It’s been 114 years since our declaration of independence, and today we reflect on how independence is not merely a state of being, it is a position to move and act in freedom.
It’s been 114 years since our declaration of independence, and today we reflect on how independence is not merely a state of being, it is a position to move and act in freedom.
This time around 1898, in the town of Cavite, our National Flag was first unfurled and the Declaration of Independence of the Philippines from Spain was read out loud to the gathered crowd. The declaration boldly asserted:
“…we do hereby proclaim and declare solemnly in the name by authority of the people of these Philippine Islands,
That [we] are and have the right to be free and independent… that, like other free and independent States, [we] enjoy the full power to make War and Peace, conclude commercial treaties, enter into alliances, regulate commerce, and do all other acts and things which and Independent State Has right to do,
And imbued with firm confidence in Divine Providence, we hereby mutually bind ourselves to support this Declaration with our lives, our fortunes, and with our sacred possession, our Honor.”
It has been 114 years since that declaration, and each June 12, we look back, remember, and reflect on the independence our ancestors fought for — the independence we must still vigilantly defend with our lives, our fortunes, and our honor today. Independence is not merely a state of being, it is a position to move and act in freedom.
