Rumpus over Chacacano “Anthem”

The officials in formal dress, polo barong, Barong Tagalog and Filipina costume stood up at the big makeshift stage in front of City Hall one Saturday afternoon.

A group of costumed men and women filed in front of the stage and they sang: “Tierra adorada Hija de sol Oriente,Su fuego ardiente En ti latiendo esta. Patria de amores! Del heroismo cuna, Los invadores No te hallaran jamas. En tu azul cielo, en tus auras, En tus montes y en tu mar Esplende y late el poema De tu amada libertad. (And so on)

None in the audience could follow the singing, because to most of them, the song was strange.
The singing of the song or an altered / plagiarized version of the original Tierra Adorada was held in the afternoon of Oct 11, the eve of the Town Fiesta Pilar in Zamboanga City that falls on Oct. 12.

Vice Mayor Manuel Dalipe has described the singing of the song in lieu of the National Anthem during the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival culminating program in front of city hall last Saturday, as “a violation of the Philippine Constitution”

The honoree and Guest Speaker during the program, Gen. Yano, who was on stage at that time, did not salute the flag while the chorale was singing the song. Other police and military officers on stage merely stood at attention, while the song was sang.

The Philippine Constriction provides for only one version of the Philippine Anthem to be sung in Filipino. Sec. 36 of Republic Act 8491 read “The National Anthem shall always be sung in the national language within or without the country.”

The Spanish version of the anthem was sung during the Revolution against Spain and the 1990’s war against the United States of America. When the Americans took over and colonized the Philippines, they forbade the singing of the anthem, but later on allowed the singing of the English Version during the Commonwealth period along with the Star Spangled Banner.

After the grant of Independence, Tagalog advocates for a national language eventually managed to enshrine the singing of “Bayang Magiliw” by law as mandated by the Constitution.

It is ironic that while the city opposed the inclusion of Zamboanga from the Bangsa Moro Juridical Entity and stay as part of the Philippine Republic, its leaders would advocate the singing of an unauthorized version of the Anthem in a public and official gathering of local and national officials.

Some people are leading our leaders astray.