Lyrics:
Bayang Magiliw, Perlas ng Silanganan
Alab ng Puso sa dibdib mo’y buhay
Lupang Hinirang, Duyan ka ng 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 ng watawat mo’y
Tagumpay na nagniningning;
Ang bituin at araw niya
Kailan pa ma’y di magdidilim.
Lupa ng araw, ng luwalhati’t pagsinta,
Buhay ay langit sa piling mo;
Aming ligaya na pag may mang-aapi
Ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo.
History
“Lupang Hinirang” ([ˈlupaŋ hiˈniɾaŋ]; originally in Spanish: Patria Adorada [ˈpatɾja aðoˈɾaða]; English: “Chosen Land”) is the national anthem of the Philippines. Its music was composed in 1898 by Julián Felipe, and the lyrics were adapted from the Spanish poem Filipinas, written by José Palma in 1899. Originally written it did not have lyrics when it was adopted as the anthem of the revolutionary First Philippine Republic and subsequently played during the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898.
Under the American period, the Flag Act of 1907 prohibited the public display of flags, banners, emblems, or devices used by revolutionaries in the Philippine–American War. Under this law, the colonial government banned the song from being played. The Flag Law was repealed in 1919. Under the Commonwealth, Commonwealth Act № 382, approved on September 5, 1938, officially adopted the musical arrangement and composition by Julián Felipe as the national anthem.
The Spanish lyrics were translated into Tagalog beginning in the 1940s, with the current Filipino version from 1956 undergoing a slight revision in the 1960s. Over the years, several English versions came into use. On February 12, 1998, Republic Act № 8491 codified the current Filipino lyrics into law.
Called by Filipinos with the following title; Lupang Hinirang, Philippine National Anthem, Pambansang Awit, and miscalled as Bayang Magiliw.
The original version is in Spanish, a beautiful piece of poetry written in 1899 by Tondo-born soldier and poet José Palma. Titled Filipinas, It was later set to the music of Marcha Nacional Filipina, a rousing composition by musician Julián Felipe played on that historic day in Kawit, Cavite.
Tierra adorada
Hija del sol de Oriente
Su fuego ardiente en ti latiendo está.
Patria de amores
Del heroismo cuna,
Los invasores
No te hallarán jamás.
En tu azul cielo, en tus auras,
En tus montes y en tu mar
Esplende y late el poema
De tu amada libertad.
Tu pabellón, que en las lides
La victoria iluminó
No verá nunca apagados
Sus estrellas y su sol.
Tierra de dichas, del sol y amores,
En tu regazo dulce es vivir.
Es una gloria para tus hijos,
Cuando te ofenden, por ti morir.
In one of Philippine history’s many little ironies, just a few a months after this triumphal proclamation of independence, the old Spanish-speaking colonizers we thought we had gotten rid of sold us to some new, English-speaking colonizers for a few million dollars. But we’re not going to dwell on that on such a day as this.
Just enjoy the following English version of our national anthem:
Land of the morning,
Child of the sun returning,
With fervor burning,
Thee do our souls adore.
Land dear and holy,
Cradle of noble heroes,
Ne’er shall invaders
Trample thy sacred shore.
Ever within thy skies and through thy clouds
And o’er thy hills and sea,
Do we behold the radiance, feel and throb,
Of glorious liberty.
Thy banner, dear to all our hearts,
Its sun and stars alight,
O never shall its shining field
Be dimmed by tyrant’s might!
Beautiful land of love,
O land of light,
In thine embrace ’tis rapture to lie,
But it is glory ever, when thou art wronged,
For us, thy sons to suffer and die.
Although the Flag Law banned the use of Filipino nationalist symbols during the early years of the American occupation, it was repealed in 1919 and our hymn was translated into English. The one above is the most popular version, written by Senator Camilo Osías and an American, Mary A. Lane. Imagine, though, an American writing about the Philippines being a land whose flag’s shining field will never be dimmed by tyrant’s might, just when her country had us under its power; and about how it is glory for Filipinos to suffer and die when their country is wronged, just a few years after thousands of them did just that in the hands of American soldiers during the Philippine-American War.