June 19 Rizal Day urged

Instead of present celebration on Dec. 30


A House of Representatives committee has recommended the enactment of a bill that would put an end to the more than a century of practice of observing Rizal Day on his death anniversary on Dec. 30 and move the non-working holiday to June 19, the national hero’s birth anniversary.

In a committee hearing on Monday, members of the Committee on Revision of Laws unanimously approved House Bill No. 1289 and sought its immediate approval into law.

Authored by a group of solons led by Iloilo City Rep. Raul T. Gonzales Jr., the filing of HB 1289 was backed by the National Historical Institute which noted that the observance of Rizal Day on Dec. 30 has its historical basis in a decree issued by General Emilio Aguinaldo on Dec. 20, 1898.

In a letter to Gonzales, NHI Chairman Ambeth R. Ocampo said the decree actually declared Dec. 30 of each year as a day of national mourning and was intended to honor Rizal and other Filipino patriots during the Spanish period.

According to Ocampo, Rizal Day was declared one of the official holidays of the country with the enactment of Act No. 245 by the Philippine Commission, signed on Feb. 1, 1902.

Ocampo supported Gonzales’ contention that commemorating June 19 as Rizal Day is more appropriate, considering that birth anniversaries of national heroes are usually celebrated rather than their death anniversaries.

The NHI maintains that the observance of Rizal Day should be done on June 19, his actual date of birth, Ocampo said, rather than Dec. 30, during the Christmas vacation. "If Rizal Day is observed on June 19, classes have just started and students would be able to actively participate in the commemorative activities," he said.

Aside from Gonzales, the other authors of the bill include Reps. Justin Chipeco (NP, Laguna), Ma. Victoria Sy Alvarado (Lakas, Bulacan), and Ma. Evita Arago (LP, Laguna).

The measure would amend Executive Order No. 292, the Administrative Code of 1987.