Lo says that he appreciates the gesture but finds it hollow when laws such as the RA 8491 remain in place. RA 8491 declares that singing the Philippine National Anthem, Lupang Hinirang, in any other language besides the “original” Filipino is punishable by law. Despite promises and efforts to incorporate other Philippine languages in Filipino, in its current form, it’s still effectively Tagalog. “It is yet another irony that the law makes it illegal to sing translations of a song that is itself a translation from another language,” McEachern remarks. While Lo finds the law absurd, McEachern doesn’t hesitate to identify elements of outright “linguistic fascism” in RA 8491.