HAPPY 108th PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY!

(Editor's Note: We are republishing Romeo Abol's article on Philippine Independence Day. The author hails from Barangay Soccoro, Cubao, Quezon City)

Independence Day: June 12 or July 4?

THE FILIPINO nation celebrates Independence Day on June 12. It was during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal in the early 1960s when the law was enacted, in effect, reverting the celebration from July 4 to June 12.

We have accepted June 12 as Independence Day. But let us not delude ourselves and others into thinking that the independence that we are celebrating on that day was proclaimed by General Emilio Aguinaldo in 1898. But the fact is the Philippines attained independence on July 4, 1946.

The proclamation of independence by General Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898, paved the way for the establishment of a revolutionary government on June 23, 1898, to work for the recognition of the Philippines as an independent nation, by all countries, including Spain.

On Sept. 29, 1898, the Malolos Congress ratified the declaration of the Philippine independence, which eventually led to the approval of the Malolos Constitution by the Malolos Congress on Nov. 29, 1898. Finally, on Jan. 21, 1899, the Philippine Constitution was promulgated by General Aguinaldo.

But these events did not put an end to the Spanish rule in the Philippines. Not one country recognized the Philippine Republic under General Aguinaldo.

Then the Philippine-American War broke out.Pursuant to the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the Philippines and the Filipino people came under the sovereignty of the United States. The Philippine Republic ceased to exist.

The great majority of the Filipino people and their leaders took their oath of allegiance to the new US sovereign.

In other words, the sovereignty of the Malolos Republic gave way to the sovereignty of the United States of America. And the United States continued to be sovereign in the Philippines until July 4, 1946. On that day, the United States withdrew its sovereignty, and the Filipino nation became a sovereign.

It is the July 4 proclamation of independence that marked the birth of the Philippine Republic under which we now live.