To the Philippines

For every life that has fallen

In exchange for our liberation.

Lovers and lives were taken,

In the midst of this valiant fight.

Perhaps this plight,

Is only an illusion we made, and

Nothing else will matter

Over time, everything will pass

Kundiman

By Patricia Salvador

This is a loud cry, even a scream

Of a silenced country from people

Who refuse to acknowledge they can speak

Stand

Lead

Think.

If a this is a song, this expresses deep love

If this is a poem, this expresses even deeper,

But either's a love and compassion

We often look over, rather than after.

Ai Mi Musa (To My Muse)

By Patricia Salvador

It's a disappointment

People are half-hearted

Go and leave me but not;

Come back, let triumph win.

 

All your efforts for this land,

Came true few decades apart

But nevertheless your bitterness

Did not put waste when east arises

 

Your troubles may have been there

But the struggle they did bare

Then again, we were free

From opression; Now love.

 

Love as astounding as a woman

Attractive as a blooming flower,

Blooming freedom, and the growing love

For the motherland we try to keep. 

Sa Kabataang Pilipino

By Anonymous

Kabataan, ikanganila, ay pag-asangbayan!

Tayo daw ang gamot

Sa mga kaganap ang masalimoot

Kaya ating kagitingan ay dapat ipamalas

Atingpag-igihinangmgaaralin

Na hindilamangsaeskuwelaatingmalilimlim

Kundipatinarinsabuhaynaito -

Atin yang ipangako!

Patuloynaabutin

Sagisangngtagumpay

Runong at dangal ay lagingnandyan

Huwagpahuhulisalabanngbayan

Hayo, hayonangayon

Pag-alabinangsigawngiyongisip at talino

Ipakitasaiba kung anongmayroonka

Dangalngtaoipagsigawanmo!

  

Lahat ng ito ay posible

Ayonsaisangbayaning may tiwala

Siyarin ay nangarap, pinakitanghindiito masama

Lasapinangtamisngtagumpay at patuloynamangarap!

Ang Makabagong Pilipino

By Bernadette Bagon

Inspired from Sa Aking Mga Kababata – Jose Rizal

Kapag ang baya’y sadyang umiibig

Sa kanluraning kultura at makamundongnais

Sino pang maghahangad kalayaa’y makamit

Kung kay dali lang namang pumahimpapawid

Ginamit ang salitang may pagkakakilanlan

Di lang sa isang bayan, kundi saan pa man

Para matawag na taong nakakaalam

Pangarap na makaangat ang dahilan

Ang wikang Tagalog ay di tuladng Latin

Na ginagamit pangngalan ng mga siyentipiko

At ang Ingles na lahat na ay gumagamit

Kaya kang dalhin sa bawat sulok ng mundo

Kayaatingsalita, bakit pa gagamitin

Kung ang ingles naman ay kaya nggawin

Ito ang dahilan bakit ngayon ay naririnig

Conyo sa daan, sa paaralan, sa paligid

Ganito pong ayon angmakabagong Pilipino

Sadyang sumusunod sa bawat umuuso

Umiibig ng wagas sa kulturang kanluranin

Isinantabi na ang wikang sariling atin

From Another Perspective

By Bernadette Bagon

Inspired from A Poem That Has No Title – Jose Rizal

To the Creator each Catholic knows

Who was known to give, to take, to forgive them

To the one force behind it all

But was never really there

Who holds the power, if not I?

I who was conceived, born,

with flesh and thinking

Who developed from two incomplete cells

Now a walking system of ions and molecules,

cells and tissues

I who came from a lineage of Homo sapiens

Evolved from my ancestors

Migrated and occupied the world

Surviving each day with limited resources

Human I am called; human I’ve become

Human I will always be

And thus I say

To the one force behind it all

But was never really there

Who holds the power, if not I?

Pinatutula ako

By Anonymous

Kung lilisanin ang baying mahal

Wag kalimutan ang ala-ala

Na siyang sa’yo ay nagbigay aral

Isiping ikaw ay pinagpala

Anomang dahilan ng paglisan

Gawin ang nararapat na gawin

Pagmamahal sa bayan, higitan

Magaaral patuloy na isipin

Maglingkod ng tapat yan ang dapat

Tulad ng magiting na bayani

Runong at galing ay hindi sapat

Dangal ng tao ay mamayani

Wag nang lisanina ng Inang Bayan

Pagmamahal ni Rizal, sabayan!

Rizal

By King Metrillo

Rizal

Makata, Doktor, Bayani

Isang halimbawang natatangi

Para sa kabataan ng bayan.

