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![[Flag of Philippines]](../images/p/ph-1898g.jpg)
by Manuel L. Quezon III, 9 January 2002
Philippines Free Press
HOW OUR FLAG FLEW AGAIN
June 9, 1956
The flag was prohibited for 12 years. Tears of joy were shed
when flag law was repealed
By Jose A. Quirino
ONE of the saddest events in Philippine history occurred on
September 6, 1907, the day the Filipino flag was proscribed. The
incidents which led to the first proscription of the Sun and Stars
(the public display of the flag was also prohibited during the early
part of the Japanese occupation) and the subsequent lifting of
such a proscription bear recalling.
By the time the first Philippine republic was proclaimed and by
the time the flag was proclaimed as the republic's political
symbol on June 12, 1898, almost all Filipinos realized the
importance of a national standard in united them in the fight for
independence.
Even with the establishment of a civil government by the
American authorities of the turn of the century, Filipinos still kept
their own versions of the national standard. Long before the Flag
Act was approved, the public display of the Filipino flag was
banned. Any person who used any button, pin, watch chain, or
trinket with the colors or design of the Philippine flag could be
prosecuted and incarcerated by the Constabulary.
The ban was an unwritten one, though according to international
customs and usage, the ruling power could formally proscribe
the display of the flag. But still, during the military occupation, the
display or possession of the flag was considered an act of
disloyalty, if not hostility, to the United States and its constituted
government in the islands.
Although the unwritten ban on the public use of the national
colors was relaxed after the establishment of a civil government,
many Filipinos hid or destroyed their national standard because
they did not want to be questioned by the authorities. The bolder
ones, however, began publicly displaying the national colors,
occasionally even during parades. This resulted in several
incidents which, finally, led to the formal proscription of the flag.
For example, during the campaign for the election of deputies to
the Philippine Assembly on July 30, 1907, political supporters
organized parades in which were displayed Filipino flags. In
several instances, the local banners were bigger than the
American flags and were displayed at the right side of the latter.
Then, during a public celebration in Caloocan, Rizal, a group of
patriots, shouted: "Down with the Americans! Out with the
Americanistas." This caused an uproar which embarrassed the
American community.
Such patriotic and revolutionary outbursts on the part of the
Filipinos prompted the newspapers to editorialize on the matter.
Members of the American community, on the other hand, held
public meetings demanding the formal proscription of the Filipino
flag.
The Manila Times, then an American newspaper, plugged for
tolerance on the part of the Americans. In its editorial of August
12, 1907, it observed:
"The Filipino flag and the Filipino anthem may not be to our
liking and may cause us a wry face in the swallowing, but
Washington apparently thinks they are not improper and it is
Washington which is running things in the Philippines: THE
PHILIPPINES FOR THE FILIPINOS."
El Renacimiento, the fighting periodical, took up the cudgels for
the Filipinos and their flag. In its August 21, 1907 editorial, the
paper declared:
"The prohibition of the flag is an offense to the people, we
repeat. The flag is the symbol of our ideal of liberty. To prohibit it,
is it not tantamount to an attempt against the most sacred of our aspirations?"
Governor General James. F. Smith's reaction to all of this was
one of understanding when he stated: "I am interested in the
welfare of the Filipino people, but I love and am interested in my
mother country, the United States. I wish to be tolerant, and when
the army authorities told me that such tolerance would be of evil
results in the future, I answered that we should not be very
exacting because the Filipino flag symbolized an ideal bathed in
blood and tears."
On August 23, 1907, members of the American community held
a meeting at the Manila Grand Opera House and passed a
resolution urging the proscription of the Filipino flag. On
September 6, 1907, the Philippine Commission passed Act No.
1696, common known as the Flag Law, entitled: "An act to
prohibit the display of flags, banners, emblems, or devices used
in the Philippine islands for the purpose of rebellion or
insurrection against the authorities of the United States and the
display of Katipunan flags, banners, emblems, or devices and
for other purposes."
