Puhon

"Puhon" () is a song recorded by the Filipino singer TJ Monterde. PolyEast Records released it as a non-album digital single on May 14, 2020. "Puhon" is a Visayan pop track about a man who wishes to be with the woman he loves. Monterde began writing the song three years prior to its release. He produced and completed "Puhon" in his bedroom in the middle of enhanced community quarantine.

The song is a midtempo Visayan pop track featuring guitars and marimba, with lyrics in Cebuano. It received favorable reviews from music critics, with most of them praising the lyrics. "Puhon" was nominated in the Pop Performance of the Year category at the 6th Wish 107.5 Music Awards, as well as Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist at the 34th Awit Awards.

Background and release

Filipino singer and songwriter TJ Monterde wrote the chorus of "Puhon" three years prior to the song's release. He finished writing the song while staring at a "beautiful" sunset. The song's entire recording process was completed in two weeks during the Philippines' enhanced community quarantine. In an interview with '' ABS-CBN Showbiz'', he shared that he and his collaborators considered "Puhon" to be an "experiment", asking themselves, "Is it possible to actually release a song that is Spotify quality but recorded from home?"

Due to his lack of a "proper studio", Monterde recorded the song in his bedroom, under a blanket, to prevent capturing outside noise. He and his collaborators worked on the song by sending its files to each other over the Internet. "Puhon" was recorded with a USB microphone that he described as "cheap" and "DIY". He also surrounded his microphone with multiple pillows to further enhance the acoustics. He added that "Puhon" promoted his advocacy of bringing Visayan pop (Vispop) songs to a national scale. In an interview with ''The Philippine Star'', Monterde shared that it was a "habit" and a part of his "vision" to release songs in his native language, Cebuano (Bisaya), every so often. On May 14, 2020, PolyEast Records released "Puhon" as a digital single.

Composition and lyrics

"Puhon" is four minutes long. Its lyrics are written in Cebuano. Julienne Loreto of '' Positively Filipino'', an American magazine, observed that the language used in "Puhon" is "fairly deep". The Cebuano word "''puhon''" roughly translates to "someday", "God-willing", or "in God's time". Monterde explained, "I'm very fascinated with the word '''puhon''' because it's just one word. When someone asks you in Bisaya, 'Are you two married?' The answer is, 'Not yet, but '''puhon'''. ..Your outlook automatically becomes positive when you say '''puhon'''. I'm very fascinated with that term because it really is a beautiful word and very unique. That's what I revolved he songaround." Monterde wrote and produced the song himself, while Arnie Mendaros provided vocal coaching and back-up vocals. Chino David of Hale is credited for "Puhon"'s musical arrangement. Albert Tamayo mixed and mastered the song.

It is a midtempo Vispop song about a man who wishes to be with the woman he has loved for a long time. In an article published by the ''Manila Standard'', Monterde is quoted as saying, "No matter how much he tries to forget the person, his heart still belongs to the girl. It's a song about waiting for the perfect time. Thus, I called the song Puhon." He related to the word on a personal level, because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed his wedding with his then-fiancée KZ Tandingan. The song features "clean" guitars and a marimba accent in the chorus.

Reception

The song received favorable reviews from music critics. Jerry Donato of ''The Philippine Star'' described "Puhon" as "another contribution to the thriving Vispop that deserves mainstream playing and appreciation". He commended the song for being "catchy" and "easy on the ear", also praising Monterde's "soothing" voice. Donato added that the song is "essentially a poem", writing that the song's use of Cebuano lyrics "makes listening more pleasurable". ''Rappler'' included "Puhon" in their " OPM songs that marked and made 2020" listicle, with writer Amanda T. Lago praising the song for giving Filipino listeners a "much needed spot of ''kilig''". She added that the song's hopeful message "became strangely relevant in the dreariest of times". ''The Filipino Times''' Kristine Erika Agustin said that the song is "heartfelt" and "conveys a sense of hope and optimism". The newspaper also included "Puhon" in their list of "OPM hits beyond Tagalog", which "help in preserving and promoting the country's rich multicultural and multilingual heritage".

By July 2020, the song's lyric video on YouTube had already garnered more than one million views. ''Positively Filipino'''s Julienne Loreto believed that this indicated an "appetite" for Vispop. ''The Philippine Daily Inquirer'''s Allan Policarpio also reported that it had also accumulated more than a million streams on Spotify by July. Monterde said it was "encouraging" to see even non-speakers of Cebuano enjoy the song. However, he declined many fans' requests to translate "Puhon" into Filipino or English, explaining that no matter how hard he tried, the song's "magic" was lost in the process of translation. The song was nominated for Pop Performance of the Year at the 6th Wish 107.5 Music Awards, as well as Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist at the 34th Awit Awards. In 2024, Isulat ''et al.'' included "Puhon" in a research paper that examines how Vispop songs reflect Filipino culture. They explained that "Puhon" shows the value of hope.

Live performances

"Puhon" was one of the songs that Monterde performed at his 2024 concert, Sariling Mundo (). The concert was reportedly sold-out and took place on May 5 and 6, at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City. Onstage, he recounted the origin of "Puhon", relating the song to his anxieties about holding a concert. On February 2, 2025, he performed "Puhon" as a duet with surprise guest Colet Vergara of Bini on the second day of his three-night Sarili Nating Mundo () concert, staged at the Araneta Coliseum. The screen behind the two displayed the song's Cebuano lyrics as they sang, paired with Tagalog subtitles.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Apple Music and a ''Manila Standard'' article.

* TJ Monterde – lead vocals, lyrics, production
* Chino David of Hale – musical arrangement
* Arnie Mendaros – vocal coaching, back-up vocals
* Albert Tamayo – mixing and mastering

Awards and nominations

Listicles

References

{{reflist

2020 songs
Songs in Cebuano
Philippine pop songs