http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/jun/12/yehey/opinion/20050612opi5.html
Sunday, June 12, 2005
You must remember these shining
moments in RP's history
It was toward sundown on June 12,1898. In a martial strain of music that
was to become the Philippine national anthem, the Philippine flag was hoisted
to the top of the pole.
Proudly dancing in the strong wind, this was the flag that a group of
Filipino women led by Marcela Agoncillo and Delfina Rizal-Herbosa had hand-sewn
in a house in Morrison Hill, Hong Kong, in 1897.
The flag was the centerpiece - the symbol in the nation's struggles-of
that shining moment in Kawit, Cavite, when "all trumpets' sound, all the war
drums, all the swords and mighty pens, all the prose and poetries" culminated
in the declaration of the Philippine independence.
Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., from the central second-story window of the
Aguinaldo ancestral house, Emilio Aguinaldo, head of the Philippine
revolutionary republic, formally proclaimed Philippine independence from Spain.
Besides the unfurling of the national flag for the first time, the grand
occasion was highlighted by two other historic events: the playing for the
first time of the Philippine national anthem, and the reading of the
proclamation of independence.
The flag, the anthem and the declaration of independence-these legacies
have continued to bind the Filipinos 107 years later to this day.
First the flag. Not just a piece of colorful cloth, the flag symbolizes
the Filipinos' rich heritage of honor, valor and patriotism. When one salutes
it, one not merely "reminisces about the past but commits himself to the
responsibilities of citizenship."
There was a time when even the flag's right to float in the air was a
crime. During the Filipino-American war the flag faced obstacles. After General
Aguinaldo was captured on March 23, 1901, in Palanan, the flag flying in front
of his headquarters was hauled down.
On August 23, 1907, the Philippine Commission banned (Act 1696, or Flag
Law) the use or display of the Filipino flag on the ground of being "disloyal"
to the United States.
Filipino leaders launched several attempts to repeal the Flag Law, which
was considered a violation of the fundamental principle of free expression and
an offense to the Filipino people.
In all, 21 bills were proposed in the legislative body and the Philippine
Commission in attempts to repeal the Flag Law. All failed.
Filipinos found an ally in Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison, who
recommended the repeal of the Flag Law, under Act 2871. Sen. Rafael Palma
presented Senate Bill 1, repealing the Flag Law, which Gov. Arrison approved
and proclaimed October 30 as Flag Day. In 1965 Flag Day was moved to June 12,
and then, in 1965 was moved again to May 28 up to the present.
To further observe Flag Day, former President Fidel V. Ramos issued
Executive Order 179 on May 24, 1994, that allows the display of the Philippine
National Flag in all public buildings, government institutions and official
residences from May 24 to June 12 of every year.
According to the National Historical Institute, the birth of the
Philippine anthem came at the time when the country was "on the brink of
independence." The melody of the anthem "animates the patriotic spirit of the
people while the lyrics embody the beauty of the land and the bravery of the
Filipinos."
Aguinaldo commissioned a great Filipino musician, Julian Felipe, to
compose the music that was to become the national anthem. It was first publicly
played during the first raising of the Philippine flag on the declaration of
the Philippine independence in Kawit.
For six days, Felipe painstakingly worked on his assignment. On June 11,
in the presence of Aguinaldo and his lieutenants, Felipe, a piano teacher,
played the music of his composition.
The group, after listening to the music several times, agreed that
Felipe's piece was appropriate.
Felipe taught the music of the "Marcha Nacional Filipinas" to the band
that was recruited to play the piece the following day. In the afternoon of
June 12, 1898, the public was filled with raw emotion when the San Francisco de
Malabon band played it in the ceremony declaring the Philippine independence.
About a year later, Jose Palma, a young poet-soldier, wrote a poem
entitled "Filipinas," which was adopted as the lyrics for Felipe's music. The
"La Independencia" published the score of the "Marcha Nacional Filipinas" along
with the words of Palma's poem.
The anthem underwent several translations, including the most popular-the
translations in English by Camilo Osias and M.A. Lane.
More than 50 years after the anthem's creation, the Institute of the
National Language (Surian ng Wikang Pambansa) drafted a new translation of the
anthem. The new version was officially adopted on May 26, 1956, in a
proclamation signed by President Ramon Magsaysay.
--PNA
1989
Filipinas
for Jose Palmas
Tierra adorada
Hija del sol de Oriente
Su fuego ardiente en ti latiendo esta.
Patria de amores!
Del heroismo cuna,
Los invasores
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.
Tu pabellon, que en las lides
La victoria ilumino
No vera nunca apagados
Sus estrellas y su sol.
Tierra de dichas, del sol y amores,
En tu regazo dulce es vivir.
Es una gloria para tus hijos,
Cuando de ofenden, por ti morir.
1934
The Philippine Hymn
by Camilo Osias and A.L.Lane
Land of the morning,
Child of the sun returning,
With fervor burning,
Thee do our souls adore.
Land dear and holy,
Cradle of noble heroes,
Ne'er shall invaders
Trample thy sacred shore.
Ever within thy skies and through thy clouds
And o'er thy hills and sea,
Do we behold the radiance, feel and throb,
Of glorious liberty.
Thy banner, dear to all our hearts,
Its sun and stars alight,
O never shall its shining field
Be dimmed by tyrant's might!
Beautiful land of love,
O land of light,
In thine embrace 'tis rapture to lie,
But it is glory ever, when thou art wronged,
For us, thy sons to suffer and die.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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