If you tune in to Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition, you’ve probably come across at least one WillCa (Will Ashley and Bianca De Vera) edit—whether you support them or not—with the most heart-wrenching OPM song as its background music. 

Those eyes, which fans or even casual viewers mostly assume, paired with a carefully chosen song, unveil a silent longing that tugs at a string like a fragile thread hanging in the air, teasing with the possibility of what could be if fate were just a little kinder.

@biancadrjfts their song 🥹😔 #fy #fyp #pbb #pbbcollab #biancadevera #willashley #abscbn #gma #pinoybigbrother #pbbcelebrityedition #unbreakmyheart #willca #ashbi ♬ Multo - Cup of Joe

There’s a distinct charm about the way Filipinos portray longing and yearning in songs that just captures listeners’ attention and transcends even to global audiences. If you’ve heard Multo by Cup of Joe, you would know exactly what I mean. To quote the song: Hindi na makalaya, dinadalaw [ako] bawat gabi (I can’t escape, it haunts me every night).

When you search up the dictionary definition of the word yearning, Merriam-Webster defines it as “a tender or urgent longing.” Yet, even this description sounds tame compared to the emotions that are evoked by OPM songs. There are so many layers to the concept of yearning when you place it in the context of Philippine culture. 

Historically speaking, Filipinos have always been known as romantics. Before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines in 1565, Batangueños (then known as Comintanes) gave birth to the traditional dance-song of love and courtship called kumintang. After the Spanish colonization, the kumintang evolved into what Filipinos commonly known as the harana and the kundiman. 

@lee3dits_ oh, mr. antipatiko 😉 #willca #willbi #willashley #biancadevera #pbbwill #pbbbianca #pbb #pbbconnect #pbbcelebrityedition #fyp ♬ Mr. Antipatiko - Nadine Lustre

Now, if you compare these traditional approaches to modern OPM, you would notice that the latter still reflects the same touch of sentimentality and deeply-felt emotions that our ancestors had when they were courting or serenading their significant others. Although the terms harana and kundiman are rarely used nowadays (unless you’re in a family that believes in traditional courtship), OPM love songs still inherently have within them that intense feeling of longing. 

Oftentimes, yearning is portrayed as one-sided love or the “right person, wrong time” trope (Think Sana by I Belong To The Zoo and The One That Got Away by Katy Perry). While the deeper meanings behind OPM songs are easily understood by Filipinos, it is undeniable that modern OPM’s unique charm has found its way to the global market, with foreigners sharing their own reactions to songs that captured their souls.

Some renowned Korean personalities such as 10cm and Cha Eun Woo have even made their own renditions or music covers of OPM music. If I were to put myself in a foreign listener’s shoes, I’d describe listening to OPM in the same way as how I would react to watching a K-Drama without subtitles. I would not understand a single word the characters are uttering, but I would still cry and laugh along with them if their emotions reach me as they intended.

Maybe that’s why those WillCa edits hit so hard. Maybe that’s why we keep replaying them, even when we know the ending might hurt. Because OPM doesn’t just accompany these moments, it defines them. It’s the perfect soundtrack to almosts and to the kind of connection that leaves us asking, “What if?”

Nonetheless, I believe that there are more layers behind OPM’s portrayal of yearning that listeners frequently overlook. Nowadays, Filipino music does not only focus on the heartbreak and painful aspect of love, but also a more positive view of the concept. OPM has opened doors for yearning that speaks of patience, of a desire to be someone’s safe space, of a love that’s willing to endure no matter how many hurricanes may come its way. 

@heyykookie WHAT IF? 🤭 #mikbrent #mikasalamanca #brentymanalo #pbbmika #pbbbrent #fyp ♬ original sound - ✧ kookie ✧

OPM also has a knack for conveying its message and emotions, even with the instrumentals alone. If you try to take a peek into the songwriters’ and the producers’ minds, it would dawn on you that every beat, every measure, and every instrument has its own intention. Accompany these with lyrics and you have a song that’s bound to awaken your inner hopeless romantic (if you aren’t already).

So you see, OPM doesn’t just make you teary-eyed, it makes you weep. It doesn’t just make you smile, it makes you kilig. It’s not just about love, it’s about the deeper emotions behind them. It captures that silent, aching hope for something more, something less, or something yet to find closure—much like the gaze in WillCa’s eyes at the start of the season, or even as they begin to drift apart toward the end.

And that’s exactly why OPM executes the concept of yearning best.

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Written by Ana Rufa Padua, a fourth-year Communication student from the Ateneo de Manila University. With a passion for storytelling, she hopes to shed light on the various realities, lives, and phenomena surrounding the communities she covers. In her free time, she indulges herself in watching movies and listening to K-Pop.

Cover art by Christian Gonzalo