Thank you. Mabuhay or in Kepompangan, Luwit Kayu. Did you know that the original lyrics to the Filipino National Anthem was not written in Tagalog? And no, not even in Spanish.
June 12, 2018 marked the 128th year since the proclamation of Philippine independence when the National Anthem of the country of the Philippines was first played. But contrary to popular belief, Lupang Hinirang, the National Anthem that we know of today in the Philippines, did not even exist. First of all, an anthem is a musical composition that is specifically meant for celebration, most frequently used in celebration of a nation's identity and freedom. When the Proclamation of Philippine Independence was made in 1898, the national anthem had no lyrics. It was purely musical.
Then known as Marcha Filipina, the national anthem was a majestic musical composition celebrating the freedom of the Filipino people. It was composed by Julian Felipe in 1898. right before before the proclamation. And it was based on the French national anthem La Marseillaise and Spain's own Marcha Real, one of the oldest in the world and one of the few remaining national anthems that still has no official lyrics.
The current Tagalog version of the lyrics Lupang Hinirang that everyone is familiar with today only dates back to 1966. And it was actually based on the poem Filipinas written by Jose Palma in 1899. And this poem that many believed to be the original lyrics to the Filipino national. anthem was actually written in Spanish because back then Spanish was still the lingua franca or the common language that united the archipelago linguistically but did you know that even the Spanish version written by Jose Palma was not really the original Jose Palma wrote his poem Filipinas aka Tierra Dorada back in August of 1899 and it was based on another poem written a a year earlier in September of 1898. And this was... The original poem and lyrics to Marcha Filipina was written by Mariano Proceso Pabalane Byron, a Kapampangan with mixed indigenous Aita and Irish-Portuguese ancestry.
Someone who happens to be one of my own ancestors. Pabalan of Bacolor Pampanga was one of the most popular and successful writers in the history of the Philippines. He revolutionized theater arts in the Philippines, making it more Filipino and away from colonial themes.
And so, in September of 1898, while the Revolutionary Congress of the Filipino people was in Malolos, Bulacan, drafting the constitution for the first Philippine Republic, Mariano Proceso Pabalan I Bayron, a patriot whose last name, Pabalan, literally means deliverance or to liberate and emancipate. people wrote his Kapampangan poem Labuad Mapalad in celebration of his people's freedom. It was said that Jose Palma also a Kapampangan from Bacolor Pampanga and a friend of Pabalan was so inspired by Pabalan's poem that he decided to translate the Kapampangan lyrics into Spanish.
Experts also agree that if you listen to it or even try singing it yourself like I do, the Kapampangan original Labuad Ma Palad is actually more in tune to the music of Julian Felipe's Marcha Filipina, more in tune than Jose Palma's Spanish poem, Filipinas. So yes, the Filipino national anthem was first written originally in Kapampangan by a Kapampangan, not in Tagalog and not in Spanish. Now during the American occupation of the Philippines, any expression of Filipino patriotism was forbidden, including the national anthem. It was only in 1938, during the Commonwealth period, that an English version, the Philippine Hymn, was written. And in 1943, during World War II, the revolutionary Hukbalahap guerrilla army adopted a Tagalog version called Diwanang Bayan, which was still heavily based and translated from Pabalan's own Labuad Mapalad.
And between 1948 to the 1960s other Tagalog translations were also put forward forward. Tagalog by then was chosen to be the basis of the new national language called Filipino. But it was only in 1966 that Felipe Padilla de Leon wrote the Lupang Hinirang version that we know of today.
And it wasn't until 1998, 20 years ago, that Lupang Hinirang was officially confirmed into law. Now this is important because even to this day, singing the national anthem in a language other than Tagalog, aka Filipino, is forbidden by law. Yet, when we look at the history, the Anthem itself has a very multilingual roots, just like the diversity in our roots and the multi-ethnic realities of the Philippines itself. And as I've mentioned before, it is extremely important for us to recognize the diverse and multi-ethnic and multilingual realities of our islands, of our own people. For the strength of the Philippines and our people does not rely on one identity alone.
The Philippines is a diverse archipelago of multi-ethnic people interwoven by history and as I've also mentioned before, we are only as strong as our weakest link. So it is very important for us Filipinos back in the motherland and in the diaspora to recognize these mostly ethnic identities and diverse colorful cultures that is at the core of our countries through beauty and strength. And that is it for me today. If you like this video and learn a thing or two, don't forget to subscribe.
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See you next time or in Tagalog, kita kits and in Kapampangan, mi kitiks.