Declaring March 22 as AFP Anniversary

December 14, 1983

PROCLAMATION NO. 2325

DECLARING MARCH 22 AS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES

WHEREAS, historical imperatives dictate that the anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines must be reoriented to conform with the indigenous roots and beginnings of our military heritage;

WHEREAS, this anniversary would recognize the ennobling and glorious role played by the military in the continuing development of a nation;

WHEREAS, by approaching military history from the vantage point of Filipino interests insulated from historical aberrations foisted on us by foreigners, the loyalty and dedication of Filipino warriors throughout the centuries, without whose services the metamorphosis of the First Philippine Republic proclaimed on June 12, 1898 at Kawit, Cavite would have been rendered much more difficult, shall be brought to its proper perspective;

WHEREAS, on March 22, 1897, at Barrio Tejeros, San Francisco de Malabon within Cavite Province, a convention was held at the friar estate-house there with a view to establishing a new government imbued with the commitment to the fundamental values of justice and freedom, a theory of an egalitarian society, a concept of an alternative Free Philippines and a program of revolutionary action;

WHEREAS, the Tejeros Convention inspired the Filipino people into moulding themselves into one nation, one and indivisible;

WHEREAS, this event marked the establishment of a Revolutionary Army ready to fight a war of national independence.

WHEREAS, the body of armed patriots who were present at Tejeros constituted the genesis of a truly national armed force designed to redeem the rights of the Filipinos to rule themselves and carve their own destiny within a regime of justice and freedom, completely free from foreign intervention; cd

WHEREAS, ideologically, the members of the Revolutionary Army were imbued with ideas of the basic rights of self-defense, independence and aversion to foreign domination, united by a common program for revolutionary action such that these clusters of armed revolutionary elements became the nuclei of the Army of the First Philippine Republic;

WHEREAS, this Army was the first indigenous military force, national in character, tasked to maintain internal security in municipalities and provinces throughout the archipelago which, through several generations, symbolically became the precursor of the present Armed Forces of the Philippines;

NOW, THEREFORE, in order to truly reflect the historical facts regarding the genesis and evolution of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution do hereby declare:

SECTION 1. That March 22 be observed as the anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

SECTION 2. All presidential proclamations, executive orders, rules and regulations, or part thereof, inconsistent with this Proclamation are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 3. This Proclamation shall take effect immediately.

IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed. cdt

DONE in the City of Baguio, this 14th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Three.