NATIONS throughout the globe revere their flags with utmost honor, passion and pride. This tradition is as old as when humanity invented the concept of formal society, or human cooperation for common survival. To achieve unity and a deep sense of patriotism, countries have all utilized the flag as their most important emblem.
In the Philippines, Filipinos learned to respect the red-white-and-blue banner from their childhood days, as schools had done their best to inculcate upon students the value of nationalism. Since the day Doña Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo presented the newly sewn flag and President Emilio Aguinaldo unfurled it to fly in Kawit, Cavite for the first time on June 12, 1898, Filipinos needed no law with concomitant punishment to show their reverence to the flag.
Now we have a law — Republic Act 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code — to institutionalize the way Filipinos and foreign guests should treat our flag. Further, the government issued Presidential Proclamation No. 374 on March 6, 1965 declaring May 28 of every year as National Flag Day. This is in observance of the victory of Filipino revolutionaries against the Spanish forces in the Battle of Alapan, Imus, Cavite on May 28, 1898.
To even emphasize the importance of this flag-waving day, Executive Order 79 was issued on May 23, 1994 extending the celebration of National Flag Day from May 28 to June 12, the Philippine Independence Day.
‘To us, disrespect for the Philippine flag should merit imprisonment — not just deportation — especially if the offense was committed by foreigners.’
Recently, four foreign tourists motoring in the south were reported to have pulled down the Philippine flag displayed at a military camp in Ternate, Cavite, ripped it to pieces, and threw it away. Reports said that on June 26, the foreigners, who were in a vehicle headed to Puerto Azul in Ternate, became upset after they got stuck in traffic. The suspects pulled over in front of the Marine Base Gregorio Lim in Barangay Sapang 1, where they removed the flag from its pole.
A soldier saw what happened and informed the police, who arrested Pakistanis Shmail Jalal, 36; Shaid Manzoor, 45, and Sharoon Manzoor, 29, and Romanian national Joan Oprescu, 36.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the foreigners were turned over by the Ternate police to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and are now facing deportation proceedings while detained at the BI detention facility in Bicutan, Taguig City.
“Foreign nationals staying here must respect our country and our laws,” Tansingco said. “Foreigners destroying symbols of our country show utmost disrespect and do not deserve our hospitality.”
To us, disrespect for the Philippine flag should merit imprisonment — not just deportation — especially if the offense was committed by foreigners. Other nations have more stringent punishments for such an offense.
In Sweden, any one insulting the king or any member of the royal family is punished with two years in prison. Insulting or burning the flag in France will get you six months in jail. In Denmark, it is two years while Germany’s three-year prison term is a more severe punishment. China recently criminalized the burning and insulting of its flag and national emblems.
The nation should be strict in implementing our flag laws, among Filipinos and foreigners alike. The flag is our primary symbol of nationhood and sovereignty and should be respected, if only for the memory of our heroes who gave their lives for the cause of freedom.
