EDITORIAL — Forced branding

You can see why the quality of Philippine education continues to deteriorate: students and teachers are made to waste time on no-value-added matters.

Malacañang has ordered all public schools and national government agencies including government-owned and controlled corporations, and encouraged local government agencies, to include in their weekly flag ceremonies the singing of “Bagong Pilipinas” and recitation of its pledge.

Memorandum Circular No. 52, signed for President Marcos by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on June 4, aims to “further instill the principles of the Bagong Pilipinas brand of governance and leadership among Filipinos.” Since the launch of the Bagong Pilipinas concept, it has inevitably invited comparisons with the Bagong Lipunan slogan of the martial law regime under dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The karaoke-loving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will surely see that “Bagong Pilipinas” is not a hymn but a vapid pop song, with lyrics more complex and harder to memorize even for adults than “Lupang Hinirang,” the Philippine national anthem. Most Filipinos have yet to memorize the pledge of allegiance to the Philippine flag, which follows the singing of the national anthem during flag ceremonies. The singing of the anthem and recitation of the pledge are mandated under Republic Act 8491, enacted in February 1998.

If the Malacañang order is meant to heighten public awareness of the Bagong Pilipinas concept, the Palace should wonder why awareness remains low, a year after its launch. The Bagong Pilipinas messaging is as muddled as the ill-conceived “We give the world our best” Philippine branding advertisement, seen on some London public buses in the United Kingdom. The ad, rolled out to coincide with President Marcos’ attendance at the coronation of the UK’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla in May last year, featured Filipina-British nurse May Parsons holding a hypodermic syringe that revived tragic memories of the COVID pandemic. Like the fee for the ad, will taxpayers pay fat royalties for the use of the Bagong Pilipinas song in government establishments?

The Palace circular says Bagong Pilipinas “calls for deep and fundamental transformations in all sectors of society and government, and fosters the State’s commitment towards the attainment of comprehensive policy reforms and full economic recovery.” Bagong Pilipinas, the new Philippines, is supposedly “characterized by a principled, accountable and dependable government.” It would be more impressive if government officials would just take those words to heart, practice what they preach and lead by example.