December 30, 2019

Today, December 30, is José Rizal Day in the Philippines. The holiday celebrates the life of Rizal, a doctor and novelist who became a national hero of the Philippines. Rizal was an early leader of the Filipino movement for political and social freedom from Spain. December 30 marks the day in 1896 when the Spaniards, who ruled the Philippines at the time, executed Rizal for his activities.

The physician and writer José Rizal is a national hero of the Philippines. His life is celebrated on December 30. Credit: Public Domain

A national public holiday, Rizal Day has been celebrated in the Philippines since 1898. Commemorations include the lowering of the Philippine flag to half-mast and wreath laying-ceremonies at the Rizal Monument and execution site in Manila, the Rizal Monument in Baguio City, and the Rizal Shrines in Calamba (a reproduction of his birth house) and Dapitan (his place of exile on Mindanao).

The flag of the Philippines dates back to the Philippine struggle for independence in the 1890’s. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

José Mercado y Alonso Rizal was born on June 19, 1861, in Calamba on the main Filipino island of Luzon. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. After obtaining his qualifications in medicine in Madrid, Spain, Rizal traveled to Germany, England, and France, where he continued to study medicine. He wrote for La Solidaridad (The Solidarity) a magazine published in Barcelona that campaigned for reforms in the Philippines.

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Philippines
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Rizal gained worldwide attention with two novels that exposed the ills of the Spanish colonial government and Filipino society: Noli Me Tangere (1887, Latin for Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (1891, The Subversive). While conducting research at the British Museum in London, Rizal came across a history of the Philippines written by Antonio de Morga, a Spanish historian and colonial official, in 1609. Morga’s book described an attractive civilization in the Philippines before Spanish colonization. In 1890, Rizal printed a new edition of the history with his own notes added to the text.

In 1892, Rizal returned to Manila, where he founded La Liga Filipina (The Philippine League) on July 3. The League was a partly secret association devoted to promoting unity and reforming the colony. On July 6, Rizal was arrested and exiled to the Philippine island of Mindanao. During his exile, Rizal practiced medicine and taught students. In 1896, Spanish authorities permitted him to go to Cuba, at that time a Spanish colony, to treat patients infected during a yellow fever outbreak.

That same year, the Katipunan, a secret Filipino revolutionary society, tried to overthrow the Spanish government. Rizal was on his way to Cuba when the revolution broke out. Though he had no connection with the Katipunan or the uprising, a Spanish military court found him guilty of promoting the rebellion. On the morning of Dec. 30, 1896, Rizal was executed by firing squad in Manila.

June 12, 2018

Today, June 12, is Independence Day in the Philippines. On June 12, 1898, 120 years ago today, Filipino leaders declared independence from Spain, which had ruled the Pacific Island nation since the 1500′s. Philippines Independence Day is celebrated throughout the Philippine Islands as well in Filipino communities around the world. For several years, the celebration was held on July 4—the day the Republic of the Philippines actually gained independence in 1946. In 1962, however, the Philippines government recognized the date of the 1898 declaration as Independence Day, and changed July 4 to Republic Day.

The flag of the Philippines dates back to the nation’s struggle for independence in the 1890’s. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

In the Philippines, government offices and many businesses are closed for Independence Day, and people enjoy the holiday by gathering with family and friends and attending concerts, fireworks shows, and parades. The Philippines flag is prominently displayed throughout the nation, and in Manila and other cities there are official readings of the 1898 document declaring Philippine independence. Readings are given both in the document’s original Spanish and in Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines.

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In Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines, Independence Day is known as Araw ng Kalayaan, or Day of Freedom. Credit: Republic of the Philippines

In the United States and Canada, countries that are home to millions of people of Filipino heritage, Philippines Independence Day is marked by celebrations and parades in such cities as Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver.

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Philippines
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The story of Philippine independence is a complicated one. The 1898 declaration came at a chaotic period in Filipino history, a time when foreign powers—Spain and the United States—were fighting for control of the Philippine Islands. Philippines independence was not won in 1898, as the United States, which gained control of the islands from Spain, refused to recognize it.

Filipino rebels fought against U.S. rule in the Philippine-American War from 1899 to 1902, but American influence remained in the Philippines for many years. In 1935, the Philippines became an American commonwealth with its own elected government and constitution. The United States retained authority in such areas as foreign affairs and defense. After Filipinos and U.S. soldiers fought together against the Japanese during World War II (1939-1945), the Philippines at last gained complete independence on July 4, 1946—a date chosen to coincide with Independence Day in the United States.