Well, not in the way that you think. Believe it or not, I don't know a single Martin Nievera song – or if he even wrote any. I'm not even sure if he acts in movies. All I know is he used to be married to the actress Pops Fernandez.

And that he sang our national anthem with pride.

At the Pacquiao-Hatton fight (GO MANNY!!!), Nievera sang Lupang Hinirang, our National Anthem, before the match. He changed the last note. And now the government (specifically, the National Historical Institute) is filing a case against him. Why does this annoy me? Well, from the least to the greatest:

1. Dear government, don't you have way more crucial things to fix other than this? Seriously.


2. Certainly not front-page material... Oh, what am I saying, Kris and Heart made it there too.


3. Section 37 of Republic Act No. 8491 says that the National Anthem should always be sung or played in accordance to Julian Felipe's composition. This is to ensure that no disrespect will be done to our anthem, lest Parokya ni Edgar or whomever decides to sing it to Picha Pie's tune. How did Nievera disrespect, mock, or belittle our anthem in any way? In the 1898 original arrangement, Felipe composed our anthem in a marching tone (as heard in school ceremonies). Nievera sang it in such a tempo, ending in a soaring "mamatay ng dahil sa'yo (to die for you)." How did he violate the act? I watched the match thrice (6 minutes lang naman), and each time, that last note would send goosebumps all over my arms. 'Yon ang mapuso. People just don't sing it like that anymore! When was the last time you heard someone genuinely sing our anthem and not just do the precursory stand-up-and-put-your-hand-there pose?


4. Another case of Word versus Spirit of the Law. You take things too literally then you lose the meaning already. If Felipe were alive he would rejoice at his composition being sung with such passion, such zest. I've been in way too many flag ceremonies to know that even the most patriotic can mumble his way through the anthem.


5. On the radio, people are saying that it was the first time foreigners would hear our National Anthem, "tapos mali pa." Nievera was NOT singing it for the foreigners – heck, they couldn't even understand it and they were there to watch a boxing match, for godssakes – he sang it for us, the thousands of Filipinos watching all over the world. The question isn't whether or not the foreigners liked it; it's how much love and pride we felt for our country, the way our anthem is supposed to evoke. Worrying about foreigners appraising our anthem is just false patriotism.


6. Dear government, set your priorities straight! It would be futile to ask where your love for our country lies because if it's in the right place, half of you would have resigned a long time ago. Stop wasting our time and get back to work.


Tom Jones is the same Tom Jones who sang Sex Bomb, right? That's pretty cool.