On Dec. 20, 1898, President Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree calling for the national commemoration of the death of Dr. Jose Rizal, two years after the national hero was executed by firing squad at Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park). —Marielle Medina, Inquirer Research
DID YOU KNOW: Rizal Day proclaimed in 1898
President Rodrigo Duterte stands in silence after laying a wreath at the Rizal Monument in Rizal Park, Manila, Saturday to honor the memory of the country’s national hero on Dec. 30, 2017. (Photo from Malacañang)