June 12, the Controversial Independence Day
Coincidentally, the Philippines and Russia are celebrating their independence days on June 12. Philippines celebrate their independence from Spain which happened in 1898 and Russia celebrates the adoption of its declaration of independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. Another coincidence however is that there are controversies surrounding the genuinity of this celebration of these two countries.
The Philippines Independence Day occurred on 12 June 1898 ending the 300-year colonial rule of Spain after the latter were defeated during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Spain sold the entire Philippine archipelago to the United States for $20 million. Shortly afterwards, the Filipino forces proclaimed the sovereignty and independence from Spain and named the first president of the Philippine Republic. However, the declaration was not recognised by the US or Spain for some reason. The $20 million deal may have played a huge role in the decision of the two countries. There’s even an additional debate that the Spanish-American War was not a real battle at all - just a drama!
The United States only recognised the Philippine Independence day on July 4, 1946 which is after World War II. Since then Philippines celebrated Independence Day on July 4 until it was changed again to June 12 in 1964 as advised by some Historians. I’m not sure if July 4 is another coincidence again because US is celebrating their Independence Day on July 4!
Russia on the other hand has its own controversy about the June 12 celebration. The day was not actually an independence from any colonial rule as the former Soviet Union was ruled by the same Russia now. Russian people and foreigners are disoriented completely by the name “Independence Day” which raises the question, independence from what? Obviously, June 12 is just the date when the Russian Parliament declared its Sovereignty of the Russian Federation.
Independence is something that should have been fought for by the people for a common reason. It should be something that are widely recognised first by the people as their independence before the authorities can officially approve and declare them as independence day!
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Happy Independence Day. Or do you prefer the 4 July? I think you need to sing Lupang Hinirang in the office today.
Is General Emilio Aguinaldo a national hero?
Hey Nigel, thanks for that. Yes, Aguinaldo is a national hero. He is even in our 5-peso note.
I still prefer June 12 as independence day because July 4 is too American and June 12 is more Filipino I guess. It was in 1898 that our National Anthem was composed (The Lupang Hinirang tune without the lyrics which came a little bit later) and our National Flag was first created.
What do the symbols and colours on the flag stand for?
How come there aren’t any coconuts? I thought they were a symbol of your proud nation? Is the smiling face because Pilipino’s are always happy?
Did any Pilipino’s fight in the Spanish-American War? Do you think people would be prouder if they had to fight for their independence from Spain or America, or because they persuaded their former rulers to give their country independence without any bloodshed or turmoil?
The 3 stars stand for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Red stands for bravery and love of country, Blue for peace and harmony, white for cleanliness I guess. Deuts can you help me please? Hehe..
And the 8 rays of the Sun stand for the first 8 provinces that fought against Spain during that time. There is no smiling face of the sun actually in all our other flags. I don’t know why there’s one out there. It looks like Jollibee. hehe..
I’m not sure if there were filipinos in the Spanish-American War, but there was a separate Filipino-American War though before that. I think it’s one of the reason as well why we reverted to June 12.
Well, for one, in 1898 there was a struggle, a manifestation of bravery by our forefathers against the tyrants. While in 1946, independence and the birth of the Third Republic was freely granted to us.
Note, the sale by the Spaniard of the Philippines to the Americans was then unknown to the Filipinos. The Filipinos thought the Americans were an ally during that war. Only to find out later that they are another colonizer.
Thanks Deuts for additional information!
Here’s another useful information, during wartime, we raise our flag upside down where red is at the top and the blue at the bottom. During normal time the blue side is always at the top!
Has the Third Republic ever been at war?
Unfortunately not yet.
I’m too excited to have one. I want to raise the flag upside down!
Bayang magiliw…..
i think there is one averted war against malaysia during the time of Marcos. inexplicably, Sabah now belongs to Malaysia and Filipinos are being expelled for being illegal immigrants!