Tulang isinulat tungkol sa pag-asa

Kabataan ang itinatalaga

Magpakabait at gumalang sa nakatatanda

Tatayong hirang ng ganda.

Talinghagang ibinaon sa kasaysayan

Lulan ng pag-aasang makakamit

Kabataang haharap at pagsisibulan ng galak

Ng bayang nag-aasam ng magandang sapit

Matapang na wika ng bayani

Matupad nawa nang mabuti.

By King Metrillo

Ang tulang “Awit ng Manlalakbay”

ng bayaning si Gat Jose Rizal

Ay isang gawang magandang tunay

Nagpapakita ng puso’t dangal.

Ang manlalakbay na lumilibot

sa buong daigdig ay matapang.

Ngunit napupuno daw ng takot,

nagpapanggap na magiting lamang.

Ang tula ay aking nagustuhan

sapagka’t ito ay bumubuwag

sa nakasanayang kaibahan

ng kung sinong matapang at duwag.

Magiting man sa mata ng iba

Paslit pa ring alaga ng ina.

Reply to "To Josephine"

By John Kevin Cuisia

I

Marami ang nagsasabi na masarap magmahal

Magkaroon ng kasintahang, bigay ng maykapal

Dito’y matatagpuan ang tunay na kaligayahan

Sa piling ngi yong makakatuluyan

II

Pero di lahat ng daan ay matuwid at makinis

May mga lubaklubak, may palihislihis

Makakasagupa ka ng iba’t-ibang problema

Mga sakit namin san mo lang makikita

III

Huwag kang matakot magmahal, kaibigan

Ano b ayung masaktan kang paminsanminsan

Kung balang araw matatagpuan mo naman

Ang magpapakilig ng iyong laman

IV

Masarap magmahal, pero gawin itong tama

Di lahat ng bagay ay iyong alintana

Mabagal humakbang, siguraduhin ang daan

Siguraduhing mong walang  \masasagasaan

V

Kelanma’y di ka makakasigurado,

Kung ang katipan mo ay siyang para sayo,

Mahalin mo padin ng buong puso

Sadaigdig ay wag kang  makikiuso

VI

Ang payo ko sayo o aking kaibigan,

Ilang beses ka mang masaktan sa pakikipagtipan

Wag na wag kang matatakot na magmahal muli

At wag na wag kang magmamadali.

Reply to "The Filipino Youth"

By John Kevin Cuisia

I

We the Filipino Youth, Answers you today

With words of faithfulness and gay

We shall always stand in our resolve

And see to it that problems, solved!

II

We are the hope of our motherland,

We shall ever stand then hand in hand,

For we are the future of this country,

So we will stand tall and fight for thee

III

And in this world, we’ll not grow silent,

The world will awe with our sheer talent,

We will make our mother proud,

We’ll sing her anthem, high and loud!

IV

What beauty we shall ever find,

In knowledge stored within our mind,

That ever radiant hope so flourishing

With wisdom comes our reckoning

V

We will forever love our country,

And not replace it with dreadful money,

We’ll serve and protect with all our might

Do everything to set it right

VI

This country is your legacy

You fought and died for its supremacy

May God Almighty, up above,

To this country give his unfailing love.

Remembering The Farewell

The last few steps seem to be the worst,

Lined barrels were raised and then a burst!

defeat’s undeniable, death is tangible.

A man gone too soon, a man dauntless and noble.

You bid farewell, “Consummatum est,”

With your death, we defeated the West.

The Pearl has lost its celebrated son.

With your words, the conquerors all gone.

You bid farewell, but in our hearts you remain.

Your heroism was not in vain.

Everything you did will be remembered.

For in those acts, we flew like a free bird.

You bid farewell, but your grave never forgotten.

We revered, we remembered, that we have proven.

Pepe, we are truly grateful.

‘Cause your deeds have been powerful.

Farewell to our protector.

Farewell to our defender.

A Poem With A Title (To The Martyr)

This homeland overflowing with life,
bestowed by the Powerful One,

had its glory, had its triumph,

but all abruptly gone.

Yes, it lacked fortune;

 Yes, it lacked prudence;

But valor and heroes, it did not lack.

For in the darkest days, they shone.

Life proved to be unfair to you,

yet your heart had a light.

Its luster and glimmer giving hope to the downcasts,

setting fire to the nation’s embers.

Change rippled in all directions,

shifting views, altering traditions.

Still, this land gives me nothing but hope,

it comforted me, sheltered me, guided me.

Heroes come and go but the youth will remain.

“Fight for what’s right and continue his fight,” they all will say.

This motherland God bestowed upon us all,

will rise above it all and return to what it has been:

a shelter, a guide,

a homeland without limit, fair and rich.

By Alberto Lorenzo F. Yañga

A hero of words and wisdom

A doctor who battled with pens

He was one who sought our freedom

Thy heart whose passion was intense

His poems were brilliant and witty

Some of them gave me tears to shed

For his efforts were those of deity

He’s one who won’t stop ‘til he’s dead

My personal fave was his last

The Mi Ultimo Adios

Hoped for the best and thanked the past

And accepted his death for cause

He set an example for me

For he fought with honor and heart

To accept death with dignity

And for our country he’ll depart

Personally, I could write poems

But not one that could battle Pepe’s.

By Alberto Lorenzo F. Yañga

O, Rizal na mapagmahal sa wika

Ikaw nga’y kagalang-galang na utak

Sa walong taon pa lamang

Naka-akda ka na ng isang malaman na tula

Para sa mga Pilipino na walang paki

Iginigising mo ang kanilang mga diwa

Upang makilala nila ang kanilang sarili

Sa larangan ng pagsasalita

Ako’y natutuwa’t nalulungkot ng sabay

Dahil ako’y tinatablan at may sala

Sapagkat ako rin ay isang hirap sa pananalita

Ng wika ng aking mahal na bayan

Ngayon alam ko na ang dahilan

Kung bakit inaaral ang Filipino

Galangin natin ang salita

Dahil ito ay uri ng kalayaan

Ang wikang Filipino ay isang kayamanan

Kaya dapat ito’y ipagmalaki

Ito ang natutunan ko mula sa tula

Na isinulat ng batang Rizal

Decisions, Decisions

by Arianne Zagala

(A poem inspired by Dr. Jose Rizal’s poem “Goodbye to Leonor”)

Oh how sweet it is to have somebody

To love, to cherish, to offer each morning to.

That freeing feeling from the demands of the day.

But what if that love is forbidden,

Will you stay or will you walk away?

You have the mind to know the consequences,

A mind so full of knowledge but has a foolish part.

You let yourself fall into the trap

Because in a forbidden love you chose to stay.

You knew but denied it,

The wrongness of the desire at bay.

In your heart you knew it would come to this.

Because in a forbidden love, in the end,

With a heart in pieces you’ll walk away.

A Realization

by Arianne Zagala

Shallowness can surely grow pretty deep.

As I click the link that says “Kundiman,”

I said, “He really is romantic,

This Pen-and-Paper Hero of our land.”

I await a work that will make me feel

A spark of hope for Filipino love

Harana, sinta, ilaw, giliw,

A poem for the youth about the must have.

I read the lines, slowly feeling foolish.

Sure, it’s about the must have of the youth

But it’s something greater, greater than this.

It’s words of love for our Mother Land’s soothe!

The love we’ve long forgotten, in words read

Of love’s wait on the country to be free

These words to awaken the dead

Love for country in romantics like me!

Ang Malaking Puso ni Rizal

By Mariz Angela Hizon

Ang tulang ito ay reaskyon sa tula ni Rizal na pinamagatang “To Josephine”. 

Mula sa tulang aking nabasa,

Ating makikita kung gaano kamahal ni Rizal si Josephine.

Ayon sa kanya’y nasaan mang bansa naroroon ang iniirog,

Siya’y naririto lang at patuloy siyang mamahalin.

Isa itong pruweba na si Rizal ay tao lang din,

Nagmamahal, minamahal, at may damdamin din.

Siguro’y napakasakit sa kanya ang mawalay sa iniirog,

At sa mga sandaling iyo’y walang ibang inisip kundi ang makita ito muli.

Salamat Rizal, sa iyong tinuro sa akin.

Na sa pagmamahal, dapat buong-buo ang ibinibigay.

Ang pagmamahal na inaalay,

Sa tao man o sa bayang kinalakihan.

Island Serenity

By Earle Ceo Abrenica

(Based on Rizal’s ‘My Retreat)

The waves that rush by the feet of a stranger

Drags along the stress his life has given him

The fluidity that the sea displays

Mocks the life of a once free man

The constant temptation to end it all

To jump the waves and leave this world

Is strong as strong as it could be

But there are things you cannot run from

If just for a moment, he longed for serenity

Retreat from the chaos that plagues the nation

So even near the end of his life

He’ll find peace in his beloved land

The Future of the Philippines

By Earle Ceo Abrenica

(Based on Rizal’s ‘To The Filipino Youth’)

Years have passed since our hero died

Years have passed since we last saw light

A country that is full of greed

A country that will never heed

To needs that our nation deserve

To things that we are to conserve

The future still remains unclear

The future still is full of fear

But if we want some genuine change

That would transcend in every age

We must support today’s children

To lessen tomorrow’s burden