by Vic
Larato
Mayor Celso Lobregat
and 2nd District Congressman Erbie Fabian led the city officialdom
in a ceremony this morning marking Independence Day at the Plaza Rizal fronting
City Hall.
The ceremony kicked off
with a doxology led by the ADZU Concert Band followed by the entrance of colors
and hoisting of the Philippine Flag by Mayor Lobregat, Congressman Fabian and
Vice Mayor Cesar Iturralde. The Philippine Air Force Band led in the singing of
the National Anthem.
Mayor Lobregat, Fabian,
the police and military and the local and national officials laid wreaths on
the monument of National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal to the tune of the Zamboanga Hermosa
hymn. City Veterinarian Dr. Mario Ariola led in Panunumpa sa Watawat.
The awarding of 5
oldest Zamboangueno World War II Veterans highlighted the ceremony, with Mayor
Lobregat as the keynote speaker.
It can
be recalled, the declaration of Philippine Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II
el Viejo (now Kawit), Cavite, Philippines. With the public
reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence,
Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed
the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial
rule of Spain, which had been defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.
Records
obtained by Wikipedia disclosed that the
declaration was recognized neither by the United States nor Spain. The Spanish government later ceded the Philippines
to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American War.
The
United States finally recognized Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946 in the Treaty of Manila. July 4
was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until August 4, 1964 when, upon the
advice of historians and the urging of nationalists, President Diosdado Macapagal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166 designating June
12 as the country's Independence Day.(NBE-PIA9/Vic
Larato)
