Mutya Buena: I like it the Filipino way

She dances the tinikling and sings Dahil Sa ‘Yo and Matud Nila. Yet former Sugababes member Mutya Buena was born in England to an Irish mom and a Pinoy dad.

Her British twang doesn’t keep her from loving the adobo her father cooks for the family and celebrating Filipino Independence Day every June 12.

Nor does Mutya’s western upbringing prevent her from taking her Visayan grandmother’s hand, touching it lightly with her forehead and saying, “Mano Po!”

Unlike some people she grew up with, Mutya doesn’t call her elders by their first names. In fact, she addresses her relatives in Tagbilaran, Bohol as tito and tita.

Mention Itik-itik and she reacts, “Oh, the one where you move like a duck? Oh yes!”

Pandanggo sa Ilaw is where “you move with candlelights.” And tinikling is something Mutya learned as a little girl.

That sense of rhythm that makes you want to get up on your feet and dance is encoded in her DNA. Dad is a guitarist who taught her Filipino songs as a girl while Mom loves music just as much.

 “I went to a Filipino school,” Mutya explains. “And I know all the Filipino dances, like the one where you rotate candlelights in your hand (read: Pandanggo sa Ilaw), move like a duck (Itik Itik) and act like you’re planting rice.”

Like fellow half-Pinoy artist Apl.de.ap of Black Eyed Peas, Mutya is proud of her roots. She tells anyone who cares to listen when she’s on stage that she’s half-Pinoy.

Now that she’s on solo flight with a debut album titled Real Girl to show for it, Mutya has a bigger audience she can share her Pinay heart with.

And she’s succeeding, so far. The first single, the album’s title track Real Girl, entered the UK Singles chart at No. 11 in downloads alone climbing to No. 2 after its CD release. The song samples Lenny Kravitz’s It Ain’t Over ‘Till It’s Over.

The track closest to Mutya’s heart, however, is Suffer For Love, because she herself wrote it.

Real Girl marks another first for Mutya. It’s the first time she is using her family name — Buena, in an album. This is the same family name her two-year-old daughter (by boyfriend Jay), Tahlia-Maya is using.

Turning solo, says Mutya, has brought with it many wonderful changes.

“It’s allowing me to do my own thing,” she explains.

On top of this list of plus points is the chance to spend more time with her daughter and be the best mother she can be to her.

When it comes to Tahlia-Maya, Mutya is like a typical mom who can’t stop talking about her little girl.

“Tahlia means morning dew. I found that name in the Internet and I think it’s Hebrew,” she relates. Since her bundle of joy was born at 3 a.m., Mutya thought the name was just perfect for her firstborn.

Maya, on the other hand, was the name of Mutya’s late sister.

The doting mom plans to travel more often to the Philippines and bring Tahlia-Maya as often as possible to the land of her ancestors. This way, her daughter will imbibe Filipino values of respect for elders, love for family and others.

For starters, Mutya says she, her siblings and Tahlia-Maya will take a vacation in Bohol towards the end of the year.

“We’re so excited,” Mutya gushes.

Yes, England may have its gleaming skyscrapers, latest gizmos and other things new and high-tech. But Mutya Buena — with her love for adobo, tinikling and fiestas — remains proudly Filipino, right down to the core.