According to the late Major Emmanuel A. Baja, one of our most
noted authorities on the Filipino flag, 13 bills and one resolution
were drafted from 1908 to 1914 to repeal the Flag Law. Five of
these were passed by the Philippine Assembly while the rest
were pigeonholed. The Philippine Commission, however, did
not act on the five bills passed by the Assembly.
Ban Scrapped
After the creation of a Philippine legislature consisting of an
upper and lower house, attempts to abrogate the Flag Law
fizzled out.
On October 6, 1919, after the first World War, Speaker Sergio
Osmeña, then vacationing in Japan, wrote Senate President
Manuel L. Quezon and said, among other things: "In view of the
fact that circumstances have totally changed, I believe that the
occasion has come to submit again to the governor-general the
question of our flag, that he may be persuaded this time to
withdraw his objection to the repeal of the law which prohibits its
use."
Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison, a man who was sympathetic
toward the Filipino cause, urged the repeal of the Flag Law in his
17th annual message to the Legislature. That same day,
October 16, 1919, Senator Rafael Palma, taking a cue from
Harrison's message, sponsored House Senate Bill No. 1
scrapping the ban on the flag. The senators crossed party lines
and the bill was passed. The following day, October 17, the bill
was sent to the House of Representatives. The fiery solon from
Batangas, Rep. Claro Mayo Recto, delivered a speech on the
floor in behalf of the Democrats and declared: "The ancient people used to mark with a white or black stone
the lucky or unlucky events that came to alter the placidness of
their primitive and simple life...This day should certainly be
marked with a white stone in the annals of our country, privileged
quarry in the world; because on this day, gentlemen, the
representatives of the people, in the exercise of their high
attributes and prerogatives, will resolve unanimously that there
be hoisted, never again to lower down, very high in space, where
it may be kissed by the sun or caressed by the storms, and
where it may not be reached by the mud splatter of our journey or
the noise of our petty grudges, that immortal banner, blessed
among all."
The bill repealing the Flag Law was approved in both houses
and became Act No. 2871 on October 22, 1919. On October 24,
1919, Harrison issued Proclamation No. 18 setting aside
October 30, 1919 as a public holiday to be known as "Flag Day."
(Since then there have been other flag days such as May 28 and
June 12. Latest, however, is the observance of Flag Day on June
12 of every year in accordance with a proclamation issued by the
late President Quirino.)
Filipinos all over the country rejoiced over the repeal of the Flag
Law and expressed their joy by holding parades and programs.
Every house "blossomed" with replicas of the national standard.
Even the trees were decorated with small flags.
Center of the celebration was Manila where people shouted with
joy and the children waved the national colors. Jose P. Bautista,
Manila Times editor, told this writer that there was one incident
which marred the festivities when one American tried to haul
down a Filipino flag at the Luneta. The culprit was arrested by the
police.
On October 27, 1919, Gen. Aguinaldo, who was then sick and
confined in the Philippine General Hospital, wrote Senate
President Quezon for the honor of bearing the flag during the
main program to be held on the occasion of Flag Day, October
30. But Quezon denied the request of the Grand Old Man of the
revolution and was severely criticized by the newspapers for
refusing to grant what one paper termed "a very reasonable
request and which the old general deserves."
The Cablenews-American, in its issue of November 1, 1919,
reported: "The presence of a delegation of marines and sailors
(in Cavite) together with a band from the Naval Base contributed
much to make the occasion more impressive. The American and
Filipino flags were hoisted simultaneously by the Provincial
Governor and the Commandant of the Naval Base respectively,
while the Marine Band played. The celebration was made still
more impressive by the fact that the Filipino Flag which was
hoisted was a historic one, it being the second Filipino Flag
made, the one used by the battalion of General Trias during the
revolution."
It is said that many people shed tears of joy when the Filipino
flag was publicly displayed after 12 long years (1907 to 1919) of
proscription.
Located by Manuel L. Quezon III, 13 March 2002
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