CEBU, Philippines — Starting today, the Philippine flag is permanently displayed at the Liberty Shrine in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City.
The Liberty Shrine is given such recognition in time for the 500th anniversary of the Victory at Mactan on April 27 this year.
Also, today marks the 100-day countdown to the said anniversary, which is designated by the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) as the D-Day of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines.
Along with the countdown is the unveiling of the quincentennial emblem at the Rizal Park, the fourth of the five solar light-powered projects.
Both the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and NQC acknowledge the victory of the country’s ancestors in the Battle of Mactan as a common heritage and pride of the Filipino people.
The permanent displaying of the Philippine flag at the Liberty Shrine is by virtue of the NHCP Board Resolution No. 10, signed on December 16, 2020.
Republic Act No. 8491, otherwise known as the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines (1998), mandates NHCP to identify sites in the country to be given such status where the national flag is placed at the mast and properly illuminated at night.
There are only a few sites that are allowed to display the country’s flag all day long including Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit,Cavite (site of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence), Rizal National Monument in Manila, Bonifacio National Monument in Caloocan City, Sta. Barbara Public Plaza in Iloilo (site of the First Raising of the Philippine Flag in the Visayas), and Barasoain Church (site of the First Philippine Republic, the first in Asia).
Aside from those historical places, the Malacañang Palace, Supreme Court, House of Representatives, Senate of the Philippines, and seaports and airports also have the same status.
All other institutions and sites in the country, on the other hand, have to observe the display of the national flag every sunrise and lowering it every sunset throughout the year, except during inclement weather.
It was already emphasized as “our history” by Jose Rizal and painter Juna Luna in their exchanges about a painting the latter made to commemorate the historic event, the press statement from the NQC said.
The victory was also invoked by Emilio Jacinto in 1895 to remind the founders of the Filipino nation that they had a triumphant heritage and was even enshrined in the very document proclaiming Philippine independence read in Kawit, Cavite on 12 June 1898. — GMR (FREEMAN)