Del Pilar rites in Bulacan scaled down due to heavy rains
BULAKAN, Bulacan — Officials scaled down Sunday’s commemoration of the 176th birth anniversary of Filipino hero and journalist Marcelo H. del Pilar due to continuous heavy rains brought by the enhanced southwest monsoon, or habagat.
The 8 a.m. program at the Marcelo H. del Pilar Shrine in Sitio Cupang, Barangay San Nicolas, was canceled and replaced with a simple wreath-laying ceremony at the hero’s monument.
“Due to the weather disturbance, the originally planned commemorative program will not push through. Instead, a simple flower wreath offering will be prepared at the Marcelo H. del Pilar Monument … as a gesture of remembrance and respect for our great Bulakenyo hero,” the municipal government said in an advisory.
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Guests may still visit the shrine to pay tribute to Del Pilar. Commission on Elections Chair George Erwin Garcia was scheduled to serve as guest of honor and speaker.
The annual Aug. 30 commemoration dates back to 1984, when local officials, residents and journalists organized a grand civic parade to welcome Del Pilar’s remains to his hometown after they were repatriated from Spain.
Del Pilar, born on Aug. 30, 1850, in Bulakan, was a lawyer, writer and editor who became known as the Father of Philippine Journalism. He spent his final years in Spain editing and publishing La Solidaridad, using funds sent by his family to sustain the reformist newspaper.
He died of tuberculosis in Barcelona on July 4, 1896, and his remains were brought back to the Philippines in 1920 before being buried in his hometown.
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Del Pilar’s birth date was declared National Press Freedom Day under Republic Act No. 11699, which was signed into law in 2022.
The annual civic parade was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been revived despite the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
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Del Pilar’s writings and advocacy for reforms, equality and freedom during Spanish colonial rule helped shape the reform movement that preceded the Philippine Revolution.
In last year’s commemoration, then Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro described Del Pilar as a champion of human rights and urged Filipinos to defend their rights and dignity. /das
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