In February of 1899, the Filipino-American War erupted. Having thrown off Spanish rule, the Filipinos found themselves under new colonial masters, the Americans. In December 1898, the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States of America in the Treaty of Paris. The need for lyrics was just as great as there was for the music. Also displayed for the first time was the national flag, unfurled to the stirring strains of the marcha nacional played by the band of San Francisco de Malabon (now Heneral Trias) whose members had learned the music the day before.īut still without words, Felipe's music was simply a march. Two rallying symbols were presented to the infant nation that day. The national anthem was heard publicly for the first time on June 12, 1898, when, standing on the balcony of his Kawit mansion, Aguinaldo proclaimed Asia's first independent republic before a cheering throng.

Named by Felipe the Marcha Filipino Magdalo (after Aguinaldo's nom de guerre and his faction in the Katipunan), the music was adopted on the spot and renamed the Marcha Nacional Filipina (Philippine National March).

Felipe worked on the assignment for six days and on June 11, sitting in front of a piano in the Aguinaldo living room, played his music before the presidente and his lieutenants. On June 5, 1898, he commissioned Julian Felipe, a Cavite pianist and composer, to work on a march for the revolutionists. Emilio Aguinaldo astutely recognized the need for national symbols to rally the nation against the enemy. And this need arose in 1898, when the revolution against Spain was in its second year and a Filipino victory was in sight. The Philippine National Anthem is a product of revolution, a response to the need of the revolutionary times that gave birth to it.

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