How important it is to sing your national anthem in right tune and melody?  

Hi i'm Filipino, i live in Baguio City. I agree he sung it with his best.

i am sure that he gave his best rendition. but still he made some mistakes on the way he sung it. I for one don't agree that he should be punished though we really respect our national anthem. but he did not deliberately tried to change it. some times things happen differently. it is a live performance there is no second take to it.

Well according to you maean, you know the law. But is there a law that exists stating that the national anthem shouldn't be changed in tempo? I personally am a musician, i rearrange songs when performing. I play the national anthem in every special gig we have with my band. We also rearrange it into a Jazz type of Rhythm Section, but we don't play that everytime. We know when to play it the 'original' way and when to give it a rendition. Well, going back, i believe Martin Nievera is supposed to sing our national anthem in its original state, no rearrangements. Cuz that would give justice to the centuries of Philippine history, the original musician/composer's idea, and the ingrained melody in the minds of our fellow citizens.

In the match of our national boxer, the Philippine national anthem is not an ordinary song. But in the everyday lives of most of our Pinoy bros, most treat our national anthem, less than an ordinary song. They give more credit to novelty songs currently heard on the radio.

i totally agree with you that it is no ordinary song. but martin did his best. I think that he still do not deserve the criticism and the threat he has been receiving. he should be forgiven without any formal apology to be broadcast in public. he should be complimented for being in that said event to support our filipino champ. i think next time that they should put the next singer on training personally and tell them how to sing it right so that next time there will not be any more fuss over the way they sung the national anthem.

Hi roelsonguitar!

First and foremost, thank you for commenting on my response. I deeply appreciate that. With respect to your inquiry, I will answer based on the law itself and will quote it for your sake and everyone's information.

The following provision is taken from Republic Act 8491:

Section 2, Declaration of policy - Reverence and respect shall at all times be accorded the flag, anthem, and other national symbols....x.x.x

Section 37 The rendition of the National anthem, whether played or sung, shall be in accordance with the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe.

(Note: The provision made use of the term "shall" which means, it is mandatory to follow thereof.)

Sec. 38, par. 3
The anthem shall not be played and sung for mere recreation, amusement or entertainment purposes except on the following occasions:
a) International competitions where the Philippines is the host or has a representative;
b) Local competitions;
c) During the "signing off" and "signing on" of radio broadcasting and television stations;
d) Before the initial and last screening of films and before the opening of theater performances; and
e) Other occasions as may be allowed by the Institute.

Section 50 under Penalties
Any person or juridical entity which violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than Five thousand pesos (P5,000) nor more than Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000), or by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court: Provided, That for any second and additional offenses, both fine and imprisonment shall always be imposed: Provided, further, That in case the violation is committed by a juridical person, its President or Chief Executive Officer thereof shall be liable.

I think the provisions of the law are clear.

Hello again hotsummer!

I can sense that you sympathized with Martin Nievera and same with me. But then, you cannot change the fact that he did change the melody of the National Anthem, despite Ryan Cayabyab's advise. Certainly, that is bad faith on his part. Moreover, many previous singers had been warned for the same violation. If we tolerate what happened, tendency is it will happen again and again. Perhaps, it is about time that we have to wake up and give respect to our National Anthem because it is a representation of our country and nationality.

Another point, Martin Nievera in singing the National Anthem is not performing for his personal purpose rather he is a representative of the Filipinos.

I have a high admiration to Martin for his singing, but it is not a lose for him to make a public apology or admit that he made a mistake. If he do that, I think people may applaude him for that.

i totally sympathize with Martin. cause i feel that he didn't intentionally sang it for his own pleasure. i just wanted to give a good rendition but failed though to please the crowd specially us filipinos. i think that they should overlooked that mistake and instead just educate the singers here next time that they sing that they should follow the rule on how to sing it correctly.

I definitely understand and respect your standing about the issue my dear, and I just hope my response will not lead to negative rating. hehehe! Because, honestly am also speaking based on my opinion. That's the way I see it. Martin made a mistake which should be treated impartially. What I meant with this is that, if say the mistake should be overlooked and not dealt, it will happen again and thus there will be favoritism.

May I ask, what if an ordinary person did the same and he/she was penalized for said mistake? It would be unfair right?

The only difference is that a celebrity is involved in the issue that makes it controversial. Which I think is an informative issue to everyone or every Filipinos.

"Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith"

Yeah i agree with you. i just don't know what will be the other country's reaction in this kind of incident if their national anthem were not sung well in such event.

totally true. there are so many problems that they should put their attention to. and not waste their time to this little issue which will not help our country get better. i think that people just like wasting their time for nothing. what good will it make if they point it out that martin made a terrible rendition of the song. it still sound like a national anthem to me. though i understand their dismay over the rendition, but he did not made a mess of the whole song. there were just some part of the song that seem to change a bit. and that was it.

yeah i think that we should learn to sing our national anthem but still i think that it just needs reminder than punishment for those made a mistake singing it.

Hi assunta! I want to correct that it weren't politicians who are raising the issue. It became a controversial because many singers who were warned of singing the National Anthem in the proper way as mandated by law, which happened again. So I think, it is about time that the issue should not be taken for granted for every Filipinos' information.

No doubt, Martin Nievera is a good singer and that he sang the National anthem beautifully, but we cannot change the fact that he made changes or rearranged the song which is prohibited by law.

I certainly agree with you. He made a mistake and he should face the consequences of his actions. Besides, he was already warned by Ryan Cayabyab not to change or rearrange the song, yet he pursued it, therefore he is in bad faith.

On the other hand, punishment is either fine or imprisonment. With regard to the issue and if a complaint will be filed against him and held guilty, I think he will only be fined because imprisonment is harsh for him.