Journey front man Arnel Pineda made a boo-boo when he sang the Pambansang Awit in his own way at the Manny Pacquaio-Joshua Clottey fight. The National Historical Institute brought the matter to public attention and then Arnel reacted. On TV, he apologized but rather sarcastically, because he said that he is sorry that he did not perform to their (referring to NHI’s standards).
Look, I am not against artistry. Yeah, there should be freedom, but like Uncle Ben in Spiderman said, “With freedom comes great responsibility.” It is the responsibility of the NHI to protect the culture of the Filipino, and along with that is the protection of the National Anthem being sung the right way. It doesn’t matter if Americans can sing their National Anthem in the way that they want, after all, there is no governing body that protects it. But in the Philippines it is different. So is it so hard to abide by the standards set by the NHI?
I think it is also BS that those who have sung the Pambansang Awit in the past during Pacquiao’s fight and who also belted out their renditions came to the defense of Arnel. Christian Bautista said that sometimes, when you are singing, you want to end on a high note for impact. I agree, but that is performance only. The Pambansang Awit is not part of the concert but a tribute to the country where you came from. If you are a true singer, you would know how to sing the national song properly, after all, they are all acknowledged professional singers.
Why do they really want to change the National Anthem? For publicity? For you singers, I think you will have better publicity if you sing it properly and get accolades for the right way of singing.