MANILA – Senator Francis ‘TOL’ N. Tolentino will lead the country’s commemoration of the National Flag Day in Imus City, Cavite tomorrow, May 28, 2023.
Tolentino, a native of Cavite, will be the guest of honor in the said event, which also commemorates the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Alapan—considered the first military victory of the Filipino Revolutionary Army under General Emilio F. Aguinaldo, following his return from exile in Hong Kong.
The Caviteño senator will steer the flag-raising ceremony at exactly 8 a.m. along Heritage Park in Barangay Alapan with this year’s theme: “Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan.”
Imus City Mayor Alex Advincula, Cavite 3rd district Rep. Adrian Jay Advincula and National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chairman Dr. Emmanuel Franco Calairo will join Tolentino during the flag-raising and wreath-laying rites at the Shrine of the National Flag of the Philippines (Dambana ng Pambansang Watawat ng Pilipinas).
Following the Filipino forces’ decisive victory near a Spanish garrison in Alapan on May 28, 1898, Gen. Aguinaldo who later became the President of the First Philippine Republic, unfurled the original Philippine flag for the first time which was earlier sewed in Hong Kong by Doña Marcela Agoncillo.
Former President Diosdado Macapagal issued Proclamation No. 374 on March 6, 1965, declaring May 28 as National Flag Day to commemorate the event the national emblem was first unfurled after Aguinaldo’s forces defeated the Spanish regiment in the Battle of Alapan.
Section 26 of Republic No. 8491, also known as the ‘Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines’ also declared May 28 to June 12 of each year as “Flag Days,” in which, all offices agencies and instrumentalities of the government, business establishments, institutions of learning and private homes are enjoined to display the Philippine Flag.