MANILA, March 20 (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday led the inauguration of the modernized Museo in Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit, Cavite, after the museum underwent several years of renovation work.
President Aquino, together with National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chairperson Maria Serena Diokno, also led the flag-raising and wreath-laying rites in honor of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first and only president of the First Philippine Republic.
The country will commemorate the late president’s 146th birth anniversary on March 22.
The modernized museum chronicles the life of Aguinaldo, especially during the revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American War.
It contains displays and narratives, as well as interactive features. It also has an e-learning facility where students could access the NHCP’s online history lessons.
The commission’s modernization work, which began in 2012, included renovating the museum’s ground floor to suit the needs of visitors.
The ground floor also has an exhibit area featuring artifacts, photographs and dioramas showcasing the province of Cavite’s role in the revolution.
An image of former president Emilio Aguinaldo and a reenactment of the declaration of the Philippine Independence could be viewed at the ground floor area.
The Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine and museum is a national landmark. This is where Filipino revolutionaries first unfurled the Philippine flag on June 12, 1898, while the proclamation of the Philippine independence was being read, and the Marcha National Filipina, now the country’s national anthem, was being played.
Built in 1845 out of wood and thatch by Aguinaldo’s parents, the house was reconstructed in 1849, and remodeled by the former leader in the early 1920s. Aguinaldo was born there on March 22, 1869.
On March 22, 1963, his 93rd birthday, Aguinaldo donated the estate to the government to perpetuate the spirit of the Philippine Revolution. A few months after his death in 1964, the house was declared a national shrine by virtue of Republic Act 4039.
It was first operated as a museum by the National Museum and on January 31, 1972, through Executive Order 370, its management was transferred to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. (PNA)