolly struck my beloved hometown, the ‘Happy Island’ Catanduanes and the ‘Land of the Howling Winds’,” disclosed Alli John Tatel, referring to his original composition written in both Bicolano and Tagalog.

[PLAY SONG]

“I hope it will inspire the people of Catanduanes so that despite their current situation, they will remain strong and resilient as what every person in the island possesses,” he added in an interview through Messenger on November 7.

Tatel is not a stranger to helping his fellow Filipinos, may they be in the Philippines or abroad.

He has led five other Filipino healthcare workers in a musical presentation for the “We Sing for Philippines: Charity-for-a-Cause,” a two-day event that aimed to raise donations for the countless victims of super Typhoon Yolanda back in 2013. 

Then he joined 35 other Filipino musicians from all over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to "usher in" the Christmas spirit among his homesick kababayans. 

“Writing songs about the my island province always inspires me. Sobrang miss ko na ang Catanduanes. Dapat uuwi kami nung summer pero dahil sa pandemic, ‘di na kami natuloy.”

“Hopefully, the leaders will serve the people wholeheartedly in this time of calamity. Hopefully, they will unite the people to help each other and show through their actions the sincerity to build back the island and its people.” —LBG, GMA News

Catanduanes screencap of flood that inspired UAE-base Pinoy musician Alli John Tatel to write the  song "Tindog Catandunganon" for Typhoon Rollly-ravaged Catanduanes. —LBG, GMA News