Catbalogan City lines up Independence Day activities

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, May 29  -- This capital city of Samar province on Monday kicked off activities for the 120th Independence Day Celebration on June 12.

The city began the activities during the May 28 National Flag Day through a clean-up drive dubbed as “Pintakasi para kan Pepe”.

Pintakasi is a local term for collective effort to perform a task in the community while Pepe is the typical name of a male villager. Reigning local beauty queen, Mary Faith Voz Libres, led the clean-up event at the Rizal Monument.

“The Pintakasi for Pepe involves repainting of the Rizal Monument and cleaning of the city plaza as part of the city’s preparation for Independence Day,” said Ador Hurtado, chief of the city tourism, culture, arts and information office.

Catbalogan has a unique Rizal Monument erected at the city plaza and sculpted by local artist, Miguel Alcazar. The Rizal Monument has a bust of the national hero on top of his two famous novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, being lifted by three men.

The city also conducted a simultaneous display of the Philippine Flag and encouraged residents of the city to do the same until Independence Day.

Displaying the Philippine flag from May 28 to June 12 is mandated under Presidential Proclamation No. 374 signed on March 6, 1965 to celebrate the victory of the Philippine Revolutionary Army against Spanish forces in the Battle of Alapan in Imus, Cavite where troops led by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo recaptured the province of Cavite.

Hurtado said that aside from the pintakasi, the city government of Catbalogan also organized a contest for its residents, particularly the youth, to rekindle the desire to celebrate Independence Day.

These contests include postcard-making dubbed, “Mga Hulagway ngan Siday tikang ha Catbalogan: A Literary Postcard-making Contest about Jose Rizal and the Philippine Independence” and the short video-making contest dubbed, “Katiglugaring: Vlogging Independence in 120 Seconds”.

These events are anchored on this year’s Independence Day theme, “Kalayaan 2018: Pagbabagong Ipinaglaban, Alay sa Masaganang Kinabukasan”, for amateur vloggers and videographers.

The contest will also honor the national hero Jose Rizal on its 157th birth anniversary on June 19. The city government has allocated cash prizes for the contest. Submission of entry is until June 10 at the city tourism, culture, arts and information office.

Catbalogan is 112 km. north of Tacloban City, the regional capital. Jesuit priests founded Catbalogan in 1616 and became the capital of the entire Samar Island. Today, the city is a major commercial area in Samar with a population of 103,879. (RTA/PNA)