Today in History : March 24th

On this date in...

1891: Birth of Mons. Gabriel M. Reyes. Gabriel is the Archbishop of Manila from 1949 to 1952. He entered St. Vicent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro, during the time of Bishop Frederick Rooker. He was ordained a priest on March 27, 1915. He established parochial schools and published the officer newspaper, Diaro-Kanbuhi Sar Banua. In 1920 he became Chancellor of Jaro, then vicar-general, later appointed the first Filipino Archbishop of Cebu in 1934. He was installed Archbishop of Manila on October 14, 1949, the first Filipino in the post. Died on October 10, 1952, in Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C.

1901: General Aguinaldo and his two fellow prisoners, Drs. Villa and Barcelona, try to persuade the Macabebe soldiers in charge of giving them food to join them in turning the tables on Funston, but some of the Macabebes refused to cooperate and the plot failed.

1920: Act No. 2922 of the Philippine Legislature (under the Jones Law) entitled “An Act granting a life pension to General Emilio Aguinaldo,” is approved.

1934:  The Tydings-McDuffie Act (officially the Philippine Independence Act; Public Law 73-127)  was approved. Provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence (from the United States) after a period of ten years. World War II intervened, bringing the Japanese occupation between 1941 and 1945. In 1946, the Treaty of Manila (1946) between the governments of the U.S. and the Republic of the Philippines provided for the recognition of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands.

2001: Roselle Ambubuyog, a blind young lady, tops 2001 Ateneo de Manila graduates as Summa Cum Laude and class valedictorian. Ambubuyog, blinded for 15 years, proven that physical disability is not a hindrance in excelling and in learning. Roselle is the first visually-impaired Filipina to become summa cum laude at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Today in History : March 12th

On this date in...

1907: The Partido Independiente Immediata and Union Nacionalista are fused into the Nacionalista Party.

1946: President Sergio Osmeña creates the National Urban Planning Commission to coordinate the reconstruction and development of urban areas throughout the Philippines.

2001: Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Esmail D. Kiram is proclaimed new sultan of Sulu and North Borneo at the Sulu State College upon the recommendation of the Ruma Bichara and the Council of Datus. Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Esmail D. Kiram is proclaimed new sultan of Sulu and North Borneo at the Sulu State College upon the recommendation of the Ruma Bichara and the Council of Datus. He is the 37th in an unbroken line of succession beginning with Sharif-al-Hashim in 1450.

Today in History : February 4th

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1899: Hostilities broke out after two American privates on patrol killed three Filipino soldiers in San Juan, a Manila suburb. This incident sparked the Philippine-American War, which would cost far more money and took far more lives than the Spanish–American War. Some 126,000 American soldiers would be committed to the conflict; 4,234 Americans died, as did 16,000 Filipino soldiers who were part of a nationwide guerrilla movement of indeterminate numbers. At least 34,000 Filipinos lost their lives as a direct result of the war, and as many as 200,000 may have died as a result of the cholera epidemic at the war's end. Atrocities were committed by both sides.

2001: The town officially became a component city following the ratification of Republic Act 8990 authored by Pampanga Second district Rep. Oscar Rodriguez in a plebiscite from the previous day. Dr. Rey B. Aquino was the city's first mayor. The ratification of Republic Act 8990 made the City of San Fernando the 99th city of the Republic of the Philippines.

2006: About 30,000 people had gathered outside the PhilSports Stadium to participate in the first anniversary episode of the popular ABS-CBN early afternoon television game show, Wowowee. It was scheduled at 1 pm. The soccer stadium was supposed to be the viewing area of people who were not able to enter the basketball stadium, where the program was supposed to be staged. The size of the crowd was significantly larger than the usual 5,000 who attended previous recordings. At about 6 am, the stampede started when organizers of the show began handing out tickets to people in the crowd, many of whom had been camping outside the stadium for days to acquire them. The stampede killed 71 people and injured some 392 people. Most of the victims were middle-aged or elderly women.

Today in History : January 20th

On this date in...

1942: During World War II, Japan's Congress grants the Philippines the "honor of independence" on the condition that the Filipinos collaborate in the promotion of the Co-Prosperity Sphere.

1947: Erbito Salavaria was a retired Filipino professional boxer who was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Philippines. He was known as the one of Asia’s best during the 70’s in the flyweight division.

1984: Toni Gonzaga was born in Taytay, Province of Rizal, Philippines. She is a Filipina commercial model, singer and an actress. She had been participating in various singing competitions since she was seven and finally entered the showbusiness at the age of thirteen when she became a contestant in a singing competition.

2001: the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant. Arroyo was sworn in on the same day as the 14th president of the Philippines by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. In her speech before the people at EDSA, Arroyo reiterated the following principles that her administration will pursue: being bold in national ambition to win the fight against poverty; improve the moral standards of government and society to provide a strong foundation for good governance; change the politics of personality and patronage to a politics of to a new politics of party programs and process of dialogue with the people; promote leadership by example and solid traits such as work ethic and a dignified lifestyle, matching action to rhetoric, and performing rather than grandstanding; pursue an economic philosophy of transparency and private enterprise and extend the opportunities to the rural countryside.

Today in History : January 19th

On this date in...

1886: Voluntary migration of natives to the Philippine island of Palawan is encouraged by a royal decree issued by the Spanish colonial king; incentives include exemptions from payments of tax and dues to public treasury, free passage, land gratis (three hectares), etc.

1982: UnionBank was formed as a government-owned commercial bank, the result of a merger between Union Savings and Mortgage Bank and Bancom Development Corporation, one of the leading development banks in the Philippines at the time and the parent of Union Savings and Mortgage.

2001: the Armed Forces of the Philippines, seeing the political upheaval throughout the country, decided to withdraw its support from the president(Joseph Estrada) and transfer its allegiance to the vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Today in History : January 1st

On this date in...

1892: Manuel Acuña Roxas was the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines(third republic). He served as president from the granting of independence in 1946 until his abrupt death in 1948. His term as Philippine president is also the shortest; 1 year 10 months and 18 days.

1899: Emilio Aguinaldo was declared the President of the Philippines - the only president of what would be later called the First Philippine Republic. He later organized a Congress at Malolos, Bulacan to draft a constitution.

2001: MTV Asia becomes MTV Philippines, a localized version of the all time favorite cable channel, through NBC UHF Channel 41. It was the only MTV channel being localized and aired for free in an Asian country.