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THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL ANTHEM

he Philippine National Anthem is a product of revolution, a response to the need of the revolutionary times that gave birth to it. And this need arose in 1898, when the revolution against Spain was in its second year and a Filipino victory was in sight.

Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo astutely recognized the need for national symbols to rally the nation against the enemy. On June 5, 1898, he commissioned Julian Felipe, a Cavite pianist and composer, to work on a march for the revolutionists. Felipe worked in the assignment for six days and on June 11, sitting in front of a piano in the Aguinaldo living room, played his music before the presidente and his lieutenants. Named by Felipe the Marcha Filipino Magdalo (after Aguinaldo's nom de guerre and his faction in the Katipunan.), the music was adopted on the spot and renamed the Marcha National Filipina (Philippine national March).

The national anthem was heard publicly for the first time on June 12, 1898, when, standing on the balcony of his Kawit mansion, Aguinaldo proclaimed Asia's first independent republic before a cheering throng. Two rallying symbols were presented to the infant nation that day. Also displayed for the first time was the national flag, unfurled to the stirring strains of the marcha nacional played by the band of San Francisco de Malabon (now Heneral Trias) whose members had learned the music the day before.

But still without words, Felipe's music was simply a march. It could not be sung. The need for lyrics was just as great as there was for the music. In December 1898, the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States of America in the Treaty of Paris. Having thrown off Spanish rule, the Filipino found themselves under new colonial masters, the Americans. In February of 1899, the Filipino-American war erupted.

The defiant lyrics to match the stirring strains of Felipe were supplied by Jose Palma, a 23-year-old soldier who was as adept with the pen as he was with the sword. He wrote a poem entitled "Filipinas, Letra Para La marcha nacional," and published it on September 3, 1899 in La Independencia, the organ of the Philippine Revolution edited by Juan Luna. This poem was wed to the Felipe composition. The anthem was readily taken by the young nation at war. But on March 23, 1901, the war with America ground to a halt with the capture of Aguinaldo in Palalan, Isabela.

The first half of the century were years of humiliation for the Filipinos and their anthem. The American administrators discouraged the singing of the anthem and in the 1920s, Palma's original Spanish lyrics underwent several English and Tagalog translations. The most popular were the following versions, one in English lyric by Camilo Osias and M.A.L. Lane and one in Tagalog.

In 1956, the Department of Education formed a committee of musicians, writers, and technical staff of various government departments which sat down to create a more spontaneous and apt Filipino translation of the anthem. This committe emerged as the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa (Institute of National Language). The result was "Lupang Hinirang". Under Presidential Proclamation No. 60 effected in December 19, 1963, this Filipino version of the Palma text became the official anthem of the Philippines that is sung today, and propagated through radio, television and cinema.

 

DIWANG BAYAN (ORIGINAL VERSION) O sintang lupa, Perlas ng Silanganan; Diwang apoy kang Sa araw nagmula. Lupang magiliw Pugad ng kagitingan, Sa manlulupig Di ka papaslang. Sa iyong langit, simoy, parang Dagat at kabundukan, Laganap ang tibok ng puso Sa paglayang walang hanggang. Sagisag ng watawat mong mahal. Ningning at tagumpay; Araw't bituin niyang maalab Ang s'yang lagi naming tanglaw. Sa iyo Lupa ng ligaya't pagsinta, Tamis mabuhay na yakap mo, Datapwa't langit ding kung ikaw ay apihin Ay mamatay ng dahil sa iyo.

LUPANG HINIRANG (PRESENT DAY VERSION) Bayang magiliw, Perlas ng Silanganan, Alab ng puso, Sa dibdib mo'y buhay. Lupang HInirang, Duyan ka ng magiting, San mamlulupig, Di ka pasisiil. Sa dagat at bundok, Sa simoy at sa langit mong bughaw, May dilag ang tula At awit sa paglayang minamahal. Ang kislap ng watawat mo'y Tagumpay na nagniningning; Ang bituin at araw niya, Kailan pa ma'y di magdidilim. Lupa ng araw, ng Luwalhati't pagsinta, Buhay ay langit sa piling mo; Aming ligaya, na pag may mang-aapi, Ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo.

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