The province of Laguna unveiled the tallest Rizal monument in the world during the opening of Palarong Pambansa inside the Laguna Sports Complex in Sta. Cruz town.
The 7.9-meter bronze statue, which depicts Jose Rizal as a fencer, holds an épée and stands on a flight of stairs.
The stairs serve as the 1,000-square-meter-wide pedestal for the monument.
The P6-million statue beat the hero’s 6.7-m bronze monument in Calamba City that was unveiled by former President Benigno Aquino III for Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary in 2011.
May 11, 1992
The subprovince of Biliran became a province after the majority vote in a plebiscite ratified Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code.
Section 462 of the law ordered the conversion of subprovinces to provinces upon approval in a plebiscite. The municipalities of Biliran — Almeria, Biliran, Cabucgayan, Caibiran, Culaba, Kawayan, Maripipi, Naval — were previously under the jurisdiction of Leyte province.
Mainly an agricultural town, Biliran produces palay, coconut and root crops such as camote, cassava and “gabi” (yam).
Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research