Today, Filipinos celebrate our 128th independence day.
Our revolutionaries declared independence on June 12, 1898, from a balcony in Kawit, Cavite. Yet, six months later, the Spanish Empire sold us for 20 million dollars to the United States, through negotiations that did not include any Filipino. Nevertheless, we still honor this date as the birth of our sovereignty.
Another irony that marks today’s celebration: as we honor our freedom, thousands of Filipinos in Mindanao are living in evacuation centers, many mourning the loss of loved ones, wondering how they will be able to rebuild after last Monday’s devastating earthquake.
True freedom requires solidarity
In a pastoral letter responding to this humanitarian tragedy, dated June 9, 2026, CBCP President Archbishop Gilbert Garcera urged the Church in the Philippines not to remain indifferent.
He wrote:
We grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, pray for the speedy recovery of those who have been injured, and stand in spiritual communion with all those who have been displaced from their homes and livelihoods.
In moments such as these, we are reminded that the Church is called to be a sign of hope and a witness of charity. As one family in Christ, we cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of our brothers and sisters. Their pain is our pain; their loss is our loss.
His words remind us that freedom is about more than the absence of constraints. An independent nation doesn’t exist only for itself. A truly free country is held together by solidarity and compassion. It belongs to a people who refuse to ignore the suffering of another – a people brave enough to embrace even wounded strangers as their own.
Solidarity: our response to a wounded world
Archbishop Garcera returned to this theme of solidarity in an earlier statement about the recent U.S.-Iran conflict.
In that letter, he reminded Filipinos that although this war is far from our shores, its effects reach deep into our communities because of the millions of Overseas Filipino Workers whose livelihood and safety depends on the stability of this region:
Although distant from our shores, the Middle East crisis is not remote from Filipino lives. Many of our brothers and sisters work in the region as Overseas Filipino Workers. Their safety, livelihoods, and futures now weigh heavily on their families at home. We especially think of parents separated from their children, children longing for their mothers and fathers, and families anxiously awaiting news.
The consequences of war, he noted, eventually find their way into Filipino homes through rising costs and economic uncertainty. He added that those who suffer first are the most vulnerable: daily wage earners, transport workers, the elderly, farmers, fisherfolk, and families with little savings. When we look closely, we realize this distant war isn’t so distant after all.
When we look closely, we realize this distant war isn’t so distant after all.
In this same letter, Archbishop Garcera challenges Filipinos to widen the horizons of their concern. He invites us to pray not only for victims of the current conflict, but also those of other overlooked places where violence continues to wound communities and claim lives.
He invites us to make space in our hearts for every victim of violence. This solidarity bears witness to the expansiveness of Jesus’ own heart:
… while we express grave concern about the current US-Iran conflict and its far-reaching consequences, we likewise affirm that we do not forget the many other hotspots in the Philippines, across Asia, and throughout the world that continue to inflict suffering on peoples and nations.
Echoing Pope Leo’s message, Archbishop Garcera wrote that peace is Christ’s gift, mission, and command. By emphasizing ‘mission’ and ‘command’, he reminds us that peace is a gift that requires human cooperation. It is a gift entrusted to us, but also a responsibility we’re called to protect and live out.
If peace is a bridge, each of us has a part of it to build.
Freedom and peace: bridges we build together
A people fully aware of its freedom swims against the tide of apathy. They are unsettled by injustice. They refuse to accept that many human beings are excluded from security, opportunity, or dignity justice.
A people fully aware of its freedom swims against the tide of apathy.
If we are to embrace our independence fully, we must work tirelessly until even the most vulnerable among us can access a life worthy of dignity.
Like peace, freedom is part gift, part responsibility. Independence Day is not only an occasion to celebrate the independence we inherited, it is also a moment to examine how much further we need to walk until all Filipinos can fully enjoy the freedom entrusted to us.
Archbishop Garcera’s insights remind us that solidarity must be part of what shapes this journey; it is the mortar that holds together the stones on our common path to a future anchored on dignity.
Full freedom requires a revolution of the heart
Every 25th of February, we remember the 1986 EDSA revolution, when a courageous and faithful people stood before tanks and restored democracy after two decades of dictatorship.
This year, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of that momentous day,
Remembering EDSA, Archbishop Garcera compared Filipinos to the Israelites in the desert, forgetful of the marvels God has done for us.
He called on us to undertake a new revolution, not in the streets but in our hearts:
…we are called to a new revolution of the heart, a heart that turns to God for it remembers the wonders God has done. The 1986 People Power was ‘kairos’ – a moment of grace. Let us remember with gratitude, repent with humility and respond with courage and love.
Political freedom remains to be one of the great gifts of history. Yet, freedom reaches its fullest expression when we all experience interior peace, solidarity, and shared concern for the common good.
As we celebrate another year of independence, may we open our hearts to Christ, who yearns to transform every corner of our wounded world into a sanctuary of freedom and peace.
