The Philippines and Lupang Hinirang

Join us as we embark on an auditory journey to the Philippines, a vibrant archipelago of 7,641 islands known for its rich tapestry of culture and biodiversity. This episode unravels the fascinating story behind “Lupang Hinarang,” the national anthem that weaves together threads of patriotism, historical struggle, and musical heritage. We’ll explore the dramatic backdrop of the Philippines’ colonial past, marked by Spanish and later American influences, and how these shaped the national identity that the anthem embodies. The discussion delves into the lives of its composer, Julian Felipe, and poet, Jose Palma, both of whom were deeply intertwined with the nation’s revolutionary spirit. So, whether you’re a history buff or just in it for the catchy tunes, prepare for a mix of enlightening insights and a sprinkle of wit as we navigate through the lyrical and melodic heart of Filipino pride.

Hey!!!!!! if you're reading my notes 2.5 years into my show you're cool

Speaker A: 00:00:00

Foreign hello and welcome to the Anthems Podcast.

I'm Patrick and I'm here to tell you the story of a song that helps to tell the story of a nation Today we we are traveling 4,887 miles or 7,221 kilometers as the crow flies. And since that is actually a term for the straight line distance on the surface of the planet, we are going to try and use it as a time.

A North American crow does a three day migration descending from 95 to 43 to 28 miles and that averages to 55ish miles per day. And crows only travel during the day so they can follow local birds to prime roosting spots to sleep in.

And they'll need 89 sleeping spots to reach the home of Corvus philippinus, which means that if you're very familiar with Southeast Asian avian taxonomy, then you knew I was about to say we'll be talking about the Philippines. Officially the Republic of the Philippines.

in a country that consists of: 7641

The Philippines are one of the mega diverse countries on the planet, meaning that about 5,000 of the species there are endemic, which is a new use of the word to me, and it means they are found nowhere else.

The country also must have a robust marine ecosystem that is supported within the borders, one of the many things that make this archipelago one of the prettier strings of islands that the Ring of Fire wears.

Sharing in that diversity of nature and culture and food and the danger of living on seismically active islands with volcanoes leads to amazing ideas like Capua. It's an understanding that I've sort of come to in my own life.

That means that we're all part of a bigger project and it's something that we are definitely not going to see the end of ourselves.

That sense of community and thinking about the next people informs a great deal of Filipino culture, and it turns out to be an excellent reason for me to tell you about a Lupang Hinarang, or chosen Land. Again, my knowledge is limited pre episode here.

I've seen a couple of old war movies in the endless series that I watched with my pop, and they had shallow and problematic depictions of non US countries, including the Philippines.

I also knew that this was in fact an important part of what happened in World War II, but not exactly how and here too, though, I love the food and Filipino adobo gets made in my kitchen eight or nine times a year and you should make it too. It gets me thinking that we ought to just share cuisine and shut up about all the disputes, but definitely keep talking about the songs we hear.

Just like this one, my actual first thought was @ least I know what I'm playing and I didn't change my mind after hearing 24 other versions of the song.

Here we get to hear the Philippine Philharmonic accompany Jake Zyrus, formerly known professionally as Charisse, during a presidential inauguration, so everyone involved is at the top of their game. It's also another song that immediately feels like a national anthem, even if you know nothing else about it.

Continuing with themes of self explanatory significance and places I Want to Go to, this country contains a place called the Puerto Princesa Subterranean river, one of the coolest things that you can see on the planet.

This national park sits on a gigantic limestone karst that got Swiss cheesed by water and time, and the last 5.1 miles of the Cabayungan river flow through a cave before discharging completely into the sea.

You can get nearly three miles upstream from the river on a tour boat, and this place is an ecological treasure trove that leads me to believe there is a really, really long list of species that we don't know about yet. Just this cave has species in it that have been found nowhere else on the planet.

So where do we have to go if we're going to see this one of the country's many UNESCO heritage sites in person?

In locating this country, I get to have a small math nerd moment with trigonometry because the Philippines is very nearly in the center of a triangle formed by Papua New Guinea, Taiwan and Laos. Three countries I've covered.

There is no number significance I'm aware of in it being episodes 12, 21 and 25, but it does mean that for some reason you're keeping close track of what I do. You already know where we are. For the rest of us, I I think it's easier to get there from China than Australia.

miles or: 1250

It is north of Indonesia, south of Taiwan, and sandwiched inside a handful of seas, specifically Celibus Sulu, the West Philippines, South China and the Philippine Sea. They are all well within the area that are defined by today's geology. Fact, the Ring of Fire. I know I already mentioned it, but it's a cool one.

It seemed like low hanging fruit, but that is in fact the best tasting fruit sometimes.

