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By Go Bon Juan, Special to The Manila Times
Editor’s Note: The Sixth Dr. Jose P. Rizal
Awards for Excellence awarding ceremony will be held on June 14,
2008, 7 p.m., at the Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center on Anda and
Cabildo Streets, Intramuros, Manila.
When people mention Hong Kong in relation to the
Philippines, the 180,000 Filipino domestic helpers there almost
always come to mind. What some of them may have forgotten is that
Hong Kong played an important role during the Philippines’
revolutionary period a century ago.
The first Philippine flag was made in Hong Kong
by Marcela and Lorenza Agoncillo and Defina Herbosa Natividad on May
7, 1898. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo brought back this flag on his return
from Hong Kong and unfurled it when he declared our country’s
independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.
After the Pact of Biak na Bato was signed in
December 1897, Aguinaldo and his group were exiled to Hong Kong
where they established the famous Hong Kong Junta to continue the
struggle for independence.
Many revolutionary figures during that period,
in fact, stayed in Hong Kong for quite a time, including the
revolutionary government’s first diplomat, Felipe Agoncillo, and
the Chinese General of the Philippine revolution, Jose Ignacio Paua.
Even our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, lived in
Hong Kong from 1891 to 1892 where he worked as an ophthalmic
surgeon.
It was also in Hong Kong that Jose Ma. Basa
helped smuggle Rizal’s novel, Noli Me Tangere, to the Philippines.
Basa was exiled to the Marianas after the 1872
Cavite Mutiny but managed to escape to Hong Kong later.
At present, Hong Kong is home to three
Philippine historical markers. The marker at the site where Rizal
once held his clinic was unveiled in 1996 during the centennial of
his martyrdom. The other marker was installed at Rizal’s former
Hong Kong residence at No. 2 Rednaxela Terrace, No. 5 D’ Aguilar
Street on December 30, 2004. The third marker is found at Morrison
Hill Park in Wan Chai district, where the first Philippine flag was
made.
So next time we talk about Hong Kong, let us
remember its historical significance to our country. And don’t
forget to visit the three historical sites when you go there.
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