The National Historical
Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) spearheads the celebration of the 126th
anniversary of Philippine Independence and Nationhood with the theme
"Kalayaan. Kinabukasan. Kasaysayan" at Rizal Park, Luneta, Manila, on
June 12 starting at 8 AM with a flag-raising ceremony led by President
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Independence flagpole, Jose Rizal Monument. My translation
of "Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan” is “Freedom, Future, Former Times.”
This essay of mine is indeed about the past, the present, and the future – and correcting
little-big mistakes!
If you are one of those
millions of Filipinos wanting to celebrate Wednesday, 12 June 2024 as
“Philippine Independence Day” [above image says, “126 Philippine Independence
Celebration” – to coin a term, you have been mis-historied!
I am a Filipino (Ilocano), and let me correct PH history since nobody, no one,
none of our historians has done so:
You have to know that what PH
President Emilio Aguinaldo
declared on 18 June 1896 was a doubletake:
1#. Independence from Spain
2#. Dependence on the United States of America (USA)!
Read that Kawit, Cavite Aguinaldo proclamation again; look for that
part where it says that the Philippines meanwhile will be under “the
benevolent United States of America”! (The exact words I’m not sure now; I
can’t find the document no matter how I google. But in fact, US President William McKinley’s
“Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation” of 21 Dec 1898 says much about the
benevolence of Americans towards us Filipinos.
It was truly on 04 July 1946 when the Philippines was granted
Independence by the benevolent US of A! That date is what I recognize as PH
Independence Day, not the bogus claim of 12 June 1896. Even if I have been independent
proclaiming that since I don’t remember now. (I’m almost 84.)
Wikipedia says (“Emilio Aguinaldo,” en.wikipedia.org):
On June 12, Aguinaldo
promulgated the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain in his own mansion
house in Cavite El Viejo, believing that declaration would inspire the Filipino
people to eagerly rise against the Spaniards. On June 18, he issued a decree
formally establishing his dictatorial government in which he also provided the
organization of the local government and the establishment and the composition
of the Revolutionary Congress.
“Independence from Spain” but not “Independence from the United
States” – why not? Because the Filipino revolutionary leaders were convinced of
the benevolence of the Americans compared to the Spaniards.
Not one of these Filipino historians have rejected 1898 June 12 and
accepted 1946 July 4 as the true date of Philippine Independence; here are a
few of them, alphabetically listed by surname:
Teodoro Agoncillo
Encarnacion Alzona
Horacio de la Costa
Nick Joaquin
F Landa Jocano
Ambeth Ocampo
Carlos Quirino
Gregorio Zaide.
So, what else is new?!
I quote again from ANN: “(The) NHCP is the national government agency
mandated to promote Philippine history” – now, why has the NHCP not done its
duty correcting this historical mistake I have just pointed out?@517
No comments:
Post a Comment