PH, US mark ‘Friendship Day’

From the Manila Standard Today (Jul 4): PH, US mark ‘Friendship Day’

AS the country marks the 52nd Filipino-American Friendship Day today, Vice President Jejomar Binay asked the United States government to grant temporary protection status to Filipinos who survived or have relatives affected by super typhoon “Yolanda” last November.

“Today we celebrate the bond of two nations whose kinship is rooted in the ideals of freedom and democracy and built on mutual respect and cooperation,” Binay, concurrent presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, said on Thursday.

The Philippines 4th. Old photographs
show the ceremony at the Luneta
where the US flag was pulled down
as that of the Philippines was raised
on July 4, 1946. Days before,
Filipino socialites gathered at
Malacañan Palace to put the
finishing touches on the US flag
that was used in the ceremony.

“As we celebrate this long-standing alliance, I hope that as an act of goodwill, the United States government will grant Temporary Protection Status to our [countrymen] currently working in the US who were or have relatives affected by super typhoon Yolanda,” he added.

Temporary protected status is an immigration condition where eligible nationals of designated countries are allowed to stay in the US temporarily because of ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster or other extraordinary and temporary condition in their home country.
So far, the seven countries under TPS are El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. The Philippines, along with Guatemala and Pakistan, are the countries seeking TPS for its citizens.
The vice president said the issuance of the TPS will allow Filipinos in the US to focus on providing for their families and rebuilding their lives without worrying about being removed from employment or deported back to the Philippines.
Binay said the humanitarian act will further cement and deepen the friendship between Filipinos and Americans which the country celebrates on the day the US officially withdrew from the Philippines in July 4, 1946.

The country’s Independence Day was celebrated in ceremonies held at the Independence Grandstand (a temporary structure built in front of the Rizal Monument) with the US flag was lowered and the Philippine flag was raised to fly alone over the islands.

According pre-World War II socialite Pura Kalaw, the last American flag to fly over the Philippines was specially-prepared by Filipino socialites, including three first ladies: Mrs. Manuel L. Quezon, Mrs. Sergio Osmeña and Mrs. Manuel Roxas.
After the ties at the Luneta, the flag was sent to the US as a souvenir from a former colony which, like the US, also celebrated its own independence day on July 4.

But after 16 years, President Diosdado Macapagal issued a proclamation in 1962 moving the date of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, the date Filipinos declared independence from Spain at Emilio Aguinaldo’s home in Kawit, Cavite in 1898.

In his proclamation, President Macapagal cited “the establishment of the Philippine Republic by the Revolutionary Government under General Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898, marked our people’s declaration and exercise of their right to self-determination, liberty and independence.”

 http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/07/04/ph-us-mark-friendship-day-/