Plus, as we have discussed previously when discussing islands with areas of underwater volcanic activity, we don't get islands like the Philippines without lots of time and volcanoes in the ocean. The Ring of Fire not only lets me confess my reverence for the music of the late, great Mr.

Johnny Cash, even if his claim to being the first American to hear of Stalin's death is most generously a misinterpretation of something that he said. Anyway, depending on how we count, there are between 750 and 950 volcanoes around the ring.

That is basically 2/3 of all the volcanoes on Earth, but that also means 90% of all the earthquakes on the planet. All this happens because of different subducting ocean plates, continental plate boundaries and complicated intersections.

hat most recently happened in: 2023

Because I can't escape the ridiculous deep and wide historical influence of that stuff, it seems, at least I can't for the material that I have chosen, because it's a crucial part of the history of a given place. And you get anthems when you become independent. Yes, actually it's maybe usually mostly sometimes like not like that at all.

But becoming independent almost always involves a colonial power doing some oppressing that you want to be free of. So let's start the story with the Spanish and specifically with the death of Ferdinand Magellan.

,: 1521

By April 27th of the same year, things were so out of hand that Magellan was leading Spanish forces and local allies in a military action against a chief and he was fatally wounded. I definitely suggest reading about the events that surround the battle of Mactan and Chief Lapu. Lapu.

the future King Philip II in: 1543

From there, 350 years or so of Spanish empire occupation, alliances, wars, winds, losses and expenditures of life and money.

y begin to get going in about: 1565

It was because they were trying to Christianize a Muslim area and being told no by the government that was already there. Despite the reasonableness of this suggestion, Spain declared war and took control of the Philippines.

If not for cholera entering the fray, they might have taken Brunei as well.

Within the island, they were well on their way to full control because the place was very sparsely populated with small fragmented kingdoms that easily fell to the empire's war machine. The Spanish were involved in the Philippines pretty deeply from the beginning and were working very hard with the church to help spread Catholicism.

There was some notable reason from Islamic regions in the south, but the indigenous religions never stood a chance against the twin engines of Western education and economic advancement. The empire co opted local leaders and created an oligarchical system of rule that eliminated ideas of communal control.

And despite largely being allowed to integrate local practices into Catholic practices, there was an enormous cultural shift all over the place.

The Spanish spent most of the 17th century establishing communities, the hardening defenses with a fort network and trying to get the economic exploitation going. Except that things never planned out exploitation wise.

there from the middle of the: 1500

So again, 300 years despite not making any money. What did happen was that they made a distinct culture a new one.

Because people eat together, they live together, work together, and along the way develop their own language and the collective identity. That stuff is the backbone of many a revolution story in post colonial countries. We're going to talk about this one in a few.

First we're going to jump to the beginning of the 19th century and then mostly skip the story of Spanish decline in the region that is the 18th century. Well, that and we're also going to skip what is somehow more racism than usual in what I'm reading about.

And a lot of conflict with Muslim forces trying to do what the Catholic Church was doing via Spanish forces.

There were also some pretty brutal Japanese piracy situations that happened and a brief British occupation that all teamed up to leave the treasuries of the Philippines pretty exhausted. With the actual jump into the 19th century.

ain saw a new constitution in: 1812

And they made more investments in infrastructure, education. And the region was given a semi independent sort of government. I'm still not sure colonialism or imperialism have ever been a good idea.

Despite my birth being contingent on the both of them. The part of the record that I have read is not terribly clear if our composer's existence also depends on either of the two.

But the arc of his life would certainly have been different.

th in: 1861

It seems he had a brother named Housto as well. I think he was older.

We are still following the pattern though, with me not knowing much about the man's early life, except that he went to public school and then he received private instruction in music from a friar named Pedro Catalan. Pedro was a recollect priest that is a reformist offshoot of the Augustinian hermit friars. A rabbit hole that I did not go down.

I'm sure it's pretty deep though. Father Pedro went ahead and hired the talented Julian as an orchist at the parish church.

Being a working musician gave Philippe a chance to get great at what he did, and he definitely did that. And he was soon composing well received music. During this span he also became employed as a piano instructor at an all girls school.

work earned him awards and an: 1895

,: 1897

He promptly rejoined the revolutionaries and began composing music for them.

Sometime in the first half of: 1898

First Philippine Republic in: 1899

We will talk a little tiny bit more about that in a little bit. After the war, Julian was elected as a counselor in Cavett and later became a band master for the US Navy.

in: 1944

,: 1876

Hermogenes also sports that name, which I love. It's interesting that a Filipino man in the middle of the 19th century ends up with the same name as one of Socrates best friends.

Fact check that it's true.

