By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
The province of Negros Occidental celebrated Cinco de Noviembre on Saturday, November 5, commemorating the end of Spanish rule in Negros in 1898.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson led the celebrations with a flag-raising ceremony in Bacolod City, followed by a short program commemorating the historic bloodless revolution.
In his speech, Lacson said more than 120 years after victory and freedom was secured in the most ingenious and courageous manner, the province remains proud and resolutely grateful for what the heroes of Negros accomplished, notwithstanding the impossibility of circumstances.
“It is my ardent hope that as we celebrate the victories of our past, we will find renewed meaning, resolve, and inspiration to unite and work together to achieve our common goal as a people and as a nation,” he said.
The event was celebrated particularly at the Provincial Capitol Grounds in Bacolod City, and in the province’s cities of Bago and Silay.
Meanwhile, a wreath-laying ceremony was then held at the monument of General Juan Araneta, led by city officials and Araneta’s descendants, at Bago City Public Plaza.
The celebration was followed by the Sigabong sang mga Kanyon contest, which hailed Cluster 5 —comprising the city villages of Pacol, Sagasa and Bagroy — as champion.
The first runner-up was Cluster 7, comprising the villages of Taloc, Calumangan and Sampinit.
In Silay City, Mayor Joedith Gallego led a parade to the Locsin Ancestral House — the site where the Negrense revolutionaries planned the revolution against Spain.
Cinco de Noviembre is also known as the “bloodless revolt” as the Negrense revolutionaries used coconut fronds as “rifles” and rolled bamboo mats as “cannons” to trick the Spanish authorities into surrender.
The revolt was led by Araneta, who led Filipino forces in the southern part of Negros, and General Aniceto Lacson, who led the northern forces.
The revolution later resulted in the establishment of the short-lived Republic of Negros with Aniceto Lacson as its president./DGB, WDJ