Ben&Ben's Paolo and Miguel and the secret world they share

There is a phenomenon that twins develop a secret language, something only they can understand. Sitting with Paolo and Miguel Guico of Ben and Ben during my GMA Integrated News Interviews with "The Voice Kids" coaches Julie Anne San Jose, Billy Crawford, and Zack Tabudlo, I saw it play out in the simplest, funniest ways.

Paolo told me how he once entered a room and shared about a siopao he had just eaten. “Grabe yung asado,” he said. Minutes later, Miguel walked in and told the very same story, word for word, as if they had rehearsed it. Their friends, half amused and half exhausted, laughed and said, “Narinig ko na yan kanina.” Miguel admitted it happens often. Billy, smiling at the absurdity, shook his head and said, “Nakakapagod sila.”

What feels like comedy to the rest of us is actually a documented phenomenon. Researchers call it a private or secret language, and studies show that up to half of twins develop one, especially when they are young. Scientists have a name for it, Cryptophasia, but watching Paolo and Miguel, it did not feel clinical at all. It felt like two people so intertwined that their thoughts occasionally arrive at the same destination, at the same time, in the same words.

Of course, having a twin also comes with struggles. As Miguel would put it, it is almost intuitive for people to compare twins. Paolo admitted that Miguel was often the favorite of titos and titas. “You grow up feeling like hindi ka enough,” he said, “but eventually you find your way.” He said it without drama, like someone who has already made peace with something that used to bother him. Having Miguel beside him made the comparisons bearable, he added,

Like all siblings, they fought. “Oo, grabe,” they both said, almost in unison. And the fights were hilariously small. Who would shower first. Actually, who would shower last. Who pulled off the better prank. Paolo remembered being startled in the bathroom by Miguel and hitting his head. Instead of saying sorry, Miguel told him, “Wag mo akong isusumbong.” Then, to make matters worse, he demanded a toy in exchange for his silence.

Now, their bond is tested in a new way. On "The Voice Kids," the twins will share one red chair, one button. Paolo already imagines what might happen if he loves a contestant that Miguel might have doubts with. “Paano kung naubusan na kami ng time?” he asked. Miguel laughed, “Sana hindi kami mag-away uli.”

Watching them, it did not seem like they would. What they have goes beyond performing side by side. Growing up with each other’s reflections, they learned to hear even the unspoken. That is why their music hits different, because it comes from a bond most of us will never fully know.

And maybe that is why their music resonates the way it does. It reminds us that the rarest kind of harmony is actually in the bond of two souls who have shared the same path from the very beginning. A bond like that feels almost predestined, as if life itself set them side by side, with one voice always meant to find the other, turning their connection into music the rest of us could only marvel at. — LA, GMA Integrated News