Duterte to attend Independence Day rites in Rizal Park

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to attend the 124th Independence Day rites at Rizal Park in Manila and two other events on Sunday.

While it will be his last Independence Day as chief executive, it will also be the first time Duterte will celebrate the occasion at Rizal Park.

He was supposed to commemorate his first Independence Day as president at the historic park in 2017 but decided to skip the event on the same day because he was not feeling well. In 2018, Duterte celebrated Independence Day in Kawit, Cavite, where he was heckled by young activists who accused him of being a "traitor."

The following year, the president spent Independence Day with troops of the 6th Infantry Battalion in Malabang, Lanao del Sur. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Duterte skipped the Independence Day celebration at the Rizal Park and stayed in Davao City. Malacañang said Duterte had decided not to attend the ceremony in Manila to avoid drawing huge crowds.

Last year, Duterte celebrated his penultimate Independence Day as president in Malolos, Bulacan, the birthplace of the first Philippine Republic.

Emilio Aguinaldo, widely recognized as the first president of the Philippines, proclaimed the country's independence from Spain from the window of his house in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.

The United States formally recognized the Philippines' independence on July 4, 1946. According to the Official Gazette, the late president Diosdado Macapagal moved the date of Philippine Independence from July 4 to June 12 by issuing Proclamation No. 28 in 1962. Macapagal agreed with the view of historians and many political leaders that the foundation date of the nation should be June 12, since July 4 was the restoration of that independence, the Official Gazette said.

Duterte is also scheduled to witness the naming and commissioning of the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Melchora Aquino in Port Area.

The ship is the second of the two 97-meter multi-role response vessels made in Japan for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). It is modeled after the Japan Coast Guard Kunigami-class vessel and can conduct sustained maritime patrols in the country’s maritime jurisdictions, including the West Philippine Sea and Philippine Rise, according to a PCG statement.

The president will also attend the lowering of the first tunnel boring machine, train demonstration and unveiling of the Philippine Railways Institute interim simulator training center of the Metro Manila subway project in Valenzuela City.

The Metro Manila Subway project will be the country’s first mass underground transport system. Malacañang has predicted that the project would soon become "an enduring symbol of Philippine-Japan friendship and cooperation."

The 17-station railway will reduce by half the travel time between Quezon City and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and revitalize the Philippine economy by easing the heavy traffic congestion in Metro Manila, according to a statement posted on the website of the Japanese embassy.