Yesterday, the whole country was at another standstill as Manny Pacquiao convincingly won over Joshua Clottey.  While that is and will be the talk of the town for I guess the entire week, i’m more focused on another aspect of that event:  the singing of our national anthem.

 

For the nth time, the singing of the national anthem deviated from how it’s supposed to be sung.  I may be a modern Filipino, but there are some historical things that i find are “untouchable,” and one of them is the way our national anthem is sung.  For the record, the composer of Lupang Hinirang, Julian Felipe, made the anthem as a march.  It’s supposed to be sung at a 4/4 (four by four) pace.  That’s how I grew up listening and singing to every god damn day during my school days and I don’t see anything wrong with it.  I’m not against modernization of things, but the national anthem?  C’mon, during the last couple of years when Manny Pacquiao fights and someone sings the national anthem beforehand, Mr. Felipe–God rest his soul–would’ve turned countless times in his grave!  I just can’t imagine any other way of singing it other than how it was historically made.  If the anthem was composed as a march, why do we need to change it? It’ll be a slap on the face of Mr. Felipe who is an integral part of our nation’s history fighting for the very freedom of our nation against the Spaniards!

 

Just for comparison (and something that I have already noticed way before), line up all of Manny Pacquiao’s fights against boxers from Mexico.  Why?  Because Most of Manny’s fights were against Mexicans and more importantly, their national anthem is also composed as a march.  Now, If you will watch closely on how our national anthem was sung in those fights, you’ll get at least four or five variations.  On the other hand, if you will see how the Mexican national anthem is sung, it’s constant.  No over-the-top, ear-splitting vocal stretches, no tempo changes, not even a musical accompaniment.  They stuck with the program, how it’s supposed to be sung and never even thought of changing it.  Why?  It’s the ultimate respect they give to the composer of their national anthem.  Question is, why can’t we do the same?

 

According to the National Historical Institute, how the national anthem is sung is decreed by law.  So that means, previous singers and/or so-called balladeers who deviated from singing it the proper way, are violating the law and therefore should be charged in court.  Believe me, I’m a big fan of Martin Nievera, but he crossed the line with his own rendition.  Changing the way our national anthem is being sung should stop here and now.  Let us not teach our children on how to sing the national anthem in school and then completely change it when they grow up.  Arnel Pineda said that he “sung it from his heart.”  Well, if you really did, then you should have retraced your school days and recalled how it was sung and sing it that way!  I say let all those who sang it differently from how it was supposed to be, be charged in court.  If no one is made an example now, there will be another four or five variations of the national anthem in the coming years.

 

The national anthem is our country’s official song.  It is part of history in which people fought, bled, and died for.  How it was composed is how the way it should be sung.  We are used to seeing the Star Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America, be sung in a dramatic way.  And it should be, because that was composed as a ballad, not a march.  We shouldn’t be blinded by awe and spectacle of modern times that  we need to make changes to a piece of history such as our national anthem just to fit our way of living.  Singing it in the proper way the is the ultimate act of respect we can give to Mr. Julian Felipe, and all those who were part in making that anthem a rallying song for our unity as a people, showing how proud we are as Filipinos whether we start our day in school, or standing on foreign shores before any competitive sport or activity.  I implore every Filipino rich or poor, famous or not, please sing our Lupang Hinirang the right way.