On Flag Day, use of pop icons urged to spread patriotism

Flags flutter in the breeze in this file photo, stirring pride in Filipino hearts. National Flag Day was celebrated yesterday, commemorating the waving of the tricolor in Cavite City by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, to mark the victory of Filipinos on that day in the Battle of Alapan in Imus, Cavite.

BAGUIO CITY—Use pop culture references, like the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean,” interactive visual and sound effects, as well as more recent events like the takeover of the Oakwood hotel in Makati by a group of rebel soldiers, to help today’s young people appreciate the country’s revolutionary struggle for independence.

So suggested Emilio Aguinaldo Suntay III, a great-grandson of the first president of the Philippine republic General Emilio Aguinaldo, during Monday’s National Flag Day celebration at the Aguinaldo-Suntay family’s Emilio Aguinaldo Museum in this city.

Suntay said the “Pirates” movie featured a black crossbones flag on the mast of the cinematic ship, which resembled one of the banners wielded by the Katipuneros during the Philippine Revolution of 1898.

Take that particular information to the youth and it may help reintroduce to them the virtue of patriotism, he said.

The information could also help a new generation champion the original Philippine flag, which is now under the care of the Suntay family in the summer capital.

The original flag has a sun in the middle that features a human face. Stitched in gold thread is the phrase “Fuerzas Expedicionarias del Norte de Luzon” on one side of the flag and the words “Libertad” and “Justicia” on the other.

The family has taken custody of the old flag on behalf of Aguinaldo’s daughter, Cristina, who discovered it tucked under the hero’s death bed in 1964.

The badly-frayed flag, however, has deteriorated beyond repair, leading the Suntay family to lament that today’s youth may be the last generation to see the authentic revolutionary flag.

Acknowledging that today’s youth need to understand the legacy of the original flag, Suntay has converted the Aguinaldo Museum into an interactive showroom depicting the story of the Philippine Revolution through artworks, as well as visual and sound effects.

Evelyn Tadeo, a teacher at Baguio City National High School, similarly used pop culture to explain historical accounts when she read a paper on the revolution’s numerous flags at yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony.

Tadeo noted that the skull and crossbones on the flag featured in the Johnny Depp’s movie were those of Gen. Mariano Llanera’s flag in Nueva Ecija.  Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon