(Eagle News) — The National Flag Day starts today and all government offices, business establishments, schools and other institutions are directed to proudly display the Philippine flag until June 12, the Philippine Independence Day.
The 15-day period for the National Flag Day is specified in the “Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines” or Republic Act 8491, and in House Bill 5224 which was approved by Congress.
An executive order issued by President Fidel V, Ramos, E.O. 179, was also issued on May 24, 1994 directing all officials and residents of the country to display prominently the Philippine flag from May 28 to June 12.
According to R.A. 8491, “all government agencies and instrumentalities, and local government offices, government-owned corporations and local government units are enjoined to observe flag day with appropriate ceremonies. Socio-civic groups, non-government organizations and the private sector are exhorted to cooperate in making the celebrations a success.”
The start of the National Flag Day on May 28 was done to commemorate the “first unfurling of the Philippine Flag on Philippine soil at Alapan, Imus, Cavite on 28 May 1898,” according to former President Ramos’ E.O. 179.
The “Battle of Alapan:was fought on May 28, 1898. It is considered as the first military victory of Emilio Aguinaldo after his return to the Philippines from Hong Kong where he came from exile.
The battle lasted for five hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., during which the reconstituted Philippine Revolutionary Army fought a small garrison of Spanish troops in Alapan, Imus, Cavite.
After winning the battle, Aguinaldo unfurled the Philippine flag for the first time, and hoisted it at the Teatro Caviteño in Cavite Nuevo, which is the present-day Cavite City, in front of Filipino revolutionaries and more than 270 captured Spanish troops.
E.O. 179 said that displaying the Philippine national flag — which symbolizes patriotism, love of country, and sense of nationhood – “can be instrumental in raising the level of socio-civic consciousness of the Filipinos, especially among the youth.”
The Philippine flag, it said, also “embodies the aspirations and sentiments of the Filipino People in their unceasing quest for freedom and independence.”
The Department of Interior and Local Government and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) have called on government offices, businesses, schools, institutions and private homes to display the Philippine flag during the period during the 15-day observance of the national flag day.
(Eagle News Service)