Bawal Lumabas (The Classroom Song)

Due to expiration of congressional franchise of ABS-CBN on May 4, 2020, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease-and-desist order on the next day demanding the network to immediately cease all of its broadcasting.[2] With that, several Kapamilya actors have expressed their dismay regarding the shutdown of the network through online live streaming. One of those live streams is the "Laban, Kapamilya!" in May 8 through Facebook Live Sessions where Kim Chiu made a confusing comparison of the law and the ABS-CBN shutdown to classroom dynamics.[3]

"Sa classroom may batas, bawal lumabas, oh bawal lumabas. Pero ‘pag sinabi, ‘pag nag-comply ka na bawal na lumabas pero may ginawa ka sa pinagbabawal nila, inayos mo ‘yong law ng classroom niyo at sinumbit mo ulit ay pwede na pala ikaw lumabas."

English translation[4]

"In a classroom, there are rules like... okay, you can't go out. So you comply because you can't go out but then do something you're not allowed to. You fix the classroom's laws and submit it again and...well, now you can go out."

The next day, Chiu posted in her Instagram account that even her did not understand her "classroom" statement nonetheless, her statement snowballed into a massive deal. Different kinds of internet memes were born including the one with beat created by Squammy Beats in which Chiu's statement have been auto-tuned.[5] The version made by Squammy have been used heavily in several TikTok videos.[6]

For several days, Chiu stayed away from social media as she became a laughing stock online. While friends checked up on Chiu at the height of the meme's spread, it was one stranger's open letter on Facebook that made a mark on the actress. The open letter came from Adrian Crisanto, a marketing professional. Crisanto suggested Chiu to record the "remix" of her video statement that had gone viral, spawning its own classical and rock covers, as well as a TikTok dance challenge.[5] Eventually, Chiu, Crisanto, and original beat creator Squammy Beats collaborated for the "remix" became a full track.

The full version of the song premiered in Chiu's YouTube account on May 18, 2020. After a week, the song was released to Apple Music and Spotify for digital download and online streaming.