Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s order declaring June 9, instead of June 12 (Independence Day), as a non-working holiday, has trivialized the observance of the event marking the birth of the Philippine republic.

Urging Mrs. Arroyo to rectify the grievous error, Senator Pimentel assailed the President’ penchant for transferring the observance of holidays to other dates just to please certain sectors of society.

While acknowledging that there is a republic act that allows the President to move the observance of certain holidays to other dates, the minority leader said prudence dictates that a meaningful event such as Independence Day should not be moved cavalierly as if it is a day to celebrate father’s or mother’s day.

“Independence Day is the birthday of our country. Let us honor it as befits a free people on the day we were born as a nation: June 12, and not any other ill-conceived day that the ‘misgovernors’ in Malacañang fix for us,” he said.

Stressing that the President is cheapening the observance of Independence Day by her ill-conceived act, Senator Pimentel called attention to the fact that she has not and probably will not dare to transfer Christmas Day (December 25) to December 20 or 29.

It may be said, according to the senator, that Independence Day on June 12 is to Filipinos, the secular equivalent of December 25 birth of Jesus Christ to the Christians of the world.

“If Christ was born on Dec. 25 on a mission to save the sinners in the five continents of the world, the Republic was born on June 12 on a mission to unify the Filipinos of all religious creeds, political persuasions and societal standing into one democratic nation under the Rule of Law,” Mr. Pimentel said.

Senator Pimentel says that June 12 is, therefore, a holiday and a holy day to Filipinos, and should not be cheapened by transferring the observance to another day this year or next year or the future years.“If we have to sacrifice to celebrate it on that day, let us do so. The heroes and the martyrs of our country did not shed their blood to enable us to attain our independence – our birth as a nation – so that we can play around with it and do with it as the President wishes,” Senator Pimentel added. # # #