Martin Nievera singing the Philippine National Anthem at the MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
The National Historical Institute (NHI) of the Philippines has claimed Tuesday morning that singer Martin Nievera who sang the Philippine National Anthem during the Pacquiao-Hatton fight Sunday (Philippine time) violated the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (Republic Act 8491).
It is stipulated in Republic Act 8491, Section 37 that “the rendition of the National Anthem, whether played or sung, shall be in accordance with the musical arrangement and composition of Julian Felipe.”
“Mali ang pagkanta niya. … dapat sinundan niya ang nakalagay sa batas,” Teddy Atienza, head of the Heraldry Division, National Historial Institute said in a radio interview Tuesday morning.
Atienza also quoted the Section 50 of same Republic Act that states: “Any person or juridical entity which violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than Five thousand pesos (P5,000) nor more than Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000), or by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.”
It would be noticed that on the GMA broadcast of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight, the logo of the National Historical Institute with the caption “Approved by the National Historical Institute” was flashed after Nievera sang the Philippine National Anthem, which implies that the Institute approved Nievera’s version.
Martin Nievera was chosen by Manny Pacquiao to sing the national anthem in his fight with Ricky Hatton and was reported here in Brink Notes Entertainment Daily last April 8, 2009.
Nievera said that Pacquiao asked him to sing the anthem not in a slow tempo but in a march like tempo.
“Well, it’s going to be very hard for me to apologize for something that I am not sorry for. I did not ask to do the anthem. Manny Pacquiao himself asked me to sing the national anthem,” Nievera said in a statement.
