IN Indonesia, part of the discourse is the legacy of President Joko Widodo who expressed hope on the Ascension of Jesus Christ Day (May 9) that the values of love would motivate Indonesian Christians to be more persevering in preserving national unity and harmony among the nation’s diversity. [https://en.antaranews.com/news/312999/president-hopes-ascension-day-inspires-christians-about-values-of-love] In Japan, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa reacted angrily to American congressional testimony that appeared to validate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15263407] In South Korea, the Sejong City government is commemorating the 627th birthday of King Sejong the Great, the fourth monarch of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty who invented Hangeul, the Korean writing system. [https://wwwa.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/05/281_374393.html#]
‘In Rizal’s native land, the kickoff ceremony for this year’s National Heritage Month was held at the Kiangan Memorial Shrine, Ifugao during the Gotad Ad Kiyangan Festival…’
In Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek’s legacy is still fervently debated: a Democratic Progressive Party legislator challenged the government on its slow progress over the more than 700 statues that are still standing, while Shih Pu (an official with the Executive Yuan’s Department of Human Rights and Transitional Justice) said part of the issue was that many of the statues were on military sites, which did not want to remove them. [https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2024/05/07/2003817483]
Still in East Asia, the first Mongolian Postage Stamps “Eldev Ochir” and the “Family Chart of Hereditary Lords of the Khalkha Mongols, the House of Chinggis Khaan” were registered in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Region List of Documentary Heritage. [https://montsame.mn/en/read/343539] In North Korea, staff members of the Russian embassy in Pyongyang laid a wreath at the Liberation Tower on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. They also laid a wreath and bouquets at the cemetery of fallen fighters of the Soviet Army in Sadong District and visited statues of Soviet soldiers and cemeteries in regional areas. [www.kcna.kp (Juche113.5.10.)]
In Rizal’s native land, the kickoff ceremony for this year’s National Heritage Month was held at the Kiangan Memorial Shrine, Ifugao during the Gotad Ad Kiyangan Festival in partnership with the Local Government of Kiangan represented by Mayor Raldis Andrei Allaga Bulayungan. This is also where the war criminal Yamashita Tomoyuki surrendered to the Filipino-American Forces at the conclusion of World War II. Yamashita and the remnants of the Japanese Imperial Army were pressured by the unrelenting onslaught of the combined United States Army units and the “Philippine guerrilla movement in Kiangan’s forested and once-entrenched Nabulaguian Hill. After almost a month of bombardment, General Yamashita eventually yielded to the Allied Forces on 02 September 1945 at the old Kiangan Central School. The 66th Infantry Regiment which captured General Yamashita consisted of Igorot fighters.” [https://pvao.gov.ph/military-shrines/bantatog-ng-kiangan/] So much more to celebrate: 106th birth anniversary of National Artist Nicomedes “Nick” M. Joaquin (aka Quijano de Manila) who published lyrical translations from Spanish of the poems of Jose Rizal, chronicled the high life and low life of Manila’s politicos and starlets, and wrote brilliant short stories (“Guardia de Honor” and “The Summer Solstice”). [https://rmaward.asia/awardee/joaquin-nick]
(1) The PUP Nemesio Prudente Freedom Park salutes former Polytechnic University of the Philippines president Nemesio “Doc” Encarnacion Prudente, “that rare brand of educator and administrator who was able to combine order with change, establishment and activism, and reform and revolution.” [https://bantayogngmgabayani.org/bayani/nemesio-prudente/]
(2) At the Ilocos Norte tourist spot of La Paz Sand Dunes, 85 square kilometers of protected sandy coastal desert and beach in Laoag, a rifle company of US Marines of the 3rd Littoral Combat Team and 4th Marine Brigade troopers (PN-M) demonstrated operational reach in simultaneous missions during Balikatan 39-2024. [https://www.marforpac.marines.mil/Media-Room/Pacific-Marines-Stories/Article/Article/3769141/philippine-us-forces-demonstrate-flexibility-operational-reach-in-simultaneous/]
(3) The NHCP Exhibit for the 149th birth anniversary of Gregoria de Jesus at the 8th Floor Lobby of Caloocan City Hall (South) features the noble deeds of Mrs. Andres Bonifacio.
(4) The Pi Sigma-CMC marker “Dap-Ay para sa Malayang Pamamahayag” marked World Press Freedom Day, dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss, and air pollution). [https://www.un.org/en/observances/press-freedom-day]
In addition to Ka Oryang, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines also honored Tandang Sora, Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo, and Josefa Llanes Escoda, among others, for this year’s Mothers’ Day. How about the victims of Tokyo’s wartime military sexual slavery system? More “Malaya Lolas” or former comfort women will be included in the social pension program for senior citizens of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, according to Social Welfare Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Attached and Supervised Agencies Elaine Fallarcuna. The social pension is given to any elderly, aged 60 years and above, who is frail, sickly, or with a disability, and without a pension or permanent source of income, compensation, or financial assistance from his or her relatives to support his or her basic needs. The DSWD official also said that there were originally 24 members of the “Malaya Lolas” but the number is now down to 18 as of April 12. [https://malaya.com.ph/news_news/233478/]
Given that this is about heritage, we might as well append International Workers’ Memorial Day (28 April each year): “A time to remember those who have died either because of a workplace accident, ill health or diseases as a result of work.” Hold a minute’s silence, then invite safety professionals to carry out a building inspection to shine a light on what needs improving. Remember the dead, Fight for the living! [https://www.unison.org.uk/unison-health-and-safety/health-safety-campaigns/international-workers-memorial-day/]
The United Nations also marks 28 April every year as the World Day for Safety and Health to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. The World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization estimated that work-related diseases and injuries resulted in 1.88 million deaths in 2016. [https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/detail/27-04-2024-world-day-for-safety-and-health-at-workplace]
