BACOOR CITY, Cavite – After reliving last year the historical events that took place during the ratification of the Philippine Independence at the heart of this city, the city government is set to screen the documentary film “Agosto Uno, Kasaysayang Nakalimutan” (August 1, the Forgotten History) to celebrate the historical assembly’s 120th commemoration on Wednesday, Aug 1.
In a video teaser released Sunday, the documentary film top bills Cavite Vice-Governor Ramon ‘Jolo’ Revilla III as General Emilio Aguinaldo, who will offer the finer details of the historical Bacoor Assembly that happened on Aug. 1, 1898.
The film forms part of the city government’s continued efforts to highlight another significant event in the declaration of the country’s independence aside from the widely known and accepted ceremonial event that took place in Kawit town on June 12, 1898.
Although the historical Kawit event has paved the way for the needed document to establish a Republican country, “ang ugat ng ating Republika ay nandon sa papel na ginawa ng mga town mayors at pinirmahan ni General (Emilio) Aguinaldo noong Aug. 1 (1898) (The origin of the Republic was in the documents done by town mayors and signed by General Aguinaldo on Aug. 1, 1898, ” said Cavite Historian Dr. Emmanuel F. Calairo.
On that historical date, close to 200 “Presidente Mayor” or the local chief executives or mayors from different provinces of the Philippines trooped to Bacoor to take their oath of office and signed the ratified Declaration of Philippine Independence.
The film is meant to highlight this hidden part of history, “which should be shared to every Filipino, especially the youth,” said city mayor Lani Mercado Revilla.
“Ito ay isang mahalagang pangyayari sa kasaysayan ng ating bayan (at) ako po ay naniniwala na dapat itong isulat sa libro ng ating kasaysayan (This is an important event in our history and I believe it should be written in our history books), ” said National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chair Dr. Rene R. Escalante.
The film, which was shot entirely in the town of Kawit and the city of Bacoor, also stars Christian Bables as Apolinario Mabini.
This city, famed as the “Marching Band Capital of the Philippines”, is well known in the country’s revolutionary era when Father Mariano Gomez, the parish priest of St. Michael the Archangel Church here, was martyred along with two other Filipino priests. They were now known as the GOMBURZA prelates, who were executed by guillotine on orders of the Spanish colonial government for charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite mutiny.
But little is known that on Aug. 1, 1898, Bacoor played a significant role in the country’s history when it played host to an assembly where the proclamation of Philippine Independence was formally ratified.(Gladys Pino/PNA)
