Ilonggos celebrate Lopez--Jaena Day
Graciano Lopez-Jaena
Today, December 18, 2006, marks the 150th birth anniversary of the great Ilonggo hero, a famous writer and orator, Graciano Lopez-Jaena.
Graciano was born on December 18, 1856 to Placido Lopez and Maria Jacobe Jaena in Jaro, Iloilo City and history heralded him as the first reformist and the first among the Filipino patriots who dedicated their lives for freedom of the Philippines.
Oratory and Journalism were the tools with which he exposed colonial misrule in the Philippines.
His 150th birth anniversary will be feted with the groundbreaking of the P15 million worth Memorial Shrine in Fajardo Street, Jaro where the house in which the hero was born once stood.
The activity will be graced by Secretary Mike Defensor, who is the official representative of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said Mr. Demy Sonza, president of the Dr. Graciano Lopez-Jaena Foundation.
Sonza said that the shrine when completed will serve as a library museum that will house the memorabilia of Lopez-Jaena, and the works of other heroes and heroines of the Philippine revolution from Western Visayas.
Sonza said that the Graciano-Lopez Jaena Foundation, National Historical Institute, Department of Education and other institutions prepared several activities to commemorate the Ilonggo hero's 150th birth anniversary.
According to Sonza, the commemoration is a must, in order that Graciano's greatness will be etched out in the hearts of every Filipino especially the younger generation.
"The Filipinos should be made to understand and appreciate his greatness and the nobility of his contributions to the Filipino people's struggle for freedom," Sonza concluded.
(T.Villavert/PIA)