Rizal Day Celebrations:
Traditionally, the commemoration of Rizal day is led by the President of the Philippines to symbolize our nation’s gratitude to Jose Rizal (in the past, however, presidents have marked Rizal Day outside Manila or without participating in the rites in Manila). Each year, the Rizal Day celebration includes simultaneous wreath laying and flag raising ceremonies in different Rizal shrines, with the focal point being Rizal Park, where the flag is hoisted on the Independence Flagpole (marking the spot where the Independence Ceremony of July 4, 1946, was held) in front of the Rizal Monument. The ceremonies start at 7:00 a.m. with the flag raising timed to take place at 7:03 a.m. coinciding with the moment of the death of our National Hero.

75 ^th Anniversary of the National Language:
This year marks the 75 ^th year of the Proclamation of the National Language. In 1937, President Manuel L. Quezon, during the first ever radio address by a chief executive in the National Language, announced he had signed Executive Order No. 134, s. 1937 proclaiming a National Language for the Philippines. The executive order stated that the National Language would be based on the Tagalog language upon the recommendation of the National Language Institute. President Quezon read the Executive Order as part of his radio address and said that with the proclamation, the country had realized Rizal’s dream of having a National Language. As Rizal wrote in El Filibusterismo; “A language expresses the ideas and the ideals of a people”.  

Rizal 2012:
This year also marks the 100 ^th year since the remains of Jose Rizal were reinterred in the monument dedicated to him. In commemoration of this event, the Knights of Rizal in conjunction with National Historical Commission of the Philippines will reenact the funeral cortege from the Rizal family home in Binondo to the Rizal Monument, where the remains of the National Hero were solemnly interred in the foundations of the Monument which was completed a year later, in 1913. The President will lead the traditional flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies along with the symbolic reenactment of the entombment of Rizal’s remains.

In 1901, the Philippine Commission had approved the building of a monument in honor of Jose Rizal. Eleven years after the passage of Act No. 243 on December 30, the remains of Rizal were transferred from the house of the family of Rizal in Binondo, where they were kept after exhumation on August 17, 1898, to the base of the monument being constructed in the Luneta. Solemn ceremonies were held, attended by the members of the Rizal family, including the hero’s mother, Teodora Alonzo. The monument was finally completed in 1913 and now serves as both a shrine for the National Hero and as his final resting place?as well as Kilometer Zero.

In former times, Rizal Day was also Inauguration Day. Article VII, Section 4 of the 1935 Constitution designated December 30 as the end of the term of the President and Vice President of the Philippines and the start of the administration of their successors. Under the 1935 Constitution as amended, a total of seven Presidents and Vice Presidents were inaugurated on December 30. The following were:

• Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmena in 1941 (Corregidor)
• Elpidio Quirino and Fernando Lopez in 1949 (Independence Grandstand, now known as the Quirino Grandstand)
• Ramon Magsaysay and Carlos P. Garcia in 1953 (Independence Grandstand)
• Carlos P. Garcia and Diosdado Macapagal in 1957 (Independence Grandstand)
• Diosdado Macapagal and Emmanuel Pelaez in 1961 (Independence Grandstand)
• Ferdinand E. Marcos and Fernando Lopez in 1965 and 1965 (Independence Grandstand)

After Martial Law was imposed of September 23, 1972, and the ratification and the implementation of the 1973 Constitution, President Marcos took his oath of office for the third time but this time on June 30, which is also the date set in the 1987 Constitution. Still, Presidents Marcos (1981), Ramos (1992), and Aquino (2010) held their inaugurals at the Quirino Grandstand, which is where Presidents Estrada (1998) and Arroyo (2004) delivered their Inaugural Addresses.

The Quirino Grandstand faces both the Rizal Monument and the Independence Flagpole, symbolizing the continuity of our history, and our chief executives taking their oaths and delivering their first message to our people with our nation’s foremost hero as symbolic witness to this vital act in our constitutional democracy.

National Commemoration of Rizal enshrined in law:
The first instance that Rizal Day was celebrated was in 1898 when President Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree mandating the commemoration of Rizal’s death on December 30 of every year. This decree, dated December 20, 1898, was superseded when the United States established the Government of the Philippine Islands and enacted Act No. 345 on February 1, 1902, which designated Rizal day as a holiday for 1902 and subsequent years.

During the administration of President Elpidio Quirino, Republic Act No. 229 was enacted on June 9, 1948. It mandated a more reverent celebration of Rizal day thus banning cockfighting, horseracing, and Jai alai on December 30 of every year and the lowering of the National Flag to half-mast.

Eight years after the passage of Republic Act No. 229, President Ramon Magsaysay signed into law Republic Act No. 1425 mandating the inclusion of the Rizal’s life works and writings in the curricula of all schools. The law specifically said the Noli me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo are to be studied.

In 1987, Rizal day was also included in the list of holidays in the Administrative Code also known as Executive Order No. 292, s. 1987.

Timeline of the last days of Rizal
December 26, 1896 ? A Spanish court martial finds Jose Rizal guilty for sedition and sentences him to death.

December 28, 1896 ? It is decided that Rizal will be executed by musketry, Governor-General Camillo Polavieja confirms the sentence.

December 28, 1896 ? Teodora Alonzo writes the Governor-General asking for clemency for her son.

December 28, 1896 ? Rizal’s sisters go to Malacanan Palace to plead to Governor-General Polavieja for the their brother.

December 29, 1896 ? Rizal is read his death sentence.

December 29, 1896 ? Rizal is visited by several priests included Fr. Faura S.J.

Decemeber 29, 1896 ? Rizal writes his last letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt which read:

My dear Brother,

When you receive this letter, I shall be dead by then. Tomorrow at seven, I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion.

I am going to die with a tranquil conscience.

Adieu, my best, my dearest friend, and never think ill of me!

Fort Santiago , 29 December 1896

Jose Rizal

Regards to the whole family, to Sra. Rosa, Loleng, Conradito, and Federico.

I leave a book for you as my remembrance.

December 29, 1896 ? Rizal’s mother pays her final visit to her son accompanied by her daughter, Trinidad Mercado

December 29, 1896 ? Rizal’s sisters are allowed to visit him. He gives his possessions to his family.

• Narcisa ? Wicker Chair
• Angelica, niece ? Handkerchief
• Mauricio, nephew ? Belt, watch, and chain
• Trinidad ? Alcohol Burner with Mi Ultimo Adios

December 30, 1896, 6:30am ? Rizal is brought to the execution site from Fort Santiago

December 30, 1896, 7:03 a.m. ? Rizal is executed by musketry

December 30, 1896 ? after the execution Rizal’s body is brought to San Juan de Dios Hospital and buried in the Paco Cemetery in an unmarked grave