COVID-19 reshapes celebration of Negros Occidental’s 1898 victory vs Spanish colonizers
BACOLOD CITY—There would be no mass gatherings in Negros Occidental and this city on Thursday (Nov. 5) to commemorate the day Negros folk defeated Spanish colonizers in 1898 amid what the province’s governor said was the fight against another enemy, COVID-19.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the provincial government wanted to protect the people against a new, deadlier invader—SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and is transmitted mainly by humans.
Lacson said the provincial government will instead distribute P100,000 to every Negros centenarian.
Merlie Garcia, provincial social welfare officer, said the provincial government had listed at least 30 centenarians.
Lacson, however, said the importance of Nov. 5 for the province has not been diminished by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today, we are called not to rise up in arms but to fight in an entirely new manner,” said Lacson.
“The virus seeks nothing but to multiply and destroy and it is relative upon us how to break its spread and chain of transmission,” he said.
“For the fight to be successful, we are called upon to exercise utmost self restraint, diligence and discipline,” he added.
On Nov. 5, 1898 Negros folk revolted against Spanish authorities in the province forcing the colonizers to surrender after seeing armed Negrenses marching on Bacolod.
The revolutionaries were led by Gen. Juan Araneta from Bago and Gen. Aniceto Lacson from Silay. They were actually carrying fake guns made of palm fronds and cannons made of rolled bamboo mats painted in black.
The deception worked. In the afternoon of Nov. 6, Spanish Col. Isidro de Castro signed the Act of Capitulation, which ended Spanish rule in Negros Occidental.
The event is celebrated in the province every Nov. 5 as the day the people of Negros bluffed their way to victory and freedom against Spanish colonization.
“History is replete with stories of wars, losses and victories but seldom do we hear of bloodless uprisings won by revolutionaries carrying fake firearms” said Lacson.
“Right now, we are again in the middle of a war, not against conquistadores, but against an unseen and novel enemy, the COVID 19. This time, we are fighting together with the entire humanity,” he added.
November 5 has been declared a special non-working holiday in the province by Republic Act No. 6709 signed by the late President Corazon Aquino on Feb. 10, 1989.
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