PEOPLE ARE confused with the re-scheduling of national holidays. With the notable exception of New Year?s Day (January 1) and Christmas (December 25), which are declared as non-working holidays on the exact dates, the other holidays can be moved. Some holidays are moveable, like Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter and Eid ul-Fitr, and these are also non-working holidays on the exact dates in a given year. But to provide long weekends for Filipinos and encourage local tourism, the non-working holidays of certain time-hallowed dates are moved to the closest Monday. For example, Rizal Day (December 30), Bonifacio Day (November 30), People Power Day (February 25), Ninoy Aquino Day (August 21), and even Independence Day (June 12) have been moved to the closest Monday.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a favorite punching bag for anything that goes wrong in the Philippines these days, and the moving of holidays and the so-called ?holiday economics? is blamed on her administration. Well, the moving of holidays has the force of law under RA 9492, ?An Act Rationalizing the Celebration of National Holidays.? It was approved by both Houses of Congress and signed into law by Arroyo in 2007. A return to the fixed, non-working holidays of our youth is not that simple; it cannot be done with the wave of a president?s pen. This change requires the repeal or amendment of RA 9492.

It?s only in the Philippines that we have regular holidays, special non-working holidays, special working holidays, and holidays that are not national but local in scope and application.

National Heroes Day is a bit problematic. The last Sunday of August was set aside as National Heroes Day in 1931 because there were two holidays specific to two national heroes: Rizal Day and Bonifacio Day. These two holidays have created a continuing controversy over who should rightfully be the national hero. Should it be the intellectual, upper-class, non-violent Rizal, or the rash, plebian, revolutionary Bonifacio? Historically, both are national heroes but ideologically it is one or the other.

However, we are not a nation with only two national heroes. We have quite a lot: Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Emilio Jacinto, Josefa Llanes Escoda, Gabriela Silang, Gregoria de Jesus, the Abad Santos brothers Pedro and Jose, the Luna brothers Juan and Antonio, etc. These heroes are commemorated in schools and memorials, their names and faces are on banknotes, coins and postage stamps, but for the heroes forgotten by history, we have National Heroes Day. That is why we have Libingan ng mga Bayani. That is why in this Libingan we have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. National Heroes Day is set aside to commemorate all those who contributed in the making of the Filipino nation.

Because the original holiday was set on a Sunday, it has always been a non-working day, but by some glitch in the drafting of the law, National Heroes Day has been reset to the last Monday of August. What was thus celebrated last Sunday was traditional but unlawful.

To understand the reason for the choice of August, we must remember that National Heroes Day was meant to commemorate the Philippine Revolution of 1896. It started with the Cry and the tearing of cedulas in Pugad Lawin on Aug. 23, 1896, followed by a major battle on Aug. 30 in San Juan, in a place we know today as Pinaglabanan.

In 1931, when National Heroes Day was declared, many veteranos de la Revolucion Filipina were still alive to give their personal testimony. From all these different versions of the story rose a controversy. Where did this happen? Traditionally, the place has been Balintawak, hence the ?Grito de Balintawak? (The Cry of Balintawak). Other participants mentioned other places: some said Pugad Lawin, other said Bahay Toro, still others Pasong Tamo. There was one veteran who clarified that it happened in Pacpac Lawin, not the nest or pugad, while yet another said it was in Banlat. In an academic forum to settle the matter, held in UP Diliman in 1996, someone suggested that the historic ?cry? happened in Pugad Baboy (from the popular comic strip). To clear up the matter and ensure that only one date and place will be in textbooks and will be the correct answer for quiz and game shows, the National Historical Institute, on the strength of Teodoro Agoncillo?s stature and personality, declared that Pugad Lawin was the place where the Revolution began.

Perhaps in 1931, the founding fathers tried to play it safe by setting National Heroes Day on the last Sunday in August, a date close to August 30, when the Battle of San Juan was fought and lost by Bonifacio. This is part of the story we sweep under the rug. Pinaglabanan was actually Pinagtalunan. Nick Joaquin once asked why we insist on celebrating defeat on August 30 when we had victories on August 31, 1896, when the Magdiwang took Noveleta and the Magdalo drove the Spaniards from Kawit.

Why do we remember some parts of our history and ignore other parts? That is the question asked by historiography which studies how history is written.

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