Senate President Vicente Sotto III or Tito Sotto proposed a revision in the lyrics of the Philippine national anthem. He said that the last line of the anthem “Aming ligaya pag may mang-aapi, ang mamatay nang dahil sayo” is quite pessimistic.

As a composer himself, Sotto suggested that the last line of the anthem should be changed to “Ang ipaglaban ang kalayaan mo” to give a positive ending.

Moreover, Senator Richard Gordon agreed that the last line is defeatist. Gordon suggested that the quote “The Filipino is worth dying for” by the late Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. also be added to the national anthem.

However, a lot of Filipinos expressed their disapproval believing there is nothing to change in the national anthem.

As Senator Sotto suggests that our national anthem be revised, it should also be remembered that there is more to giving an anthem a positive tone as country continue to face more problems that demand immediate attention. Today, our country struggles with tight supply on rice, price hike due to train law, and the aftermath of super typhoon Ompong.

As citizens of this country, we can contribute to changing and fixing these problems in the smallest ways. Cliche as it seems but progress starts with the self: to have a better Filipino society we must first become better Filipinos. Giving solutions to our problems also require the guide of our officials and we must communicate with them for us to sustain positive change in our society. We must remind ourselves that our society will progress if we work hand in hand towards a better future.