The Chosen Land
It is not unknown to everyone that Filipino people are real patriots; they fight for their land, for their freedom even if the odds are grim. It has been since our ancestors that fought the Spaniards, the Americans and the Japanese. We have long endured trials and sufferings and made countless victories over tyrants and oppressors and in doing so, we have been blessed by symbols to cherish those victories one of which is our national anthem and of course our flag.
Let us discuss about our flag first, the colors that it shows, the symbols that it signifies. The 3 major colors are Red, White and Blue with a yellow sun with 8 mighty rays and three beautiful shining stars, this is what our radiant flag looks like in a nutshell. But do we know what those things symbolize? The red, white and blue perhaps, what does it mean? Why not 10 rays in the sun? The more the merrier, right? And we have more than a thousand islands in the archipelago, why only put 3 stars?
The questions that I’ve asked above are quite silly, very silly indeed. But in the time wherein I see many people rallying in the street carrying our flag and shouting so many blah blahs, I just can’t seem to wonder if they know how much history that flag they are carrying has or what is the meaning of the Philippine flag in their hands? Well those might be ordinary people in there and they might have been deprived of formal education for them to know what the flag really means but, could it also be possible that our political leaders might not even know what our flag really is? Maybe they have been consumed by to much political bickering and ways to get themselves richer by the second that even they don’t know what the flag means.
Enough about the flag, let us go to the Philippine national anthem or “Bayang Magiliw” as we all know. Hee hee hee, I know, I know, it is called “lupang Hinirang” but do you know? How about the lines of the song, or the beat and rhythm of it, I think it is a very beautiful samba, waltz or foxtrot??? Do you know that it is a march with a 4/4 beat, a little technical perhaps to discuss, but considering the many people who died fighting for it isn’t it worth your time to know what your heritage is?
It saddens me deeply knowing that many Filipino people do not know the words of our national anthem, we have been singing it since our childhood and it is to darn embarrassing not to know your own anthem. If you cannot show your nationalism in the simplest of ways how can you show it in the complexity of life? Before trying to read on, would you consider pausing for a while and try to sing the “Lupang Hinirang” even in your head and finish it from start to end? I guess not. Try to sing it from your heart then, maybe the words will pop up.
I pity Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Teodora Agoncillo, Julian Felipe, Emilio Aguinaldo and the countless more heroes that gave their lives for their beloved land.
Nuff said….
Lupang Hinirang
Bayang magiliw Perlas nang silanganan
Alab nang puso Sa dibdib mo’y buhay
Lupang hinirang Duyan ka nang 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 nang watawat mo’y tagumpay na nag niningning
Ang bituin at araw nya’y kalian pa may di magdidilim
Lupa nang araw nang lualhati’t pag sinta
Buhay ay langit sa piling mo
Aming ligaya na pag may mang aapi
Ang mamatay nang dahil sayo
I was planning not to mention the symbols in the flag but I guess I really need to dish out this information, so here it goes;
The 8 rays in the sun symbolizes the first 8 provinces that rebelled against the Spaniards and they are as follows; Cavite, Manila, Batangas, Laguna, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bataan and Pampanga. The 3 stars of course means three islands amongst the thousand of island that our country have, they are the 3 major group; Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The Blue in the flag means noble ideal and common unity, While Red means bravery and courage and White means peace and purity and the triangle also symbolizes the Katipunan. The sun in the center of the triangle signifies the gigantic stride that have been made by the son of this land & the road to progress and civilization.
And of course all of this was made possible by Mr. Christian Bautista.
Jai Guru Deva Om
Let us discuss about our flag first, the colors that it shows, the symbols that it signifies. The 3 major colors are Red, White and Blue with a yellow sun with 8 mighty rays and three beautiful shining stars, this is what our radiant flag looks like in a nutshell. But do we know what those things symbolize? The red, white and blue perhaps, what does it mean? Why not 10 rays in the sun? The more the merrier, right? And we have more than a thousand islands in the archipelago, why only put 3 stars?
The questions that I’ve asked above are quite silly, very silly indeed. But in the time wherein I see many people rallying in the street carrying our flag and shouting so many blah blahs, I just can’t seem to wonder if they know how much history that flag they are carrying has or what is the meaning of the Philippine flag in their hands? Well those might be ordinary people in there and they might have been deprived of formal education for them to know what the flag really means but, could it also be possible that our political leaders might not even know what our flag really is? Maybe they have been consumed by to much political bickering and ways to get themselves richer by the second that even they don’t know what the flag means.
Enough about the flag, let us go to the Philippine national anthem or “Bayang Magiliw” as we all know. Hee hee hee, I know, I know, it is called “lupang Hinirang” but do you know? How about the lines of the song, or the beat and rhythm of it, I think it is a very beautiful samba, waltz or foxtrot??? Do you know that it is a march with a 4/4 beat, a little technical perhaps to discuss, but considering the many people who died fighting for it isn’t it worth your time to know what your heritage is?
It saddens me deeply knowing that many Filipino people do not know the words of our national anthem, we have been singing it since our childhood and it is to darn embarrassing not to know your own anthem. If you cannot show your nationalism in the simplest of ways how can you show it in the complexity of life? Before trying to read on, would you consider pausing for a while and try to sing the “Lupang Hinirang” even in your head and finish it from start to end? I guess not. Try to sing it from your heart then, maybe the words will pop up.
I pity Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Teodora Agoncillo, Julian Felipe, Emilio Aguinaldo and the countless more heroes that gave their lives for their beloved land.
Nuff said….
Lupang Hinirang
Bayang magiliw Perlas nang silanganan
Alab nang puso Sa dibdib mo’y buhay
Lupang hinirang Duyan ka nang 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 nang watawat mo’y tagumpay na nag niningning
Ang bituin at araw nya’y kalian pa may di magdidilim
Lupa nang araw nang lualhati’t pag sinta
Buhay ay langit sa piling mo
Aming ligaya na pag may mang aapi
Ang mamatay nang dahil sayo
I was planning not to mention the symbols in the flag but I guess I really need to dish out this information, so here it goes;
The 8 rays in the sun symbolizes the first 8 provinces that rebelled against the Spaniards and they are as follows; Cavite, Manila, Batangas, Laguna, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bataan and Pampanga. The 3 stars of course means three islands amongst the thousand of island that our country have, they are the 3 major group; Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The Blue in the flag means noble ideal and common unity, While Red means bravery and courage and White means peace and purity and the triangle also symbolizes the Katipunan. The sun in the center of the triangle signifies the gigantic stride that have been made by the son of this land & the road to progress and civilization.
And of course all of this was made possible by Mr. Christian Bautista.
Jai Guru Deva Om
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