…You Don’t Know the National Motto

You can sing the national anthem (Lupang Hinirang) by heart. You can sing most of the English version (Beloved Country) and some of the Spanish version (Filipinas). You can even recite both the old and the new versions of the Pledge of Allegiance (Panatang Makabayan). But you don’t know what the national motto is. In fact you’re reaction is “What? We have one?!”

At some point in your life, however, you DID know that the national motto exist. The national motto was probably taught to you during the 1st or 2nd grade, the same time all the other national symbols were being taught. But over the years, you’ve already forgotten about it from lack of use. The former national motto is “Isang bansa, isang diwa” which translates to “One nation, one spirit.”

On February 12, 1998, President Fidel V. Ramos passed Republic Act 8491 which prescribed the code of the national flag, anthem, motto, coat-of-arms and other heraldic items and devices of the Philippines. On the section 40 of RA 8491, the old motto was changed into “Maka-Diyos, maka-tao, makakalikasan, at makabansa” which translates to “[biased towards] God, People, Nature and Country.”