President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday morning led the flag raising ceremony in Lamitan town on Basilan island in the southern Philippines, marking the nationwide celebration of the country's 104th Independence Day.
It was the first time that a Philippine president presided over a flag raising ceremony in Mindanao in the south for the Independent Day, the ABS-CBN on-line news reported.
In her Independence Day message, the president appealed for " alleviating mass poverty, eradicating graft and corruption, putting a common front against international terrorism, setting moral standards in governance, and providing peace, justice, and sense of community, which is none other than national unity."
"There is a need for the Filipino people to commemorate the heroism and self-sacrifice of our forefathers in the struggle for independence," she said.
Arroyo also ordered the renaming of the Lamitan Hospital to Ediborah Yap Hospital in honor of the just-slain nurse who, with other hospital personnel, was taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf bandit group in early June last year.
Also in Lamitan, Arroyo honored on Tuesday the soldiers engaged in pursuit operations against the Abu Sayyaf group, and visited the wake of nurse Yap.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, House Speaker Jose de Venecia and several ranking government officials Wednesday led flag- raising ceremonies in Metro Manila, the national capital region.
Arroyo will deliver her Independence Day address on Wednesday afternoon.
It was on June 12, 1898, that Emilio Aguinaldo, the first Philippine president, raised the newly made Philippine flag.
(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2002)
