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Iloilo to host Independence Day 2015 rites

Departing from tradition, this year’s 117th Independence Day ceremonies will be held not in Luzon but in Iloilo’s Sta. Barbara town, where the Philippine flag was first raised to inaugurate the provisional revolutionary government of the Visayas in 1898.

The vin d’ honneur (wine of honor) will also be done at the newly restored Iloilo provincial capitol with Senate President Franklin Drilon describing it as a celebration that will “showcase to the nation Iloilo’s remarkable progress and achievements.”
Santa Barbara, Iloilo's Flagpole Park
“Let us make use of that momentous event to show this nation the soaring aspirations of Ilonggos – that with our past, present and near future achievements, we are poised to reclaim Iloilo’s rightful place as Queen City of the South,” Drilon said in a statement.

He added that the event is a “national affirmation and acknowledgement of Iloilo’s rise as a progressive and developing center in the Visayas.”

Philippine flags now line the streets of Santa Barbara where President Aquino is expected to lead the Independence Day flag-raising ceremony at the town plaza on June 12.

Customarily, the flag-raising ceremonies for Independence Day celebrations were done at the Rizal Park in Manila. Last year, it was done in Naga City.
Church and Convent restored by the National Historical Commissione of the Philippines
Santa Barbara was chosen as the site of this year’s celebration because it was where the Philippine flag was first raised outside of Luzon on Nov. 17, 1898.

The President will also inspect the restoration of the Santa Barbara Church and Convent, which served as the general headquarters and military hospital of the Visayan revolutionary forces in the late 1800s. It was on the convent’s balcony where Santa Barbara native General Martin Delgado, first civilian governor of Iloilo province, declared the famous cry of Sta. Barbara (Fuera España, Viva Filipina).

Built in 1845, the church is of Baroque Renaissance architecture with a neoclassic façade. In 2012, the National Historical Commission declared Sta. Barbara as one of the historic sites in Iloilo following its role in the 1898 Philippine Revolution.

Vin d’ honneur

After the flag raising ceremony, the President will motor to Molo church in Iloilo City and onto the restored Iloilo provincial capitol for the traditional vin d’ honneur, the first outside of Malacañang Palace.
Casa Real de Iloilo
Photo credits to Vincent Valencia
A traditional morning reception, vin d’ honneur takes place biannually in Malacañang: first, to mark the New Year, and second, to celebrate the anniversary of Philippine Independence on June 12.

More than 50 ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps, Cabinet members and other government officers are expected to attend the rite.

News article reposted from The Philippine Star

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