The national anthem issue

STAR BYTES By Butch Francisco (The Philippine Star) Updated March 18, 2010 12:00 AM
Source: Philippine Star

Arnel Pineda’s singing of the national anthem is acceptable
Manny Pacquiao’s pre and post fight phase has become so utterly predictable. This is how the now-ho-hum series of events unfolds:

Manny is shown training in Manila.

Manny flies to the US.

Manny does last-minute training in the US.

Manny wins (thank heavens, he does always — although in this last one, Joshua Clottey was so boring).

We check on Manny and Jinkee’s marital status.

Dionisia Pacquiao steals the scene somewhere along the way.

Manny returns victorious to the Philippines and skips Manila because that is no longer a Lito Atienza territory.

Oh, I almost forgot: In between, we assess the performance of the singer tasked to belt out the national anthem.

I don’t understand why we squawk so much about the singing of the national anthem. If you ask me, for as long as you don’t fool around with the Tagalog lyrics (from the original Spanish version written by Jose Palma) the way some school kids do in the grades, then there should be no problem about it.

Arnel Pineda’s national anthem rendition last Sunday (Manila time) — despite the little vocal calisthenics he did at the end — was totally acceptable. For one, the burning fervor was there. And he wasn’t boring.

I only see two solutions to this problem:

The first is to simply play a standard instrumental recording of the national anthem before every Pacquiao fight — preferably a copy from the National Historical Commission.

The second is to seriously deal with the issue once and for all. If there really is a law (of which I am ignorant) pertaining to the singing of the national anthem and that is violated, then mete out the punishment. People in authority should stop harping about it in 24 Oras. If there was a violation, charge the guilty singer(s) in court. Jail them and make them do time.

Now, if they still don’t learn their lesson in the penitentiary and insist on singing the national anthem to the tune of Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock, then give them the chair and let them fry in it.