By Vicente Labro
Inquirer

BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar–With fervor and pride, they again paid tribute to their forebears who left behind a legacy of love for freedom.

People of the century-old coastal town of Balangiga in Eastern Samar commemorated the 106th anniversary of the victory of their forefathers against American invaders on Sept. 28, hoping anew that the historic Balangiga Bells taken as war booty by US soldiers will eventually be returned.

A festive mood pervaded the town as the historic event was marked, albeit with less pomp as before. Photo shows a dance drama depicting American soldiers taking away the church bells of Balangiga.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

HERE’S a clip of the Philippine proclamation of independence on July 4, 1946, courtesy of the UniversalNewsreels YouTube channel.

By Desiree Caluza
Northern Luzon Bureau

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines–The Baguio Centennial Commission will put up a museum at one of the heritage sites here to celebrate the city’s 100th charter anniversary in 2009.

The Diplomat Hotel was chosen as the location for the museum that will keep photographs and documents charting the growth of the city, said Michael Pearson, member of the centennial committee.

He said they chose the abandoned hotel at Dominican Hill here because it offers a panoramic view of the city and is surrounded by trees.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO–Kapampangans filled the San Agustin Church and its nearby museum in Intramuros, Manila, on the night of Aug. 24 to pay tribute to Augustinian missionaries who had sailed from there to Pampanga 435 years ago and influenced the natives’ character, culture and history.

As they stood on the same grounds where some of those 100 friars lived and trained, they bridged the time, seeing past and present connections between Fray Juan Gallegos, who set foot in Lubao in 1572, and far, far, far down time when Fr. Eddie Panlilio, who finished theology at the St. Augustine Major Seminary, was elected governor in 2007.

“Holy ground,” was how Dr. Arlyn Villanueva, president of the Holy Angel University, called the event’s venue.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Juan Mercado
Inquirer

“IT’S your fault that i never got to talk to the man,” my son Francis gripes when former senator Benigno Aquino’s death is remembered, as we do today.

Francis was a grade-school kid when our family bumped into Ninoy Aquino at San Francisco’s international airport. We were flying to Bangkok, and Aquino was booked on a Boston flight. The years have blurred most of our chat that day. But we did laugh over my securing a “carrier pigeon” to sneak his article, smuggled from a Fort Bonifacio prison cell under martial law censors’ noses. A sympathetic Air India manager brought it to the editor Theh Chongkadikhij at the Bangkok Post.

In February 1973, the Post published “The Aquino Papers,” a three-part series that challenged martial law. “I will not accept President Marcos’ offer of an amnesty because I do not believe I’ve committed any crime,” Aquino wrote. “He violated our Constitution and broke our laws.”

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Tina Santos
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Members of a spiritual organization from all over the country will gather at 6 a.m. today in front of the Quirino Grandstand, Luneta in Manila to form a “human flag” as tribute to the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, on his 146th birth anniversary.

The first-of-a-kind patriotic display of the flag is made up of 500 members of Bigkis ng Pangkalahatang Espirituwal at Materyal na Rizalista ng Inang Pilpinas Unibersal Pederasyon Inc., a federation of various Rizalista groups nationwide.

“This is a symbol that the spirit of nationalism is alive,” said Bigkis president Gauvencio Serrano.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Dr. Pablo S. Trillana III
Inquirer

(Editor’s Note: The author is a former chair of the National Historical Institute and currently Knight Grand Officer of the Knights of Rizal.)

MANILA, Philippines–Within a week of each other, the nation will commemorate two events of great national significance — the declaration of independence in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1898, and the birth of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal on June 19, 1861.

These seemingly disparate events, in the course of our story as a people, led to a historical conjunction that gave birth to our modern nation. It would be difficult to think of one without the other.

The radical idea of separating from Spain through a revolution is generally laid at the doorstep of the Katipunan. This was the secret society founded on July 7, 1892, the day the decree of Rizal’s exile “to one of the southern islands” was published in the Gaceta de Manila.

[Read the rest of this entry »]