A post shared by reginevalcasid (@reginevalcasid) on Apr 6, 2018 at 4:49am PDT

MANILA – Veteran composer and musical director Ryan Cayabyab took to social media to pay tribute to Regine Velasquez, who is celebrating her birthday on Sunday.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Cayabyab thanked "Asia’s Songbird" for breathing life to a lot of OPM songs.

“Thank you for creating magic and painting varied hues and emotions to songs that we have written,” he began.

Cayabyab then went on to enumerate the songs he wrote which Velasquez brought to heights he never dreamed could be achieved.

First in the list is “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka” which Cayabyab originally composed for Basil Valdez.

“I wrote this for Basil and it is the definitive version. When the Eraserheads sang it, I said whoa...puede palang ganun!!!!! Ang galeng! And then you recorded it. I was mesmerized,” he said.

He said Velasquez’s version “has so much pent up emotions, is so sensitively sung, there is so much happiness yet there is so much longing and pining.”

“Ang ganda ng pagka-awit,” he gushed.

Another song which Cayabyab noted is “Sometime, Somewhere.”

“Again I wrote it for Basil. It is still the definitive version. But then again, you sang it...and OWNED IT. Basil never sang it again...that is why this song rightfully belongs to you now,” he said.

Also special is the song “Araw, Gabi,” which Cayabyab wrote for his wife’s last birthday before they got married.

“We recorded it and gave away 45s during our wedding. Nonoy Z originally and beautifully sang it. But you know what? In its 33 years as a song, it has never attained the popularity that it has reached now. And it is all because of you,” he said.

“You sang it...oh so beautifully, and suddenly it has become an anthem for singers who are in love.”
For everything Velasquez has done, Cayabyab said he cannot be any more grateful. He then wished the acclaimed singer a happy birthday.

“Iba na kapag hinaplos mo ang isang awit,” he said. “Isang maligayang pagbati sa iyong kaarawan. Pagpalain ka lagi ng ating maawaing Ama na nasa langit. Nawa'y bigyan ka pa ng napakaraming taon upang namnamin ang kanyang pagmamahal. Ikaw ay pinagpala! Mabuhay ka Regine!”