QC offices, residents urged to observe Flag Day

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday enjoined government and private offices in the city as well as residents to prominently display the Philippine flag in their respective offices and homes tomorrow in observance of the National Flag Day.

The mayor also ordered the display of Philippine flags along city thoroughfares and at the City Hall compound as well as the replacement of all tattered flags as a manifestation of love and loyalty to the country.

National Flag Day is observed in commemoration of the first unfurling of the Philippine flag in Alapan, Imus, Cavite on May 28, 1898.

May 28 has been declared as Flag Day under Proclamation 374. Executive Order 179 S-94 calls for the prominent display of flags on all buildings, establishments and homes from May 28 to June 12.

The idea of coming out with a new flag was conceived by Emilio Aguinaldo during the second phase of the revolution.

The flag was sewn in Hong Kong by Marcela Marino Agoncillo, wife of Felipe Agoncillo, the first Filipino diplomat.

The flag was made in five days and was handed over by Agoncillo to Aguinaldo before the latter boarded an American dispatch boat on May 17, 1898 on his way to the Philippines.

Aguinaldo hoisted the flag as a sign of victory against Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. – Perseus Echeminada