Senator Richard J. Gordon wants to add a ninth ray to the sun in the Philippine flag to symbolize the Muslims who fought against foreign invaders.
“Our national flag not only represents principles of sovereignty and solidarity of the Philippine nation, but also embodies the ideals and traditions of the Filipino people developed over the course of national history,” he said in a statement.
Gordon said the Philippine flag symbolizes the nation’s struggle for independence and victory against foreign colonizers.
The three stars in the flag represent the three major geographical divisions of the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao; while the eight rays of the sun represent the eight provinces that revolted against the Spanish regime: Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac.
Gordon said that behind the stories of the most celebrated names of national heroes who fought for our independence lie the stories of our mostly-forgotten Muslim heroes, including Lapu-Lapu, Sultan Kudarat, and Rajah Sulayman, who displayed courage and integrity.
The senator explained that this is the reason he proposed to add a ninth ray to the sun in the Philippine flag—to acknowledge the courage and integrity of Muslim Filipinos who fought for the nation’s independence.
“Our Muslim heroes left an imprint on national history that, at the very least, must be given due recognition in the most heraldic item of national importance—the Philippine flag,” he said.
Gordon authored Senate Bill 2590, which proposes that the rays of the sun on the Philippine flag be increased from eight to nine, to symbolize the community of Muslim leaders who defended the country from foreign invasion.
“By adding a ninth ray in the sun to represent our Muslim brothers, I think we make ourselves one with them. They are the Filipinos who were very successful in thwarting colonialism in our country,” Gordon said.
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6 comments:
Finally! A bill that makes sense. It's about time that imperial Manila recognize the successful efforts of the mindanaoans in fighting the Spaniards. There are other provinces in the visayas who fought against the Spaniards as well, why not include those in the bill to even it all out to ten rays? (just suggesting)
And following the recognition should be support to our region, integration of our diverse culture to the mainstream Philippine culture, and compromises from both sides! I hope to see real peace and progress in Mindanao before my generation passes the torch on to the next one.
Yes Cat, there was a lot of injustices committed in the writing of our history. It really depends on who was the writer.
Take the case of Pikit alone. Only Mr. Gorgonio Initan was mentioned as District Mayor of Ladtingan District. Datu Tumindeg Sultan (father of the Mayor) was never mentioned as District Mayor of Balatikan District. And this was because the writer was Mrs. Luz Initan Aguilar (our Class Adviser in Grade V, Section 1).
In 1947 when Pikit lost its bid to become a regular town (instead it was Pagalungan that became a regular town in that year), the place was rather divided into two districts. All the areas on one side of the Cotabato-Davao highway belong to Ladtingan District and those on the other side belong to Balatikan District.
I started to rewrite the history of our town to put it into the right perspective. I had accessed some of the most comprehensive sources like the writings of Prof. Rudy Rodil - a noted historian of Mindanao; the writings of Atty. Samuel Ferenal; the Philippine Commission for Mindanao; and the 1952 Cotabato Guidebook, which mentioned Datu Tumindeg Sultan as District Mayor of Balatikan District before he became Mayor of Pagalungan in 1952-1954. Mayor Sumulong Sultan was born in 1952.
Mr. President-
Wow, thank you for information. There is really a need to rewrite our town's history. Anyhow, history is always influenced by the author's viewpoints. It's understandable for authors to have some amount of bias. Ideally it shouldn't but in reality, it does. Maybe because they have limited resources at the time that they were writing the book, that's why.
I for one will be very interested in the history of Pikit. I have read one book on the history of the empire province of Cotabato when I was in fifth grade out there at Pikit Central. I remember digging through a pile of "obsolete" books and there was a hard bound one about an inch thick. It was written by an American author.
Unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of the author nor the title of the book but I remember the color of the book was red and cream; there were several pictures of Pikit in that book. I was wondering why it was in the pile of discards when it talks about Pikit, Pagalungan and all that. It would have been a good resource, sayang...
Good to know that you are writing the history of our town. You are going to be a very credible source from within because you are in the area and you can have access to first hand information and literatures left by those who passed on. I support that idea wholeheartedly and look forward to its realization in the not so distant future.
If I may suggest, Sir, please document everything going on out there as well so that one day, you or anyone else who cares enough, may continue to write the recent history of our town. Anything with historical significance will always be interesting to people at some point.
If I can be of help in the process, don't hesitate to shoot me an email. I may know some people who can help out with publishing, PR and things like that. I can also set up a website that will review the book and campaign for people's support to the book. Given some materials, I don't mind making some professional slides about the book that I can save on a disk and send to you so you can use it as you launch the book.
You have my full support on this undertaking and I wish you all the best. Good luck!
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