Artists, as well as teachers, strongly denounced Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s decree that obliges all national agencies and schools to sing and recite the “Bagong Pilipinas” hymn and oath during flag raising ceremonies. This was the content of Malacañang’s Memorandum Circular No. 52 which was made public yesterday, June 9, but signed on June 4.

The push for a Bagong Pilipinas “brand of governance and leadership,” as seen in this hymn is reminiscent of previous efforts of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to popularize the Bagong Lipunan to whitewash his family’s plunder amid widespread poverty. “Like his father, the son now seeks to cover up the lack of genuine promotion of the Filipino people’s interests using the same methods,” the Concerned Artists of the Philippines said.

The group said the lyrics and melody are trite and forgettable, the voices do not meld well. Artists are concerned over how much taxpayers’ money was spent on the production. They said imposing this poorly conceived song on schools and government offices nationwide is adding insult to injury, without value or meaning to the existing “Lupang Hinirang” and “Panatang Makabayan.” It would be a travesty to force Filipinos to listen to the hymn, let alone sing it every week. They said adding this to the flag ceremony is a waste of the people’s time and money.

“Is Pres. Marcos Jr imitating his dictator father again and bringing back martial law?” asked Rep. France Castro of the ACT Teachers Partylist. She said it is best for Marcos to withdraw the order that attempts to deodorize his family’s name.

“Instead of doing gimmicks like this, the Marcos administration should have allocated more time to think and act, how to solve the problems of the people such as raising wages, lowering the price of goods, helping the drivers and operators to preserve their jobs, and creating quality and regular jobs in the country,” she said.