Dear Madonna: Igalang mo naman ang watawat ng Pilipinas.

Hindi ito dapat isuot. Kahit kailan.



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Personally... I think the whole thing was overblown. She didn't mean to disrespect the flag. This is less like the flag-mop issue and more like Martin Nievera re-arranging the National Anthem*: Against the letter of the law, but not done out of disrespect.

But if it was already an issue in other countries, then the organizers should have clarified and told her not to do it. Though looking it up, the issue in China was that she used the Taiwanese flag, which mainlanders hate, for political reasons.... the Taiwanese weren't the ones complaining.

*Also:
TEDx: Joey Ayala and the Philippine National Anthem - YouTube

According to the law, this thought-provoking talk and reinterpretation of the anthem is worth the same fine and jail time as using the flag as a mop.

And, not coincidentally, the choral arrangement that is often played at theaters and which we were taught in college, is also worth a fine of 20,000 pesos, since the four-voice arrangement is not the original anthem. I believe in the times we've performed it over the years, I now owe the NHCP a few million pesos.

The law is pretty medieval and needs to be updated. Definitely keep in the parts about not using the flag as a mop... but the rest of the rules should be more sensible.