PH Independence Day: Highlights and fine points
For a short period in Philippine history, Independence Day was observed on July 4 in accordance with the signing of the Treaty of Manila between then President Manuel Roxas and US High Commissioner Paul McNutt in 1946, which officially established the independence of the Republic of the Philippines.
The recognition of Philippine independence on June 12 was first observed in 1962 under Proclamation No. 28 of then President Diosdado Macapagal, to commemorate the unfurling of the Philippine flag and the debut of the national anthem on June 12, 1898. In 1964, Macapagal signed into law Republic Act No. 4166, making the change of date official.
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The Philippine Declaration of Independence was written and delivered by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, chief political adviser of Emilio Aguinaldo. It was written in Spanish rather than Tagalog and signed by 98 men. While 97 of the signatories were Filipino, one was American—Col. L.M. Johnson, secretary to US Adm. George Dewey, who destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. Dewey was invited by Aguinaldo to witness the Independence rites in Kawit, Cavite, but excused himself and sent Johnson in his stead.
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While popular imagery of the events of June 12, 1898, depicts the declaration of Philippine independence from the balcony of Aguinaldo’s house, the official proclamation of the country’s Declaration of Independence was actually made from a window of the Aguinaldo house, facing the crowd on the street. The famous “Independence Balcony” was added to the house later in 1919, when Aguinaldo remodeled and enlarged the house into the mansion known today.
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The first Independence Day anniversary was celebrated in Angeles, Pampanga. On June 12, 1899, Aguinaldo delivered a speech commemorating the event in the courtyard of the Holy Rosary Parish Church. Up until 2017, it was thought that the celebration took place in Pamintuan Mansion, where reenactments of the event took place; the first celebration at Holy Rosary Church took place in 2018.
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An early version of the national anthem was a proposed Philippine national march entitled “Himno de Balintawak,” composed by a Filipino in Hong Kong. It was brought home by Aguinaldo, who requested Julian Felipe for revisions as he preferred it to be more “serious” and “majestic.” Felipe’s march was completed in around six days and brought to Aguinaldo on the morning of June 11, 1898. The next day, the march was premiered without lyrics.
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The lyrics to the Philippine national march were written in 1899, first as a poem titled “Filipinas.” Written by Jose Palma, the poem was first published in September 1899 in the newspaper La Independencia, where Palma was a staff member. Along with other La Independencia staff members, Palma set the words for his poem to the original march, popularizing the present national anthem. Originally, the poem and lyrics were written in Spanish. (See related story on Page A2-3.)
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During the 1920s, Palma’s original lyrics underwent several translations before World War II. In 1943, under Executive Order No. 4 of then President Jose P. Laurel, the Philippine national anthem was named “Diwa ng Bayan”—but it was only during the time of former President Ramon Magsaysay that the national anthem was officially sung in Filipino. The version we now know as “Lupang Hinirang” was originally adopted in 1956.
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The first Philippine flag was made in Hong Kong in 1898, and was hand-sewn and embroidered in silk by Marcela Agoncillo. Agoncillo was assisted by her daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa—niece of the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal. The historical silver thimble used to sew the first Philippine flag is now among the memorabilia of the Malacañan Palace Collection, currently housed at the Teus Mansion in San Miguel, Manila.
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The original Philippine flag was first unfurled not in June 1898 but in May of the same year. The flag was first wielded following the country’s victory at the Battle of Alapan on May 28, a date now known as National Flag Day. It was brought back by Aguinaldo when he returned from exile in Hong Kong, but was lost near Tayug, Pangasinan. A contemporary one in cotton was later displayed in Kawit, Cavite, and is now housed in a museum in Baguio City.
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The June 12 Philippine Declaration of Independence originally stated that the colors of the Philippine flag—red, white, and blue—were adopted to honor the flag of the United States as a form of gratitude for their assistance in the war against Spain. Subsequent speeches by Aguinaldo later explained that the colors of the flag represented Filipino bravery (red), how Filipinos would prefer death to surrender (blue), and that Filipinos were lovers of peace who knew how to govern themselves (white).
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For the country’s 100th anniversary of independence in 1998, the Philippine government, then headed by the late Fidel V. Ramos, rang in the historic milestone with the Philippine Centennial, a celebration featuring a series of programs. Part of the centennial festivities included the creation of a special P100,000 banknote, of which only 1,000 copies were made. The P100,000 centennial commemorative note was recorded in the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest banknote in terms of physical size. —Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer archives, pna.gov.ph, ncip.gov.ph, facebook.com/malacanangheritagetours, lawphil.net, officialgazette.gov.ph, elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph, philembassy.org.au, facebook.com/pio.baguio, ph.usembassy.gov, web.archive.org/web/19990429043823/http://www.philcentennial.com, bsp.gov.ph
