ILOILO CITY, April 11 (PNA) — The first Independence Day flag-raising ceremony outside of Luzon will be held June 12 in Sta. Barbara town in the second district of Iloilo province, said Senate Pres. Franklin M. Drilon who presided Saturday the preparatory committee meeting at the New Iloilo Capitol.
Sen. Drilon, who is also an Ilonggo, said that the traditional Vin d’honneur akin to a prolonged social celebration after the flag-raising ceremony and program at Sta. Barbara plaza will also be held for the first time outside of Malacanang at the Old Iloilo Capitol which is now undergoing restoration work but will be finished just in time for the event.
The senator said Pres. Benigno Aquino III will lead the Independence Day flag-raising ceremony and program with 50 ambassadors coming to Iloilo for the event.
”Pres. Aquino has agreed for the holding of the Independence Day ceremony in Sta. Barbara for he wants to also commemorate Delgado as a local hero,” the senator said. The senator referred to former Gen. Martin T. Delgado who led the famous “Cry of Sta. Barbara” in revolt against the Spanish colonizers and became the first governor of the civil government of Iloilo.
Drilon said that in fact today is historical because it was exactly 114 years ago when the civil government was first established in Iloilo.(PNA)