To celebrate the country’s Independence Day, the Metro Rail Transit is giving free rides to commuters who will ride the railway during the rush or peak hours tomorrow.
MRT-Line 3 on Thursday announced that those who will ride the railway from 7 a.m to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on June 12 do not need to pay for their fares.
It is the transportation department’s way to commemorate the country’s 123rd anniversary of the proclamation of Independence Day.
MRT-3 is the railway that follows the route of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or EDSA, the metro’s main thoroughfare.
The country used to celebrate its independence on July 4, the same date as the Americans who used to colonize the Philippines, but it was changed to June 12 by former President Diosdado Macapagal.
He noted that June 12, 1898 was the “true birthday of the Philippine nation” since it was on this date that the country showed its resolve to consider itself “absolved of allegiance to the Spanish crown,” the first colonizers of the Philipines.
The date also marks former President Emilio Aguinaldo‘s declaration of Philippine independence from the Spanish colonial rule in Kawit, Cavite.
June 12, 1898 likewise marked the period when the National Anthem was performed publicly for the first time. It was also the first time that the Philippine Flag was displayed.
