"Heaven Watch the Philippines" is a song by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

written in 1946. It was written as a tribute to

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

resistance during the Japanese occupation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During the war, Japanese troops in the Philippines attempted to popularize self-glorifying songs such as "Chichi Yo Anata Wa Tsuyokatta" ("Father, You Were Brave" in English). Locals resisted these efforts, preferring instead to sing "God Bless the Philippines" to the tune of Berlin's "

God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature son ...

" as a show of national pride. Berlin himself gave the first performance of "Heaven Watch the Philippines" in

Tolosa, Leyte Tolosa, officially the Municipality of Tolosa ( war, Bungto han Tolosa; tl, Bayan ng Tolosa), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 20,708 people. It is located ...

, in 1946, in front of an audience that included

Sergio Osmeña Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; 9 September 1878 – 19 October 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was vice president under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudd ...

and

Carlos P. Romulo Carlos Peña Romulo Sr. (January 14, 1898 – December 15, 1985) was a Filipino diplomat, statesman, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at the age of 16, a newspaper editor by 20, and a publisher at 32. He was a co-founder of t ...

. Berlin was touring U.S. military bases with a stage production of ''

This Is the Army ''This Is the Army'' is a 1943 American wartime musical comedy film produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz, adapted from a wartime stage musical with the same name, designed to boost morale in the U.S. duri ...

'', in 1945. During a stop in the Philippines, he heard children in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

singing the song ''God Bless America'' (which he had written in 1918 and had revised in 1938) with the lyric "God Bless the Philippines". Touched by that and feeling that they might like a song of their own, he composed "Heaven Watch the Philippines", trying to combine the spiritual quality of "God Bless America" with their feeling for America and desire to be free. He taught the song to school children in Leyte and sang the song in the finale of the show when ''This Is the Army'' opened in Leyte. Berlin had donated the "God Bless America" royalties to the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

, and he presented the rights to "Heaven Watch the Philippines" to the Commonwealth of the Philippines with the instruction that if they ever sold the song in the Philippines for profit, the proceeds were to be given to the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Boy and Girl Scouts of the Philippines. In a 1987 interview with ''Playboy'', Imelda Marcos falsely claimed that Berlin had written "Heaven Watch the Philippines" specifically for her. When asked about her claim, the 99-year-old Berlin denied it outright.Ellison, Katherine. ''Imelda: Steel Butterfly of the Philippines'', p. [ 22]. iUniverse, 2005. .

References

{{authority control 1946 songs Songs based on actual events Songs about the Philippines Songs written by Irving Berlin Songs about World War II