Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
President Manuel Quezon ritually climbs the stairs to claim the Palace for the Filipino people in 1935. PHOTO FROM MALACANANG.GOV.PH
I AM fascinated by presidential inaugurations because like religious rituals, state ceremonies need to be rich in symbols to evoke and remind the people of something that is abstract and unseen such as the concept of democracy. Like the flag and the national anthem, the presidential inauguration also reminds us that we are in one ship of state and that we should all get involved.