Due to the current pandemic, the province of Negros Occidental, skipped the annual gathering to commemorate the ‘Negros Day’, or the Cinco de Noviembre.
But despite of the lack of physical celebration, Gov. Eugenio Lacson said that November 5 remains to be a momentous and remarkable day for the province.
In Bago City, Mayor Nicholas Yulo scrapped the traditional parade and instead hold a simple wreath-laying ceremony to the statue of General Juan Araneta located outside the Bago Gym.
In Silay, the city government led by Mayor Mark Golez, commemorated the 122nd Cinco de Noviembre with a thanksgiving mass at San Diego Parish Church, followed by a short program at the Silay Plaza Covered Court.
In his message, Lacson said: “The patriotism, bravery, and courage of Gen. Juan Araneta, Gen. Aniceto Lacson and the thousands of Negrenses who fought for our freedom that fateful Cinco de Noviembre, is a story that is truly and solely Negrense.”
He added: After our victory and freedom were secured in the most ingenious and courageous manner in 1898, we remain proud and resolutely grateful of what the heroes of Cinco de Noviembre did in the face of a seemingly impossible situation.
With the pandemic, the governor likened the current battle to the war that the province has won in the past as he called on the Negrense to fight in an entirely new manner.
He stressed that the virus seeks nothing but to multiply and destroy; and it is relative upon us how to break its spread and chain of transmission.
For the fight to be successful, Lacson said that every Negrense is called upon to exercise utmost self restraint, diligence and discipline.
He added: “As your Governor, it is my fervent hope that as we commemorate the victories of our past, may we find renewed meaning, resolve and inspiration to unite and work together to achieve our common goal as a people – that is to defeat the threat of COVID 19.
Popularly known as Al Cinco de Noviembre, this day is celebrated to commemorate the Negrenses’ revolt against the Spanish colonizers on November 5, 1898. Negros Day is a non-working holiday in the province of Negros Occidental by virtue of Republic Act 6709 which took effect in February 10, 1989.
