"Ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo..."

First and foremost, let me make it clear. I am part of that generation of Martin Nievera fans. I am a huge fan and will always remain one of his biggest fans.

But I must say, while I am a huge fan, there was something about the way he sang the Philippine National Anthem during the Pacquiao-Hatton bout that did not sound right. More than not sounding right, it did not feel right.

Yes, there was something wanting in the rendition that has something to do with emotions and feelings. Martin sang it well. I was not pointing to that. A song is about interpretation and it was his interpretation and he did it well.

But it's not about singing it well or singing it bad, it's about something else. I wanted to know. And so, in the midst of the Pacman fever over his victory over Hatton, I posted a question in my Facebook Account, a simple question that elicited the most number of responses from my FB friends. The question: What can you say about Martin Nievera's rendition of the Philippine National Anthem in lieu of the Pacquiao-Hatton bout?

These are some of the responses of my FB friends:

Atty. Ted Te: "RA 8491, the 1998 Flag and Heraldic Code, sec. 37 provides that the national anthem shall be sung or played in accordance with the arrangement of Julian Felipe and that it's not to be sung for entertainment. I think it should be 2/4, so it's like a march or something. I think it was in poor taste to have Martin Nievera who can barely speak the language, sing the national anthem. But I guess they wanted a Vegas athmosphere to it so they got a showman to do it."

Grandier Bella: "I was more attracted to his clothes."

Judy Che Sabello: "As I said he is only good in Be My Lady song. Bayang and Kuh could sing that in our right versions not in a burgus way."

Shy Valdez: "In my opinion, Martin sang fairly well. Yun lang alam ko may igaganda pa sana. Also medyo na-off ako nung biglang tumaas. From mababa to biglang taas kasi. Wala yung pa build up."

Roger Pe: "Off-synch pa yata. I would prefer an unknown public grade school teacher from Gen. Santos or Saranggani to have sung it."

Daphne Osena-Paez: "Bad. he should have stuck to a traditional version and no instrumental accompaniment. And his facial expressions were distracting."

Jake Maderazo: "It was great."

Ares Penales-Gutierrez: "Yun ang ayaw ko sa tuwing may laban si Pacquiao.Di kinakanta nang maayos ang Pambansang Awit at akala ng mga singer, Cute sila."

Randy Velasco: " Sa susunod si Manny na lang ang kakanta. Special request. That would be cool."

Karen Santiago: "Dapat si Leah Salonga na lang ulit."

Benji Beljica: "Ha-ha! what a show."

Benjie Escocal: "Sana si Ara Mina na lang kumanta next time."

Norman Sison: "I appreciate how strong we feel about our national anthem. I trust that the feeling is also translated into everyday deeds such as doing the right thing not only when it is convenient."

There are more comments but I cannot put them all here.

But the point is, as my good friend Norman pointed out, the responses attached to that simple question manifest the strong feeling we have for our national anthem. Majority of the responses mentioned that the singing of the national anthem, especially in an international event such as the Pacquiao-Hatton bout in Las Vegas should follow the original, traditional and the common way of singing it. Atty. Te even specified the Republic Act that governs the guidelines on how to sing or play the Philippine National Anthem.

Not content with the responses I got from my FB friends, I called an expert in this field, a real musician, an internationally renowned musical conductor, Professor Ed Manguiat, Choir Director of the UP Singing Ambassadors.

Professor Manguiat said during the interview regarding this topic that the arrangement of the song, the way Martin was made to sing it did not "register his gift as a singer." The professor noted the artistic purpose from the side of Martin's musical arranger. But the one thing that's missing he said on the way it was arranged and performed was the fact that it did not convey "pride and honor" to the flag. In Filipino he said, "Walang giting at pagmamalaki na naipakita. Dapat ang ganda ng boses ng tao o ng umaawit, nagkataon lang. Nasa kanta mismo. Nasa titik. Nasa rendisyon." ("There's no pride and honor conveyed. The good singing voice of the person singing the song should only be incidental. It's the song itself that should register. The words. The rendition.")

After speaking with Manguiat, I finally realized what it was that I thought was missing in the way one of my favorite singers sang the Philippine National Anthem. Walang kilabot. Hindi nakapaninindig balahibo.There was no emotion. I did not feel a single strand of hair in my body reacting emotionally with pride and with honor to the way it was sung. You can see the facial expression of Martin and yet, there was something superficial about it. Perhaps, Ted Te's observation provides us the explanation as to why despite the emotions registered in the facial expression of Martin, there was no emotions of national pride and honor on his rendition.

Maybe--just maybe---he has not fully understood the meaning and more so the history of the song.

To the millions of others around the world who saw it, this did not mean a thing. But for Filipinos, and I trust, majority of the Filipinos share this point, singing the national anthem properly in front of an international audience meant something else that is bigger and far more ideal than hitting the high notes or wearing the right clothes while singing it, or whether a female or a male singer sings it, or whether a famous or a virtual unknown gets to sing it the next time.

The proper rendition rests on the understanding and the appreciation of the words of the song and the history of bravery of the race that fought for its independence.

Imagine Julian Felipe when he was composing this song as our national anthem back in 1898. Imagine the events before the mere act of composing this song for the Declaration of our Independence came.

O.A. na kung O.A. pero yun talaga ang kulang. Ang giting ng pagkakaawit. Wala sa ganda ng boses. Wala sa areglo. Nasa pagkakaunawa sa awitin ang ganda ng rendisyon.

Bayang magiliw, perlas ng silanganan.
Alab ng puso, sa dibdib mo'y buhay.
Lupang hinirang, duyan ka ng magiting
Sa manlulupig, 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 may di magdidilim.

Lupa ng araw, ng lualhati't pagsinta,
buhay ay langit sa piling mo.
Aming ligaya na pag may mang-aapi,
ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo.

In English, this is the tranlation by Camilio Osias and A.L. Lang

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 shores.

Ever within thy skies and through thy clouds
And o'er thy hills and seas;
Do we behold thy radiance, feel the throb
Of glorious liberty.

Thy banner dear to all hearts
Its sun and stars alight,
Oh, never shall its shining fields
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

Whoever gets to sing it next time Manny goes to battle again, let him or her appreciate the lyrics of the song first before he/she take that ring and sing our national anthem for all the world to see.(end)