As brass bands played, President Fidel Ramos jubilantly waved a Philippine flag from a balcony Friday in a re-enactment of the country's declaration of independence from Spain 100 years ago.
Church bells pealed throughout the Philippines and government offices offered free food as Filipinos commemorated the climax of Asia's first revolution against Western colonial rule.Ramos urged the nation to use its hard-won independence as an inspiration in overcoming the impact of the current Asian financial crisis.
"We have successfully won back the dignity of our race and respect for our country," said Ramos, whose term ends June 30. "We have begun to make our own future."
Ramos waved the flag from the balcony of a house in Kawit town in Cavite province, south of Manila, where revolutionary leader Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed independence on June 12, 1898.
The Philippines was a Spanish possession for 333 years, from 1565 to 1898.
More than 30 countries sent representatives to join the celebration in Kawit and at Manila's Rizal Park, named after national hero Jose Rizal, who was shot by the Spanish for advocating equality.
The festivities also included a parade depicting the country's struggle against Spanish colonialism and a huge fireworks display later today over Manila Bay.
Leftist groups under the New Patriotic Alliance, however, planned an "alternative" celebration with a protest march to the U.S. Embassy.
Leaders of the alliance said they are celebrating the end of Spain's rule in 1898 but also want to highlight the United States' subsequent takeover of the Philippines, which they claimed was downplayed in the government-sponsored festivities.
In 1892, Filipino nationalists established a secret society called the Katipunan, which prepared for armed rebellion against Spain. The revolt erupted four years later and spread rapidly through much of the country.
Spain, unwilling to hand over power to the Filipino revolutionaries, ceded the country to the United States for $20 million in December 1898.
The following year, hostilities broke out between Filipino revolutionaries and American forces sent to occupy the new U.S. colony. The brief but brutal Philippine-American war is considered by some historians as the "first Vietnam" of the United States.
The United States formally granted the Philippines independence in 1946, but American influence remains strong.