75th ARAW NG KAGITINGAN: A simple celebration of valor

Col. Medel Aguilar of the AFP Centcom presents to Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Cebu City North District Rep. Raul del Mar an exhibit at Plaza Independencia showing a bunk and some weapons to simulate a military camp. The exhibit is a way to honor the country’s war veterans.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

It was a simple yet meaningful celebration of Araw ng Kagitingan or the country’s Day of Valor in Cebu City on Sunday.

Around 300 public officials and war veterans sat side by side to watch a short program unfold along with the opening of an interesting exhibit of a simulated military camp.

But of the more than 100 city and barangay officials invited by the Cebu City Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission (CHAC), only three showed up to attend the 75th commemoration of Araw ng Kagitingan.

Aside from City Hall employees and department heads, only Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña along with Cebu City North district representative Raul del Mar and Day-as Barangay Captain Jerome Puerto attended the ceremonies at Plaza Independencia.

As a way to reward Puerto for being the only barangay captain to attend the event among the city’s 80 barangay chiefs, Osmeña announced that he will give P100,000 to Barangay Day-as.

“When nobody shows up, one shows up. Atoang hatagan og consideration para hinaot mauwawan ang uban,” Osmeña said.

(Let’s give consideration to the one who showed up in hopes that the others will be embarrassed.)

The mayor’s pronouncements caught Puerto by surprise as he did not expect a reward for his presence.

“Wala g’yud nako damha nga hatagan ta sa mayor (Osmeña) karong adlawa,” said Puerto, adding that he has made it a practice to attend all the city’s events whenever invited by City Hall or CHAC.

(I was not expecting Mayor Osmeña to give us a reward today.)

Puerto explained that other barangay captains who were unable to attend the ceremonies may have been too tired from attending a meeting of the Barangay League of the Philippines (BLP) in Manila.

CDN tried to get the comments of Association of Barangay Council (ABC) officials in the city but attempts to reach them failed.

Exhibit at Plaza Independencia

Yesterday’s event was attended by representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Cebu City, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command (Centcom), Boy Scouts of the Philippines and the Veterans Federation of the Philippines in Region 7.

As a tribute to veterans in Central Visayas, Centcom opened an exhibit in the plaza displaying an army bunk and some military weapons. The exhibit will be open to the public until Tuesday, April 11.

“Initiative ito ng Centcom to show our respect to the veterans and to make sure what they did before will be continued,” said Col. Medel Aguilar, assistant chief of the Unified Command Staff for Civil Military Operations.

Aguilar said that the exhibit is also meant to familiarize the public with what is inside military camps to erase the people’s fears.

“To make sure we are sending a right message that this is your army, this is your armed forces, and we are here to protect you. And also for the people to see what our soldiers are doing. For them to feel gaano kahirap (how hard it is). In a simple way, we are sending our message that we are ready to do our job,” Aguilar added.