Palace: Proposal to revise national anthem up to Congress

Tweaking the lyrics of the Philippine national anthem "Lupang Hinirang" as proposed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III does not appear to be a priority of Malacañang.

At a news conference on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said it is up to Congress to decide on the matter as the government has to attend to more pressing concerns.

"Iniiwan na po namin iyan sa Kongreso, mas maraming mas matitinding problema na dapat harapin. Bahala na po ang Kongreso diyan," Roque said.

Sotto broached the idea of changing the "defeatist" lines in the national anthem while interpellating Senator Richard Gordon on Monday on his proposal to add a ninth ray to the sun on the Philippine flag.

The Senate leader was referring to the lines: “Aming ligaya na 'pag may mang-aapi, ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo.”

“Patay na agad e. I have thought of a line that could replace this: ‘Aming ligaya na pag may nang-aapi, ang ipaglaban kalayaan mo’,” he said.

Sotto admitted that the matter has bugged him for years. — MDM, GMA News