Sadly, our poet died of tuberculosis when he was just 26 years old, so there's not really much to know of their life because not a lot of it happened. But he's not a complete ghost, so we get something of a timeline here for sure.

s far as I can tell, was from: 1893

The title makes a lot of sense if you consider that it was penned by a 17 year old boy.

his studies interrupted by in: 1896

Tuberculosis seems like it was either a long process for the poor guy or the culmination of a not very healthy life.

That meant when the fighting switched from against the Spanish to against the Americans and he finally got boots on the ground out in the field, it was mostly to entertain his fellow revolutionaries with poetry and traditional Filipino storytelling. He made a very quick transition into working as a writer for the Tagalog section of the newspaper La Independencia.

The writers at the paper, according to enough sources that I'm going to mention it, spent a lot of time on the run from American forces. And they used brakes in that fleeing process, I guess, to write revolutionary poetry.

Palma wrote Filipinas during this time and saw it published with the music on September 3rd of the same year. All of this stuff happened extremely fast though, as it often does once it starts happening.

th in: 1903

So we are again talking about an anthem where both the poet and the composer are directly involved in different parts of a revolution in the country. That all happens in the very end of the 19th century.

But we've got to tee it up a little bit neater before getting through or it's not going to make a ton of sense.

inistered from Mexico. And in: 1821

So the seat of government shifted to far off Madrid.

panish revolution happened in: 1868

This time it briefly resulted in a liberal Governor General in the Philippines. As in about a year's time brief, but it was enough time to give the people a taste, especially the rich people.

And when a not so liberal guy came in, there was a high profile mutiny that resulted in the execution of three Filipino priests. And that planted a fully grown tree of resentment for the Spanish.

revolt against The Spanish in: 1896

The revolt began when it did, mostly because the underground group planning it was exposed as revenge for a pay dispute between two printers. This was going to happen kind of soon, one way or the other.

But to have the thing kicked off by someone betraying a co worker is a wild way for a revolution to begin again. A bunch of people were executed because of this, including more than a few that had nothing to do with the revolution at all.

They were just implicated in the paperwork. Like somebody signed their names in blood in a book to try and get them involved, whether or not they wanted to be involved.

th in: 1896

going to skip to February of: 1898

By June, the rebels declared Filipino independence with the wind at their back and the Americans wiping the floor with the Spanish while they ran support. Then the Treaty of Paris ended the fighting in Spain's hegemony in Asia in the Americas.

But it also initiated the rise of the United States as a colonial power. Why?

Because to the great surprise of the Filipino people that had been helping the Americans fight the war, Spain sold the Philippines to the US in that treaty. I told you we were going to mention the Philippine American War. And this is the entirety of what I'm going to mention about it.

It happened and the Americans won. And there were a couple snippets that we brought up in the context of the poet and the composer. Too much detail involved in that.

So from there the archipelago was administered by the Bureau of Insular affairs and the Americans began their supposed tutelage of the Filipino people to get them ready for real independence.

omething I don't say much, in: 1953

n became fully independent in: 1946

egaining its anthem status in: 1919

ons starting to appear in the: 1940

in: 1956

In: 1958

It's written in 2, 4, and it hits many of the marks of that style. I learned a new music word for this one and I really like this. This song makes strong use of something called anapestic rhythmic figures.

The term comes from poetry and it's a short, short, long phrasing that you can take the structure of and reapply elsewhere in a piece of writing. Kind of like moving a chord shape up the neck of a string instrument.

of music. It's a traditional: 1451

I went to the subreddit for music theory to try and figure out what that meant and it just confused. But I'll learn it eventually and maybe I'll have a reason to bring it up again. And that's pretty much it.

We've got something in the European martial style that's probably inspired by the Spanish anthem Marche Real, which I may have said incorrectly. It oddly has no refrain for a national anthem. But I like the music and I think I've mentioned that I do like march.

Lyrically speaking, we are deep into it here with a very emotional patriotic poem.

Recall that it was written during a war for independence that immediately followed a war for independence, and that it was written by an active participant in both of those wars of independence on the side of the revolutionaries. We get a Spanish language poem with five verses of four lines apiece. They are consistently octosyllabic, which is a fun word to say.

It means eight syllables, apparently common in period Spanish poetry. I was going to go with the translation that was official when the anthem was in English, but I don't like the translation choices that were made.

I think the meaning is lost in them. Look it up on your own, make your own decision on that.

But this is my show, so I'm going with what's in my hardcover copy of the 11th edition of National Anthems of the World. It is a way more explicit translation of the words.

And this is all relative stuff anyway, because the version I played is a translation into Tagalog from the original Spanish, and the meaning gets through though. Beloved land, daughter of the eastern sun, your heart is beating with ardent fire.

