About Independence day
About Independence day
Also known as 'Araw ng Kasarinlan', or 'Day of Freedom', this holiday is celebrated annually on June 12th of each year to commemorate the day the Philippines was declared independent from Spain in 1898. The Historical Origin of the Holiday in Brief The Philippines, an archipelogo consisting of more than 7,000 separate islands in the western Pacific Ocean, had been part of the Spanish empire since the middle of the sixteenth century. The emergence of the Katipunan in 1896, a secret group of activists, served as a catalyst to what would become the beginning of a long struggle for freedom and independence. Amid the resulting turmoil, a truce was signed in 1897. Under the terms of the agreement, the activist leaders were forced into exile outside the Philippines. Following attacks on American interests by the Spanish during the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States made the crucial decision to provide full support to the independence movement. As a result, the rebel leader General Emilio Aguinaldo returned from exile and subsequently rallied support among local Filipinos for this cause. With the support of the American armed forces over 300 years of Spanish rule was brought to an abrupt end when Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12th, 1898. However, this day would not be designated as a public holiday until 1962 via proclamation by then President Diosdado Macapagal at which point the Philippine national anthem was played and the Filipino flag was unfurled for the first time in public.