President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on Filipinos to safeguard the nation’s freedom against modern threats, urging them to “protect truth from distortion, harness technology wisely, and restore trust in a time increasingly marked by division and distrust,” in his message marking the 128th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence on Friday, June 12.
In the statement issued from Malacañang Palace, Marcos recalled that the declaration of independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898 was the moment the country “formally asserted our right to govern ourselves and determine our own destiny.” He said the years that followed tested the nation’s resolve as Filipinos built institutions, strengthened unity, and sustained an independent republic through wars, crises, and uncertainty.
Drawing a contrast between past and present struggles, the President said that while earlier generations fought colonial oppression “through revolution, reform, and intellectual resistance,” the country now faces challenges of a different kind. He framed freedom not as a legacy to be inherited but as a responsibility that must be upheld, adding that how the nation responds to these demands will define what it passes on to future generations. He closed by calling for active citizenship, good governance, and solidarity in building a “Bagong Pilipinas.”
Marcos led the main commemoration in person at Rizal Park in Manila, where a wreath-laying ceremony preceded his address and a civic-military parade. The Philippine News Agency reported that, in his on-site remarks, the President said true leaders are those who sacrifice their own interests for the good of the people — a line the Inquirer noted he delivered in Filipino.
This year’s national commemoration carries the theme “Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan” (Freedom, Future, History), the closing installment of a multi-year program led by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to mark the 125th to 128th anniversaries of independence.
The President’s appeal for unity came against the backdrop of a Senate leadership dispute. The Manila Times reported that, during the Rizal Park rites, Marcos walked up to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and shook his hand, referring to him as Senate President Pro Tempore — a public acknowledgment significant because former Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has rejected the leadership change, describing it as an “illegal coup d’etat.”
