|
BALANGA City, Bataan: Some 100 worn-out Philippine
flags were burned and its ashes buried Friday afternoon in a special
grave known as “Himlayan ng Watawat” constructed by the Bataan
police command at Camp Tolentino in Balanga City.
As a police squad rendered the
21-gun salute, Senior Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, Bataan police director,
and two officials of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) in
Bataan emptied the ashes of the flags from three earthen pots to a
deep round hole in the flag burial ground..
The GSP Bataan council is the
main sponsor of the project with the provincial police office
voluntarily providing the burial site.
Adult and children members of the
GSP, city and provincial officials of the Department of Education,
Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia 3rd of Balanga City and some police
officers attended the ceremony.
Lilia Reyes, GSP Bataan council
president, said they began the project three years ago when they
noticed that dilapidated flags were merely stored in bodegas and
some even made as scrubbing cloth that she noted were prohibited by
law.
“We have to give due respect to
our country’s flag and avoid its misuse,” she said.
Reyes said that Philippine flags
that are dilapidated, worn-out and with fading colors have to be
burned as provided by the country’s statute. She said that they
have appealed to schools and government offices to entrust to the
GSP Bataan council unserviceable flags.
“The worn-out flags should be
taken out from their poles and replaced with new ones,” the
council leader said. She said that on the first and second years,
they collected and burned 76 flags. It was not known where the ashes
were kept.
The flags were cut into small
pieces and brought by Girl Scouts to the makeshift furnace where
Gaerlan torched them. As the flags were set into flames, the song
Bayan Ko was heard in the background as Girl Scouts and officials
stood watch.
Before setting the flags on fire,
Dr. Anita de Dios, City of Balanga Division supervisor, with the
assistance of some Girls Scouts, showed the evolution of the
Philippine flag from the KKK to the present one.
--Ernie B. Esconde
|
