JULIAN FELIPE (1861-1941)
Julian Felipe was a revolutionist who never carried a gun, but the song that be composed gave the Philippines an identity of its own – the identity of a country in arms fighting for its national independence. The song, now known as the Philippine National Anthem, was Felipe’s answer to General Emilio Aguinaldo’s special request for a composition that “can inspire our men to fight the enemy – something which embodies the noble ideals of our race”.
Back in the Philippines from his exile in Hongkong, Aguinaldo brought with him a march composed by a Filipino musician in the British Crown Colony. He was not satisfied with it though it sounded good. “It’s not the one I am looking for,” Aguinaldo told Felipe. “I want something more stirring and more majestic.”
That was June 6, 1898, just a week before the great event – the scheduled proclamation of Philippine independence in Kawit. “I know what you have in mind, General,” Felipe told Aguinaldo. Then he went home and for the next six days and nights he worked feverishly on a new march. On June 11, the eve of the proclamation, Felipe tried the finished composition on the piano in the presence of Aguinaldo and two other revolutionary generals. They liked it.
The next day, as the Hongkong-made Filipino flag was being hoisted outside the central window of the Aguinaldo ancestral home in Kawit, the music band of San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) played the stirring anthem. It was a soul-inspiring masterpiece without lyrics. More than a year later, the anthem found the appropriate lyrics in a poem, Filipinas, written by Jose Palma, the poet-soldier of the revolution.
On December 4, 1924, the Philippine Legislature enacted a law purchasing original manuscript of the Marcha Nacional Filipina for P4, 000. Fourteen years on September 5, 1938, the National Assembly enacted a law adopting Felipe’s march as the Philippine National Anthem, the song that will be co-terminous with the life of the country.
Born in San Roque, Cavite, on January 28, 1861, Felipe was the youngest of twelve children of poor parents, Justo Felipe, a tinsmith, and Vitoria Reyes, Musically inclined from boyhood, Felipe studied music under local music teachers. Three of his early compositions were awarded a diploma of merit and a silver medal in the Regional Exposition of Manila in 1895.
Felipe was arrested along with other patriotic Caviteños and imprisoned by the Spanish authorities in Fort San Felipe, Cavite. Fortunately, he escaped the fate of the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite who were executed on September 12, 1896. Felipe was sent under heavy guards to fort Santiago in Manila, where he was released six months later.
After the Philippine-American War, 1899-1901, Felipe resumed his teaching and music composing. In 1902 he was elected municipal councilor of Cavite. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1904, he was not for him, he resigned in less than a year of service due to poor health.
A widower with four daughters and one son, Felipe died in Manila on October 2, 1941 (another source says 1944). His body was taken to San Roque where it was buried.
[Sources: (1) Talambuhay ng Magigiting na Lalaki ng Kabite, Jimenez Collection; (2) Gregorio F. Zaide, Great Filipinos in History, Manila 1970; and (3) Eminent Filipinos. Manila, National Historical Commission, 1965.]