It's the singer, not the song

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As this one popular saying goes, there is no sense of doing something or undoing anything when it’s working fine. This we must tell to some of our over-eager lawmakers who are falling all over the places for publicity in the brouhaha over the controversial rendition of the Philippine national anthem by popular singer/balladeer Martin Nievera.

That’s why many of us feel our lawmakers were making a big fuss over nothing. In particular, we find unnecessary the initiative on the part of certain lawmakers in Congress in pushing to amend Republic Act (RA) 8491 or the 1998 Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines. It was their bright idea to amend this law as a pretext of defending the freedom of expression of an artist like Nievera. But it is obviously a popular vehicle for them to ride on this issue.

The uproar was stirred by the National Historical Institute’s rebuke on Nievera’s stylized version of the “Lupang Hinirang” during the boxing title match between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton last week at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The NHI, headed by historian Dr. Ambeth Ocampo, the provincial board of Cebu and Cavite Rep.Elpidio Barzaga had earlier criticized Nievera for his alleged “wrong” rendition of our national hymn.

Under Section 37 of RA 8491, it states that the rendition of the national anthem, whether played or sung, should be in accordance with the original musical arrangement of Julian Felipe, which follows a marching-type beat. Violators may be imprisoned for not more than a year and fined at least P20,000.

Nievera first came under fire from some wise guys at the NHI. It was after the NHI officials apparently finally realized that part of their job is to safeguard sacred national symbols like our national anthem. The self-appointed freedom fighters in Congress found such an opportunity by calling for an amendment of RA 8491 purportedly for this law “to give more flexibility” to the Filipino artists in the exercise of their freedom of expression as enshrined in our Constitution.

Barzaga, on the other hand, announced his plans to file a “test case” against Nievera since the supposed “violation” of RA 8491 was committed outside Philippine jurisdiction. Barzaga disclosed he would file the complaint before the courts to protect our national hymn from further desecration.

Aside from the issue of jurisdiction, our lawmakers must be reminded that Nievera is a holder of Philippine and US passports because of his dual citizenship. Nievera was born and raised the American way in Hawaii where his Filipino parents migrated. In fact, Martin has been commuting to and from Vegas and Manila. To Nievera’s credit, though, in case the lawmakers did not notice it, the singer was wearing the Philippine tricolor in his earphones while singing our national hymn aided by minus-one music.

Other Filipino singers who have been chided by the NHI for their alleged faulty rendition of the national anthem included Christian Bautista, who forgot several lyrics of the national hymn; and, Jennifer Bautista for going off-key on the hymn’s last word. Rising star Charice Pempengco apologized, through her mother, to the NHI after she was served notice about wrongly belting “ala Whitney Houston” (idol of Charice) the “Lupang Hinirang” contrary to the mandated key and tempo of the national hymn.

But long before the NHI made a fuss on the proper singing of “Lupang Hinirang,” this column first raised this issue over the singing done by Sarah Geronimo. She was tapped by Pacquiao to sing our national hymn during his fight with Mexican boxer Eric Morales also held in Vegas in November, 2006. Fortunately, Pacquiao won, too, by an early knockout victory at the third round of his fight with Morales.

In my column that came out in Nov. 22, I called attention to the rather “operatic” rendition of our national anthem by Sarah Geronimo. I received a deluge of e-mails in support of my appeal against the fancy singing of our national hymn. She sang it like a romantic song with her usual high notes. But singing it in higher notes exposes the singer to greater risk of being out of pitch and worse, out of tune. And it also defeats the intention of encouraging fellow Filipinos to sing the national anthem with fervor.

The best way to avoid embarrassment is simply to obey the law by singing the national anthem the way it should be — no higher, no slower than it should be sung. Aside from standing at attention and facing the Philippine flag (if displayed), RA 8491 also requires us to place our right palm over our left chest while singing it.

In both instances, Nievera failed to observe the same requirements of the law. Understandably, because he said he did not know any better about the existence of such a law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse before the courts. But Nievera refuses to apologize for doing what he thought was the best way he could sing to honor the occasion. But a little humility from Nievera could spare him from all these troubles.

As Iv’e written in my past column, I wish to reiterate my take on this issue. We as a people, especially the government must put a stop to all these fancy singing of “Lupang Hinirang.” But I’m sure there was no such ill motive for many of those who sing it with so much fervor and capping them with dramatic higher notes as Nievera and others did. Perhaps, it is their way of showing their love of country.

I consider as the most heart-warming rendition of our national anthem before a Pacquiao fight, the one performed acapella (without accompanying music) by Ciara Sotto. Pacquiao chose Ciara to sing it for him during his rematch fight with Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15 last year. Our “Pambansang Kamao” won by a split decision in that 12-round bout.

The 28-year old Ciara Sotto comes from very good genes of singers and musicians. She happens to be the daughter of former Sen. Vicente Sotto III and singer-actress Helen Gamboa. With such natural born talent and a music conservatory graduate at the University of Santo Tomas, she had the better sense of the correct way to sing our national anthem.

Pacquiao reportedly wisecracked in exasperation that he might possibly as well be the one to sing the national anthem in his next fight. Anyway, Pacquiao is an accomplished singer himself. “I mean…you know, it’s the singer, not the song.”