Sweet independence

week, Rizaleños will be celebrating two “Independence Days.”

On Tuesday, June 12, they will join the rest of the nation in marking our 120th Independence Day.

A day before that, June 11, Rizaleños will celebrate the 117th anniversary of the founding of Rizal Province, an event which is also referred to as the province’s own “Independence Day.”

The story behind Rizal Province’s “Independence Day” is worth retelling. The story shares three lessons: first, that “independence” is a choice; second, it is also a responsibility; and third, that one has to prove that he or she deserves the “independence.”

Here’s the story from which those lessons are derived.

Before June 11, 1901, there was no Rizal province.

The towns and cities which would eventually become part of the province once belonged to two erstwhile provinces: the province of Manila and the province of Morong.

In February of 1901, the thenAmerican supervised government decided to re-draw the geopolitical subdivisions of the country and create a more civilian type of government. Based on historical narrations, more than 200 delegates to the Philippine Commission gathered to discuss and debate that subject matter.

One of the most heated debates was sparked by a proposal to merge the province of Morong with the province of Manila. The argument was Morong was not strong enough nor fit to be an independent entity. There were those who agreed with that position; there were others who opposed the proposal.

Among those who fought for an independent Morong province were two gentlemen who stood as giants in history of the province. One was Hilarion Raymundo, who once served as an officer of Philippine forces which fought against the Americans. The other was Jose Tupas who later became governor of what eventually became Rizal province.

Our elders say it would have been easy to capitulate to the pressure to unite Morong with Manila. Manila was then already the center of government and commerce. It would have been convenient for the people of Morong province to agree to live in the shadows of the bigger, richer neighbor.

Messrs. Raymundo, Tupas, and the other believers in independence, however, made a firm stand. Against major odds, they fought for an independent province.

On June 11, 1091, the Philippine Commission approved the creation of an independent province which was named after the man who inspired Philippine independence – Dr. Jose Rizal.

Messrs. Raymundo, Tupas, and the others who stoo d up against dependence on a richer, more powerful neighbor became the first Rizaleños.

Independence did not prove easy for the new province. It will be recalled that what started as a province with 29 municipalities was dismembered following the creation of Metro Manila in the late 1970s.

With the province’s richest municipalities and cities taken away to become part of a National Capital Region, cynics predicted that Rizal may end up as nothing more than a backward neighbor of the bustling metropolis.

They were proven wrong. The province, which survived with 13 municipalities and one component city, has performed perhaps beyond expectations.

Instead of allowing itself to be reduced to an independent but backward province, Rizal transformed itself into one of the richest, most competitive local government units, in the country today.

In 2017, it topped the list of the country’s most competitive provinces. The top honors mean that Rizal surpassed all others in the following criteria: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency.

The 2017 feat was a repeat of its top finish in 2016.

It is interesting that three of its “left-over” municipalities garnered a similar recognition, besting other first and second-class towns in the country in the Most Competitive category. These are the towns of Cainta, Taytay, and Angono, in that order.

At the risk of being accused of tooting one’s own horn, we have to put on record that Antipolo also tops the list of the country’s Most Competitive Component Cities.

There’s more. For several years now, Rizal has kept its hold on second place as the richest province in the country.

Dr. Rizal emphasized the need for the Filipino to prove that he is worthy of independence.

Perhaps, he meant to ask us what we intended to do with our independence. He probably meant to ask whether or not we saw independence both as privilege and responsibility.

The province named after him has answered the national hero’s questions well.

*For feedback, please email it to antipolocitygov@gmail.com or send it to #4 Horse Shoe Drive, Beverly Hills Subdivision, Bgy. Beverly Hills, Antipolo City, Rizal.