Last July 4, 2002
was the 226th Independence Day anniversary of USA. It was also the
Philippine-American Friendship Day in the Philippines.
Forty years ago,
both countries celebrated their independence on the same day, July
4. Because of this coincidence, Philippine Independence Day celebrations
abroad were unnoticed; the grand American celebrations always overshadowed
the 'Pinas show.
Starting 1962,
we celebrated the true date of our independence, June 12, thanks to
the vision and patriotic efforts of one man, Prof. Gabriel F. Fabella
of Romblon. As early as 1955, he was already toying with the idea
of rectifying this historical error.
Republic Act No.
4166 which changed the date of Philippine independence day from July
4 to June 12 also provides that the former date be celebrated as Philippine
Republic Day.
Prof. Fabella's
original proposal was to make the Fourth of July Thanksgiving Day
in the Philippines.
Why June 12? On
this day in 1898, the Filipino people solemnly and publicly declared
their independence from Spanish colonial rule.
Why not July 4?
On this day in 1946, the government of the United States of America
under the Tydings-Mcduffie law "merely recognized" the independence
of the Philippines.
This historical
event has a precedent in the USA. July 4, 1776 is the declaration
of American Independence and February 3, 1783 is recognition of that
independence by England. The American nation celebrates her independence
day on July 4 and not on February 3.
Success has many
fathers, while misfortune is an orphan. True, even in the change of
the date of Philippine Independence. Most if not all history books
in the Philippines today acknowledge the late president Diosdado Macapagal
as the "father" of the change in the date of our Independence
Day.
It was President
Macapagal who issued Proclamation No. 28 on May 12, 1962 declaring
June 12 as Philippine Independence Day.
Very few Filipinos
and even historians know that the basis of the proclamation issued
by President Macapagal was the resolution passed by the Philippine
Historical Association (PHA) and authored by Prof. Fabella petitioning
the President and Congress to adopt June 12 as Philippine Independence
Day.
Prof. Fabella
was the first president and later president emeritus of the PHA. President
Macapagal was honorary president of the association.
I know of only
two books that cite Prof. Fabella as the man behind the fixing of
the date of RP independence to June 12. These are the book by Celedonio
Ancheta and the commemorative book on the subject published by the
National Historical Institute in 1998.
Other acknowledged
"fathers" of the June 12 RP independence day are the late
Congressman Ramon Mitra, Sr. and Senator Lorenzo Tañada, authors
of the independence day bills in the House of Representatives and
Senate respectively.
With the very
scanty references to Prof. Fabella as the "real father"
of the June 12 RP independence date in our history books, I fear that
future Filipinos and even Romblomanons will no longer remember him
and his patriotic deed.
