STATIVES

HOLST oF REPR

Republic of the Philippines WECEIVED
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES . JUL 2016
Batasan Hills, Quezon City pare:_274
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BY:

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session REeISTATION UNIT
BILLS AND INDEX SERVICE
ee
2092
HOUSE BILL No. 20

Introduced by ACT Teachers Party-List
Rep. ANTONIO L, TINIO and Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

On February 4, 2017, the country will commemorate the 118" anniversary of
the outbreak of the Philippine-American War.

The struggle waged by Filipinos to defend the freedom newly-won from Spain
and uphold the First Republic of the Philippines against the occupation forces of the
United States of America has been described as “one of the most heroic struggles
ever waged in modern times; a struggle waged against implacable odds and at
terrible cost.”

The war demonstrated Filipino solidarity and the resolute refusal to submit to
imperial aggression. Enjoying the overwhelming support of the people throughout
the archipelago, the armed forces of the First Republic, led by President Emilio
Aguinaldo, waged a fierce and determined war of resistance as the invading forces
launched major campaigns, notably in the provinces of Central Luzon, the llocos and
Cordillera, Panay and Eastern Visayas, Southern Tagalog, and Mindanao.

With their overwhelming military and economic advantages, the occupation
forces of the United States unleashed a brutal military campaign to suppress popular
resistance to the imposition of colonial rule. Thousands of Filipino combatants were
Killed in lopsided battles, and when Filipino forces shifted to guerilla warfare, the
invading forces turned their aggression on the general populace, employing a
scorched-earth policy, the forced displacement of civilian populations into



concentration camps, the use of water-boarding and other forms of torture, and the
indiscriminate killing of civilians, as in the 1901 campaign in Samar.

Even after the capture of Aguinaldo and the formal end of the war in April
1901, popular resistance to the imposition of U.S. colonial rule continued. Notable
leaders of these resistance movements, branded as brigands and common criminals
by the colonial government, included Faustino Guillermo and his new Katipunan,
Simeon Ola and the guerillas of Bicol, Papa Faustino and the Pulajanes of Leyte, Papa
Isyo of Negros, Apo Ipe of Bulacan, and Macario Sakay, who declared a Republika ng
Katagalugan in 1902. In Mindanao, Moro resistance to the U.S. occupation, marked
by the massacres of Bud Dajo in 1906 and Bud Bagsak in 1913, went unabated until
1916.

There are no definitive figures on the number of Filipinos who died as a result
of the war. One conservative estimate places the number of Filipino soldiers killed at
34,000 together with at least 200,000 civilian deaths directly or indirectly (mainly
through disease) brought about by the war. By comparing population figures before
and after the war, others have claimed that over one million Filipinos lost their lives
as a result of the conflict. Nevertheless, the Philippine-American War stands as one
of the bloodiest chapters in our nation’s history. Filipinos of the present generation
are charged with Rizal’s admonition “to forget not those who have fallen during the
night.”

Sadly, February 4 passes yearly with hardly an official acknowledgment of the
Philippine-American War and its tremendous significance in our history. Any
memory of the events, heroes, and martyrs of the war has nearly been obliterated
from the collective consciousness of our people. This bill thus seeks to declare
February 4 as a special working holiday to honor the memory of our ancestors, the
men and women who fought in the face of overwhelming odds and gave up their
lives to defend the ideal of a truly independent and sovereign Philippines. Their
sacrifice had been indispensable in the forging of the modern Filipino nation, and
every Filipino citizen owes them a debt of gratitude.

National commemoration of the Philippine-American War through the
remembrance of the patriotism and self-sacrifice of its heroes and martyrs will
reconcile us with our past, clarify our present, and point the way to our future,

For the foregoing reasons, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

EE

Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO Rep. in ae . CASTRO
ACT Teachers Party-List ACT Teachers Party-list



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

9192
HOUSE BILL No. 2002

Introduced by ACT Teachers Party-List

Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO and Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO

AN ACT
DECLARING FEBRUARY FOUR OF EVERY YEAR
AS "PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR DAY"

Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1, February 4 of every year is hereby declared as a special working holiday
to commemorate "Philippine-American War Day.” In Filipino, this holiday shall be
referred to as “Araw ng Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano.”

SECTION 2. The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education
shall ensure that appropriate activities are held in schools at all levels to
commemorate “Philippine-American War Day.”

SECTION 3. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines shall be
responsible for providing the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher
Education, and the general public with the necessary information to enable a
meaningful commemoration of “Philippine-American War Day.”

SECTION 4, Funds necessary for the implementation of this Act shall be drawn from
the current appropriations of the agencies concerned.


SECTION 5. If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act is held to be
unconstitutional or invalid, the validity of other sections herein shall not be affected
thereby.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in one (1) newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,