DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 30, 2013) – President Benigno Aquino on Monday led the commemoration of the Rizal Day in his hometown in Tarlac, while Vice President Jejomar Binay also led a similar activity in Manila with Mayor Joseph Estrada.
Aquino arrived shortly before 7 a.m. at the City Plazuela for the flag-raising ceremony and then he offered flowers before the Rizal monument. Tarlac Governor Victor Yap assisted the president.
Present were officials including National Historical Commission of the Philippines head Maria Serena Diokno, Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima and Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista.
Similar rites marking Rizal’s martyrdom were observed in other areas of the country.
In Davao City, army troops joined the commemoration of the martyrdom of the country’s national hero, Dr Jose Rizal, 117 years ago.
Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said: “Dr Jose Rizal had fought a non-violent way during his time. Like Dr Rizal, the soldiers under Eastern Mindanao Command remain steadfast in the achievement of just and lasting peace through Bayanihan, a peaceful and humane means of winning the peace.”
In Zamboanga City, Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar also led the commemoration of Rizal Day. Rizal was executed by the Spaniards in what is now Luneta Park on December 30, 1896. (Mindanao Examiner)
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