Mabuhay () is a Filipino

greeting Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between individ ...

, usually expressed as , which means " long live!". The term is also occasionally used for toasts during celebrations to mean "cheers". It is similar to the Hawaiʻian expression "

aloha ''Aloha'' ( , Hawaiian: �ˈlohə is the Hawaiian word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy, that is commonly used as a greeting. It has a deeper cultural and spiritual significance to native Hawaiians, for whom the term is use ...

". It is used in the local hospitality industry to welcome guests, a practice rooted in a 1993 campaign launched by restaurateur Rod Ongpauco to more uniquely welcome foreign visitors to the Philippines. ''Mabuhay'' is also the name of the inflight magazine published by flag-carrier,

Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia. Philippine ...

, as well as its

frequent-flyer program A frequent-flyer programme (FFP) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programmes designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the programme to accumulate points (also called miles, kilometres, ...

Historical

The word itself has been recorded as a salutation at least early as 1930, when General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

was sent off amid shouts of “''Mabuhay!”'' In 1941, the ''Rotarian'' noted local chapters using it in conveying well wishes to the

service organisation A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined firstly ...

. In February 1973, a big cloth sign saying “''Mabuhay, Maj. Bob Peel”'' welcomed released

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

prisoner-of-war, U.S.

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

Robert D. Peel, as he stopped by the country as part of Operation Homecoming.

Current usage

The word is otherwise used in its more traditional form as a cheer, especially during celebrations in a variety of contexts: * ''“Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang Repúblika!”''
(“Long live the Philippines! Long live the Republic!”) * ''“Mabuhay ang Pangulo!”''
(“Long live the President!”) * ''“Mabuhay ang bagong kasál!”''
(“Long live the newlyweds!”)

''Viva''

The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

equivalent ''Viva'' is a special use case, as it is today almost always found in

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

contexts. It is specifically part of acclamations directed to a

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

during community

feast days The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

and assemblies (e.g., “''¡Viva, Señor Santo Niño!” “¡Viva, Poóng Jesús Nazareno!”'')

Cognates

A number of other

Philippine languages The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...

have phrases that are cognates of “''Mabuhay''”. The

Bisayan languages The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Mo ...

, for example, use the term "''Mabuhi''", while Kapampangans have the phrase "''Luid ka''".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabuhay (Expression) Greeting words and phrases Tagalog words and phrases Filipino language Interjections

Historical

Current usage

''Viva''

Cognates

See also

References