MANILA, Philippines - Today, June 11, is not a holiday, even if it is sandwiched between a Sunday and tomorrow’s 114th Independence Day, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte announced yesterday.
“June 12 is the only holiday, and not June 11,” Valte said over state-run radio station dzRB.
Classes in public schools started on June 4 and while classed in most private schools officially begin on June 13.
President Aquino resumes work today after his trip to the United Kingdom and the United States. He arrived yesterday morning. Cabinet officials met him at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 2 in Pasay City.
Aquino will lead the flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies Tuesday morning at the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan.
He will be accompanied by members of the Cabinet, the diplomatic corps and candidates of the 2012 Miss World Philippines.
Representatives from the Catholic Church, Jesus Is Lord Church, Iglesia ni Cristo, United Methodist Church, the Muslim community will lead an ecumenical prayer.
Aquino’s message will focus on the theme “Kalayaan: Pananagutan ng Bayan para sa Tuwid na Daan (Freedom: The responsibility of the nation toward the straight path).”
Thereafter, Aquino will return to Malacañang for the traditional vin d’honneur, a cocktail reception for the members of the diplomatic corps.
Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado said the Independence Day celebration in Barasoain is like a homecoming for the Aquino as his ancestors settled in Malolos City before moving to Tarlac in the late 1800s.
Aquino’s family still maintains an ancestral house just a few meters away from Barasoain Church, he added.
Alvarado said without the Malolos Congress convening at Barasoain Church on Sept. 15, 1898, General Emilio Aguinaldo’s Independence Day celebration in Kawit, Cavite would have been meaningless.
“The Malolos Congress also gave birth to our first Constitution and the first democratic republic in Asia and Africa,” he said.
The Independence Day celebration tomorrow is expected to boost to tourism in Bulacan, Alvarado said.
Historians hailed the president’s leading the annual Independence Day celebrations in different historical places in the country.
Dr. Serena Diokno, National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chairman, said proposals were made for Aquino to lead the Independence Day celebrations in Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine in San Juan next year; and in Tanauan, Batangas on 2014.
Isagani Giron, Samahang Pangkasaysayan ng Bulacan (Sampaka) chairman emeritus, said the plan would highlight the significance of other historical places.
Jaime Corpuz, the Heritage Conservation of the Philippines Bulacan chapter chairman, said the scheme would also highlight the roles played by other personalities in history.
Vice President Jejomar Binay will lead the flag-raising ceremony at the Rizal Park in Manila, while Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile will be in Cavite.
The other places where Independence Day rites will be held are Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine in San Juan with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Mausoleo delos Veteranos de la Revolucion at the Manila North Cemetery with Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina.
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima will lead the rites at the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City, while Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez will be at the Pamintuan House in Angeles City, Pampanga. – With Dino Balabo