News
The meaning of freedom
MANILA, Philippines -- The minor remembrance if not celebration of July 4 last Wednesday as our former Independence Day reminded me of an incident that to me emphasized the true meaning of freedom.
Missing pieces
MANILA, Philippines -- This year the US Embassy in Manila celebrated its National Day a day early on July 3 rather than the traditional Fourth of July.
Fourth of July
MANILA, Philippines -- Most Filipinos today don’t have any recollection of it, but there was a time when we celebrated Independence Day on this day, July 4. That was the date the United States chose to grant us independence, to dramatize the point about the lives and fates of Filipinos and Americans being intertwined.
Dancing with a rogue empire
July 4 marks the Independence Day of what has become the modern American Empire. July 4 also used to be our own Independence Day because, while it was granted to us by our colonizer right after World War II, it became an outright farce as new economic, political and military agreements were imposed on us.
Intertwined
MANILA, Philippines -- Some Filipinos insist that our Independence Day should be marked from July 4, 1946 rather than going back all the way to June 12, 1898.