Philippine Flag proposed by President Fidel Ramos
If flags are symbolic of nationhood and identity that seeks to represents the history and future of a country, then the current Philippine Flag fails dismally in representing the Bangsamoro's seven hundred years of existence and contribution to the Philippine history.
According to Wikipedia:
Each ray represents one of the first eight provinces that started the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, who wrote the Philippine Declaration of Independence and who read it on the occasion of its proclamation on June 12, 1898, has listed the eight provinces as Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga,Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, and Batangas.As you can see none of these listed provinces were in Mindanao which left me wondering 'wait a minute, didn't the moros fight Spain for over three hundred years?' I know there weren't twitter and facebook during Emilio Aguinaldo's time, but as the designer of the flag, it's too unreasonable to think that he didn't know the moros in the south fighting the spaniards. It is as though that the history of the Philippines only started in 1898 when these eight provinces revolted.
The reality is, Aguinaldo wasn't making a flag for a country that includes the Moros so we can excuse him for limiting the sun's rays to only eight. The Pilipinas of Aguinaldo is not the same of Philippines of today with its 'mula Apari hanggang Jolo' connotation.
But history has it that the Bangsamoros were illegally and immorally annexed to the Philippine islands by the Americans and you already know what happened.
The Philippine Flag has undergone evolution to accomodate symbolisms appropriate to its history but to this day I find it revolting that the Bangsamoro narrative is ever so absent in the very symbol of Philippine nationhood. We can excuse Aguinaldo but not the recent Philippine law makers and guardians of the Philippine narrative.
This can be explained by the policy of assimilation rather than accomodation where three centuries of untold sacrifices and heroism of moros to preserve their identity and religion are just ignored in several levels of Philippine scheme of things.
One can say that, yes, we have moved in history by signing of the Comprehensive Agreement for the Bangsamoro, but we have miles to go. In the meantime, don't expect me to raise the Philippine Flag soon in my balcony to celebrate Philippine Independence when I know that this very flag reminds me that I'm still not represented in it.
