Cebu City  — The nation will celebrate the 109th Independence Day today, June 12, 2007 and Cebu City celebrates it with a Civic-Military Parade with the theme “Panaghiusa Ang Tubag sa Kalamboan” (Unity is the Answer to Progress). The parade starts at 3 pm from various points in the city and ends up at the Cebu City Hall for the Independence Day Rites.

Cebu Vice-Mayor Michael Rama invited the national government agencies, schools, reservists and veterans and the men in uniform to join the Civic-Military Parade as one of the highlights in today’s celebration. “This is a yearly event that always reminds us of our victory and freedom from the Spanish and American Colonizers,” Rama said.

The major activity in celebrating this event is the raising of the Philippine Flag which is a very important symbol of the democratic Philippine Republic and all that it stands for. By showing, respect and affection for the flag, we are reminding Filipinos of the disciplined, tolerant, caring and hardworking people that we are.

As can be recalled, the Filipino Flag was designed by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo during his exile in Hongkong in 1897 and it was sewn by Doña Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo with the help of her daughter Lorenza and Mrs. Delfina Herbosa de Natividad (niece of Dr. Rizal). It was first raised during the Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.

The Philippine Flag is made of silk with a white triangle containing a sunburst of eight rays at the center, a five-pointed star at each angle of the triangle, a blue field and a red field. The white triangle stands for equality and fraternity; the blue field for peace, truth and justice; and the red field for patriotism and valor. The eight rays of the sun stand for the first eight provinces that the colonizers have put under martial law. The three stars symbolize Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The National Historical Institute (NHI) regulates the design, colors, materials and craftsmanship and other matters pertaining to the flag protocol while the Bureau of Product Standards of the Department of Trade and Industry sets the standards and guidelines in the manufacture of the Philippine flag.