kasumpa-sumpang panunumpa?

binut's comment on my previous entry got me interested in searching for the "correct" Panatang Makabayan. i tried reciting it from memory, but my confidence was waning with every word i utter. =P i found out that i know most of it still, i just couldn't recite it continously. it's like a distant poem. it's actually sounding more like a childhood bully-song, that i used to chant mechanically... now buried underneath syntax of c++ commands. hehe!

i was surprised to see there are 2 different versions now. i know there were some changes in place. it was during the time i'm no longer in school (graduated from college 2001, but there were no flag ceremonies in college, duh!), but i didn't realize it's gonna sound more foreign to me than "Star-Spangled Banner".

here's the classic version na kinalakihan natin (binut got it right, attagurl!):
Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas.
Ito ang aking lupang sinilangan.
Ito ang tahanan ng aking lahi.
Ako’y kaniyang kinukupkop at tinutulungan, upang maging malakas, maligaya at kapakipakinabang.
Bilang ganti ay diringgin ko ang payo ng aking mga magulang.
Susundin ko ang tuntunin ng aking paaralan.
Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin ng isang mamamayang makabayan at masunurin sa batas.
Paglilingkuran ko ang aking bayan nang walang pag-iimbot at nang buong katapatan.
Sisikapin kong maging isang tunay na Pilipino, sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa.

and here's the new one (try if you dare):
Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas, aking lupang sinilangan,
Tahanan ng aking lahi, kinukupkop ako at tinutulungang
Maging malakas, masipag at marangal
Dahil mahal ko ang Pilipinas,
Diringgin ko ang payo ng aking magulang,
Susundin ko ang tuntunin ng aking paaralan,
Tutuparin ko ang tungkulin ng mamamayang makabayan,
Naglilingkod, nag-aaral at nagdarasal nang buong katapatan.
Iaalay ko ang aking buhay, pangarap, pagsisikap
Sa bansang Pilipinas.

if i could have my way, i will stick to the old version. it sounds more patriotic, and for me, more politically correct. here are a couple of stabs at the new version. namimilosopo lang. =)

Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin ng isang mamamayang makabayan at masunurin sa batas.
vs
Tutuparin ko ang tungkulin ng mamamayang makabayan, naglilingkod, nag-aaral at nagdarasal nang buong katapatan.

what happened to the law-abiding citizens? Oh, screw abiding by the law, as long as you pray? how about the atheists? don't they have a place in our democratic land? and how else are you gonna pray but "matapat" or honestly? do some people lie to their gods when they pray? "nag-aaral", i think it only makes the oath applicable to school flag ceremonies. how about the gov't employees? if the new version doesn't apply to the gov't employees as well, why is there a need to modify the old one just to suit a certain class/kind of people? shouldn't the oath be universal among filipinos? wouldn't a 2-version oath only bring division? and at times, confusion?

Paglilingkuran ko ang aking bayan nang walang pag-iimbot at nang buong katapatan. Sisikapin kong maging isang tunay na Pilipino, sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa.
vs
Iaalay ko ang aking buhay, pangarap, pagsisikap sa bansang Pilipinas.

i couldn't help but notice they took away "Paglilingkuran ko ang aking bayan nang walang pag-iimbot at nang buong katapatan". hmmm, a politician wrote this!!! how vague that last line was. =)

and the old version's ending "sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa" made it sound almost like a prayer. it is definitely more dramatic. i could almost hear the famous voice behind abs-cbn shows saying that line, and i can cry. =)

on a more serious note, baket nila to ginawa? do they just want to be on history books as the ones who changed the Panatang Makabayan? are they running out of things to do in their office? do they just want to prove that we are not living in the shadows of american colonization? i'm saying that because i read that educators believed that the old oath was based on american philosophy and is just a literal Tagalog translation. there are other ways to prove that we are independent. not THIS!

there are other more important things to change in the education system, not just what the students recite before classes start. they could've changed the way the schools accept teachers. how they check credentials. how they keep teachers. how they assess if they really are imparting knowledge, or if they are actually the ones causing the deterioration of the system.

even UST has this flaw... High School PE teacher in Health Ed class... "Occasional smoker... yung mga naninigarilyo lang pag may okasyon". what the hell?! =P the entire class of St. Dominica (or was it St. Catherine?) exchanged looks. ungh!

anyways, if somebody dares touch the lyrics OR the notes of Lupang Hinirang, i will probably give up hope for our country. that will be pushing it too far.

change is good. but unnecessary changes... it will just make you question the motives of people behind it.