“In the Philippines, ‘pinagsamahan’ is not a casual word. It’s a credential. It’s integrity and loyalty”
AS SIMBANG Gabi begins—those dawn Masses that officially open Christmas in the Philippines—the season starts the way Filipinos know best: early, communal, and with purpose.
It’s our spiritual version of popping open the first bottle or cracking a can—not to rush the celebration, but to signal that it has begun.
From that first bell to the first carol, Christmas is officially open.
So as Christmas lights go up, carols fill the air, and families begin their long season of reunions, Filipinos once again gather around tables where stories are shared, laughter flows easily—and familiar rituals quietly return.
Christmas celebration is incomplete sans a proudly Pinoy brand that has been part of our lives for more than a century.
There are brands that sell products—and there are brands that quietly move into our family albums.
San Miguel Beer has been doing the latter for 135 years.
From its beginnings as La Fábrica de Cerveza San Miguel in 1890—often cited as the first brewery in Southeast Asia—San Miguel Pale Pilsen has outlasted empires, survived wars, ridden through changing tastes, and remained a familiar clink in the background of Filipino life.
And this 2025, San Miguel marked its 135th with a commemorative “Balik Tanaw” heritage can—an ode to memory itself, designed to evoke Filipino scenes and milestones, as if the brand is saying: we’ve been here—through your laughter, your Christmases, reunions, your long nights, your small victories.
But ask any Filipino what truly made San Miguel “ours,” and many will answer without mentioning hops, malt, or brewing.
They will talk about commercials.
The ads that became part of our vocabulary. Some TV commercials entertain.
San Miguel’s best commercials entered the language—and when an advertisement becomes something you can quote at a wake, at a basketball game, or at a barangay hall, it has crossed the line from marketing into culture.
“Isang platitong mani.”
A line so enduring it’s practically a national inside joke and reminded us of Bert “Tawa” Marcelo.
In the classic San Miguel Beer ad popularly associated with Jun Urbano’s work, a group can’t decide what pulutan to order—until the punchline lands: isang platitong mani.
That one plate of peanuts became shorthand for barkada compromise, for “sige na nga,” for the humble solution that saves the night.
It wasn’t just funny—it was Filipino.
The scene was ordinary: friends, a waiter, a little impatience, a lot of banter.
The ad’s genius was that it didn’t invent Pinoy life; it simply recognized it.
“Iba ang may pinagsamahan.”
Having the legendary Filipino movie king, Fernando Poe Jr. was a blockbuster for San Miguel.
There are friendships that start in school, deepen in work, survive heartbreak, and endure distance.
San Miguel’s “Iba ang may pinagsamahan” line—revived in a notable campaign era—captured that truth: the best bonds are built not by perfection but by shared seasons, shared jokes, shared struggle, shared wins.
Because in the Philippines, pinagsamahan is not a casual word. It’s a credential. It’s integrity and loyalty.
“Samahang walang katulad.”
Another line that explains why San Miguel is often more than beer; it’s a social ritual. “Samahang walang katulad” was used as a campaign message and even translated in international campaign contexts, pointing to camaraderie as the real “product” being sold.
And yes—San Miguel has also used rallying calls like “Itaas mo!” that sounded like both a toast and a dare to celebrate life despite its bruises.
Why these commercials worked? Because they understood a simple Filipino truth:
“We don’t just drink to forget. We drink to remember.”
We drink when the balikbayan uncle arrives and the house suddenly becomes louder.
We drink after the barangay league game—even if we lost, especially if we won.
We drink at weddings, at birthdays, at promotions, at “nakaraos din.”
We drink at reunions where the same stories return like beloved ghosts.
And in many of those scenes, San Miguel did not position itself as a luxury.
It positioned itself as a companion—the bottle you open when words are not enough, when you want the moment to last one song longer.
That’s why “Balik Tanaw” makes sense as an anniversary theme.
At 135, San Miguel is not just counting years; it is counting memories—millions of them, across families and friendships.
A toast to continuity
In a country where so much feels temporary—policies, prices, promises—Filipinos learn to treasure the few things that remain reliably present: family, faith, food… and the familiar rituals of togetherness.
San Miguel Beer has lasted because it stayed close to those rituals.
It grew old with us, but it never grew distant.
So here’s to 135 years—not just of brewing, but of belonging.
Thanks to SMC Chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang and the entire SMC Group of Companies for carrying on the torch of belongingness, sharing, caring and daring for the Pinoy families all these years.
And if the barkada can’t decide what the right pulutan is for this toast?
You already know the answer.
As another Christmas arrives, may the tables be full, the stories familiar, the bonds renewed—and may the simple rituals that bring us together continue to remind us that some things, like shared memories and good company, are worth raising a glass to.
(The writer, president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection, is the official biographer of President Fidel V. Ramos.)