Land of love, cradle of heroism, invaders shall never trample on you in the blue sky and gentle breezes, in your mountains and seas the epic of your beloved freedom shines and beats your banner, which has illuminated victory in battle, will never see its stars or its sun blotted out. Land of good fortune, sun and love, it is sweet to live in your embrace it is glory for your sons to die for you when you are wronged.

The poem presents the Philippines as a cherished and noble land, using vivid, romanticized imagery to articulate national identity and pride.

As one of many patriotic poems of the moment, it was not specifically intended to be used as an anthem, but because of the writing conditions, it checks off many of the anthem boxes for me.

The first stanza establishes the emotional bond between country and people, calling the Philippines a tierra adorada, land of love and hija del sol de orienta, the daughter of the eastern sun, framing it as a product of light, vitality, and eastern heritage. It is a poetic assertion of belonging and significance and a reclaiming of dignity in the face of colonial marginalization.

The metaphor of fuego argenta and nt latiendo esta so something like heart is beating with ardent fire suggests an inner vitality and religious spirit inherent to the land and its people. This guy was in it with his entire being, so I bet Jose was going for patriotic heartbeat that will not be silenced here.

The second stanza intensifies the emotional and political stance by naming the land Cuna del arismo, a cradle of heroism, asserting that this country's identity is shaped by its capacity to resist domination.

Closing with los investores note oloron, Hamas, the invaders will never trample you is both a defiant pledge and an aspirational prophecy of sovereignty that adds a strength of defiance to this writing. This guy is unintentionally nailing the assignment, and I love when that happens.

We continue with a blend of lyrical reverence and militant resolve as the third stanza moves from terrestrial to celestial imagery, noting that entu azal cielo entus oris entus montes I entumar in your blue sky, your gentle breezes, your mountains and your seas. The idea of freedom is explicitly vibrant in this poem.

Esplende e late e poema de tu amata libertat, the poem of your beloved liberty shines and beats.

This line strays into conflating aesthetics and politics, suggesting that liberty is not just a condition, but a national art form and a defining beauty. I'm not super sure I agree with that. Despite wishing that we all had more liberty. But I didn't write the poem.

The over the top sentiment continues where the national flag is described in triumphalist terms. A thing I'm shocked that spellcheck let me write with no notes to Pabellon que en las litas la victoria illumino.

Your banner has illuminated victory in battle. The sun and stars symbolize enduring visibility and the promise of victory.

The last quatrain is to be a moving conclusion framing the homeland as a place of true joy and warmth. Tierra de dichas de sol y amores interragazo dolce es vivere.

So essentially it is sweet to be in the embrace of the nation's son in love, but I will die for it. The last two lines involve a sacred nationalism where the defense of the nation becomes not just a duty, but a glorious consummation of identity.

Because whether they were written as an anthem or not, these are nationalistic things.

Gotta remember that in this case we have a poem that across both its lyrical and rhetorical registers, marries the idealized love of country with a commitment to sacrifice, creating a national anthem rooted in both beauty and blood.

All said and done, we've got a song that first off had a really tough to parse out story this time because of the way history works and I'm sure I'm going to run into hard to write stuff again and again and again and again.

History is like a clumpy, inconsistent timeline that fails to make sense to me unless I zoom out so far that it would not be helpful for me to tell you about all of the stuff I see from up there. But I need to look from far away in order to tell a story that makes sense here. I continue to learn and I think I'm making progress.

Secondly, this is a story that you should dive into on your own because it's about a beautiful place, it's deeply interesting stuff and hopefully the toe dip worth of stuff that I've told you about was interesting. On to the credits, which I am rethinking a bit. So these are slightly different this time.

The writing, recording and production for the show are done by me and I wrote and played the theme music. The music was used with my permission. Unless otherwise noted. The anthems I play are free to play this time.

nd in: 2024

My sources are in the show notes and the most direct way to those notes is@anthemspodcast.com I can be found on Facebook and WhatsApp as the anthems podcast. I was thinking about social media and maybe someone could reach out to me and let me know which network it would be best to get the show on.

Until then, I'm asking you to help me get the episodes onto whatever platform you can with the hashtag anthemspod. That's an easy way to get the show in front of people.

It would be cool if you shared this content with others and perhaps it will spread the Filipino idea of KAPWA and more people will think of others.

-: 8375

-: 4255

Maybe you are walking around Shea Stadium right now and you've noticed that there's an announcers booth open and are taking a once in a lifetime opportunity to recommend this show for some reason by blasting it out to thousands of Mets fans. But even if all that happens is you download another one, then you're doing me a great service and I am off to the next country.

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