Paraiso is also an award-winning composition of a

prominent Filipino composer, Maestro Ryan Cayabyab

when it was first premiered by Smokey Mountain, a
singing group also formed under the guidance of
Cayabyab. The group was named after a garbage
dumpsite in Manila, Philippines and as such were often
dressed in ragged clothes to depict the then dire situation
of the scavengers who resided there. More importantly in
1989, they released their first album that consisted of
songs revolving around social, environmental, and
patriotic themes. Below are the lyrics to the song:

PARAISO by Smokey Mountain

Return to a land called paraiso,
A place where a dying river ends.
No birds there fly over paraiso,
No space allows them to endure.
The smoke that screens the air,
The grass thats never there.
And if i could see a single bird, what a joy.
I try to write some words and create
A simple song to be heard
By the rest of the world.
I live in this land called paraiso,
In a house made of cardboard floors and walls.
I learned to be free in paraiso,
Free to claim anything i see.
Matching rags for my clothes,
Plastic bags for the cold.
And if empty cans were all i have, what a joy.
I never fight to take someone
Elses coins and live with fear
Like the rest of the boys.
Paraiso, help me make a stand.
Paraiso, take me by the hand
Paraiso, make the world understand
That if i could see a single bird, what a joy.
This tired and hungry land could expect
Some truth and hope and respect
From the rest of the world.

What made Paraiso stand out at that time was its

relevance to the pressing environmental and societal
issues of how the Smokey Mountain dumpsite was turning
into a biohazard for everyone within the Metro Manila
community. The song ironically juxtaposed the literal
meaning of paradise with a degrading environment filled
with garbage and pollution in Philippine context.
It begins by depicting Paraiso as a land where a dying river
ends, where no birds dare fly over, where smoke screens
the air and where grass is never there. According to
Maestro Cayabyab, Paraiso is a commentary on the
ecological state of many parts of the planet. He alluded
the song to the reality of how no trees are able to survive
in the dumpsite and how the highly polluted Pasig river
surrounds this mountain of garbage.
Cayabyab then moves on by describing what Smokey
Mountain is about the singing groups raison detre
and philosophy.
Where poor children in that Smokey Mountain community
(yes, despite being a dumpsite is a residential area)
optimistically see their cups half-filled rather than halfempty, they also find joy in their freedom to take anything
they see and freedom to own anything they find
(Cayabyab, 2012).
According to Maestro Cayabyab (2012), the mounts of
garbage were their riches. These were what empowered
them amidst the surrounding stench of all sorts of
pollution; that beyond a metaphorically garbage society,
these communities survived, lived and thrived with simple
joys and dignified values (honesty, respect, family, etc.)
and most important,hope in deliverance as seeing a
single bird or merely having empty cans to own.
Paraiso, more than just a song is a reminder of each Earth
citizens moral responsibility as stewards of this planet
because beyond territories and specific ownership, this
Paraiso is not only mine, nor yours, but ours.
As such, this campaign challenges every Earth citizen to
creatively engage in their own redefinition of PARAISO. It
teaches us a thing or two about recreating a better world
through understanding, respect, simplicity, etc. Paraiso
tells us that it is never too late as we should never lose
hope.