MalacaÑang on Friday said that cockfighting and any kind of gambling will be prohibited on Rizal Day celebration.

In a statement, Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that Republic Act 229 prohibits cockfighting, horse racing and jai alai on the 30th day of December of each year for the proper celebration of Rizal Day.

Lacierda added that violations by any citizen or institution will be punished in the form of fines or imprisonment under this law.

“The law strictly forbids cockfighting, horse racing, and jai alai games on this day, with criminal punishment in the form of fines or imprisonment or both, for any official, citizen, or public or private institution that violates this law,” he said.

Lacierda also said that all government bureaus must strictly follow the law which requires the Philippine flags to be lowered to half mast on the same day for the country’s hero.

“We remind our government bureaus of Republic Act 229, which requires of all institutions, public and private, to lower the Philippine flag to half mast in solemn commemoration of Dr. Rizal’s ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

Lacierda said that this year’s commemoration of Rizal’s sacrifice is also the 100th year of Rizal’s remains in the monument at Luneta, which was transferred from the home of the hero’s sister in 1912.

“On December 30, we enjoin Filipinos both at home and abroad to commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal. Chief among our pantheon of heroes, Dr. Rizal embodies the highest aspirations of Filipinos as a people and as a nation,’ he said.

“Rizal‘s devotion to truth, justice, and the civic virtues impelled him to deplore and expose the abuses of colonialism, resulting in his incarceration and eventual execution. It was through the gift of language and the written word that our national identity was formed: as the late Leon Ma. Guerrero described him, he was, indeed, the First Filipino,” he added.

Lacierda also said that on December 30 this year as well, the country also commemorate the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the National Language by President Manuel L. Quezon who, in the first radio broadcast by a President in the National Language proclaimed that day was “the fulfillment of the cherished aspiration of Rizal.”

The martyrdom of Rizal at Bagumbayan (today’s Rizal Park) was followed by the clandestine interment of his remains in Paco Park. Exhumed in 1898, his remains were kept by the Rizal family until December 30, 1912, in solemn rites, his remains were interred in the foundations of the Rizal Monument. Hence, this year also marks the 100th anniversary of the transfer of Rizal’s remains from the home of his sister to Luneta, where the Rizal Monument stands to perpetually honor his memory.