Mayor hopes lessons from Cinco de Noviembre still be learned today

"The lesson of Al Cinco de Noviembre should still be learned today and apply to our modern world."

This was stressed by Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo, who led the celebration of the 125th Al Cinco de Noviembre on Sunday, November 5, in the city.

Yulo said Bagonhons commemorated and celebrated anew the heroism that General Juan Araneta and his troops showed for the people of Negros to stand up against the tyranny of foreign colonizers who ruled the Philippines for over 300 years.

"May we all remember the history that transpired centuries ago," he said.

He added that it's the second physical celebration of Al Cinco de Noviembre after two years of hiatus due to the unprecedented coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

This year's theme is "Honor, ingenuity, and service on with the revolution of progress."

Yulo, along with Vice Mayor Ramon Torres and the members of the City Council, also led the wreath-laying ceremony at the General Juan Araneta Monument.

The activity was also attended by the descendants of General Juan Araneta, City Hall employees, the Philippine National Police, Department of Education (DepEd), and other government agencies.

Al Cinco de Noviembre, also known as Negros Day, is celebrated every November 5 to commemorate the Negrenses' revolt against the Spanish colonizers in 1898.

It was declared a non-working holiday in the province by virtue of Republic Act 6709.

Mae Ann Furtos, senior tourism operations officer of Bago City, also expressed her gratitude to all the Bagonhons who joined the 125th Al Cinco de Noviembre.

"Today's celebration is an affirmation of how eager everybody is—the Negrenses—to celebrate this occasion," she said.

From the floral offering, wreath laying, and parade, she added, it showed that all the visitors were excited to celebrate with them the 125th Al Cinco de Noviembre as well as the 25th Sigabong sang mga Kanyon.

"Our barangays were there to celebrate with us, and they were clustered into eight for the Sigabong sang mga Kanyon," Furtos said.

With the coordination and participation of all the barangays, she said it was made to be a successful event.

Furtos noted that Noviembre is the result of the ingenuity and bravery of the valiant hero, General Juan Araneta, and his Bagonhon troops, together with the forces from the north led by General Aniceto Lacson.

"This is also called a historical bluff as Bagonhon troops used nipa (coconut fronds) as rifles and amakan (rolled bamboo mats) as cannon that seemed to be believable from afar and led to the surrender of the Spaniards, "she said.

She added that it was a bloodless revolt, through which the Negrenses were freed from the 300-year Spanish tyranny.

Furtos disclosed that this year, Negrenses witnessed the parade of cannons at the major streets going to Bantayan Park.

Moreover, Bago City also held the Invitational Fancy Drill Competition after several years of pause due to the pandemic.

Furtos said it's now the 12th edition, which was participated by five schools from various localities in Negros Occidental.

These are the Enriqueta Montilla De Esteban National High School in Pulupandan; Lopez Jaena National High School and Minoyan National High School in Murcia; and M.G. Medalla Integrated School and STI-West Negros University in Bacolod City.

On November 7, there will be a job fair at the MYTCCC starting 8 a.m while a two-day ALSingko: An out-of-school youth and ALS activity will kick off at the Buenos Aires Mountan Resort.*