Labella: Continue Tres de Abril fight

CEBU, Philippines - The spirit of a local uprising against foreign subjugation still rings true today a Cebu City official yesterday challenged everyone to continue the battle.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, chairman of the city's Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission, said there are still battles to overcome, like the fight against corruption, illegal drugs, cybersex, and criminality, among others, that Cebuanos today must not forget why our forefathers fought during the Tres de Abril exactly 198 years ago yesterday, when the city commemorated the event in Barangay San Nicolas Proper.

"It (Philippine Revolution) was not limited only to those in Manila, Muslims and people in Mindanao, but…Cebuanos or the people in Cebu also have their…role in the fight against foreign subjugation and colonization," he said.

Mayor Michael Rama, Labella, and other officials led the floral offering at the Battle of Tres de Abril marker in Tres de Abril Street yesterday.  The Battle of Tres de Abril in 1898 marked the beginning of the Cebuano's open participation in the Philippine Revolution.

A Holy Mass was offered prior to the floral offering at the marker and was attended by 86-year-old Filipinas Ybañez, 86 year-old, the grandchild of Pantaleon "Leon Kilat" Villegas.

It was Villegas, a native of Negros island, who led the Cebuano Katipuneros during that historic event in fighting against the Spanish colonizers. "It was a glorious past and a glorious account-the bravery and patriotism of the Filipinos that time that paved the way for freedom and democracy," Labella said.

He said the commemoration of the Battle of Tres de Abril should remind the people that the fight against foreign subjugation started in the city.

"They were only using bolos against the guns used by the Spanish conquistadors. So it was their indomitable spirit and the will to fight to defend mother land and to fight against foreign colonizers. For this generation and for the next generations to come, they should be reminded that it was not easy for us Filipinos to secure our freedom, democracy and liberty," he said. —(FREEMAN)