Independence Day

Independence means freedom from the control of another. It could be symbolical or factual. There are 6 dates we can call Independence Day.

1. April 27, 1521 when Lapu-Lapu refused to surrender to Spain and killed Magellan in the Battle of Mactan. It was the first (and only) defeat of Europeans since Portugal colonized Goa, India in the 15th century. Today, the Asian nations still have not honored heroism of Lapu-Lapu the first Asian hero to defeat European colonizers.
2. August 23 or 26, 1869, when Gat Andres Bonifacio led the Katipuneros in the Cry of Balintawak / Pugad Lawin.
3. June 12, 1898, when Emilio Aguinaldo raised the Philippine flag in Kawit, Cavite.
4. October 14, 1943 when Japan gave so-called freedom under the Kalibapi Republic.
5. July 4, 1946, when America changed our status from Commonwealth to Republic. Why July 4? Because it was when America declared Independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.
6. June 12, 1963, when Pres. Diosdado Macapagal changed our Independence Day from July 4 to June 12.

All the nations in the world have their own ideas of freedom, justice, defense, economics, religions. Today, the world is dominated economically and military by the US and China. Pure national independence is kaput. You are either Pro-US or Pro-China.

It hurts when other Asian nations who had to fight to have independence – Indonesia from Holland; Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia from France; Pakistan, India, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong from England – call us Amboy or “American boy”.

Our Constitution is one of the few in the world with 2 official national languages: English and Filipino (not Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo). Yet what exactly is Filipino? Our history books are silent about the heroism of Ricarte, Dagohoy, Tamblot, the Tausugs, Maranaos, Maguindanaoans, Sakay, and Gabriela Silang.

Independence means more than holidays, parades, and mallings. Mabuhay ang Pilipino!