The Memorable July 4 & June 12 Patriotic Celebrations

By: Joe Mauricio

Independent – Freedom from outside control or support, a time when a country gains political freedom from outside control. During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of wide presence that has been proposed by Richard Lee of Virginia, declaring the United States independent from Great Britain. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence. explaining the decision which had been prepared and drafted by a Committee of Five (appointed by the U.S. Congress composed of Thomas Jefferson (Virginia), John Adams (Massachusetts), Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania), Roger Sherman (Connecticut) and Robert Livingstone (New York). Thomas Jefferson was the principal author. The Declaration of Independence was finally approved on July 4 by the U.S. Congress. July 2, 1776 will also be a most memorable epoch in the U.S. history, according to some historians who claimed it to be the day of independence, “the day of independence, by solemn act of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade from this time, forever more.” American historians have long disputed the date, July 2 vs. July 4, but, historically speaking, the U.S. Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, the date shown on the Declaration of Independence which Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, Sherman and Livingstone signed on that day. In a memorable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two signers of the Declaration of Independence, later served as Presidents of the United States, and on the same day of July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of Declaration, they both died. Another Founding Father of the U.S. Constitution, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831, becoming thie third president to die on this memorable and historical day. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th Prsident of the United States, was born July 4, 1872, the only president born on historical July 4th. Unlike the United States, the Philippines did not achieve independence until July 4, 1946, when it ceased to be a U.S. territory, and the U.S’s. recognition of the Philippine independence on July 4 was officially chosen because it corresponded to its own independence day. In 1964, Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal changed the date from July 4th to June 12th, the actual date of the DECLARATION OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE (a brief part of history declared by Aguinaldo from the porch of his house in Kawit, Cavite) and not the actual INDEPENDENCE DAY. How’s this? From 1898, the Philippines was controlled by the United States after winning the Spanish-American War. This “freedom from outside control” ceased only on July 4, 1946, the real and true independene day for the Philippines. (Please refer further to our Editorial on page 4.) Also remember that the U.S. Declaration of Independence was passed and approved by the U.S. Congress while the Declaration of the Philippine Independence was just declared by Aguinaldo and a handful of his cohorts from the porch of his home in Kawit, Cavite. So, aren’t we celebrating a bogus independence day celebration? Please tell me, am I right or wrong?