A marker commemorating the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Bangkusay was unveiled in Moriones, Tondo on Thursday.
The unveiling ceremony was led by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chair Rene Escalante, and NHCP OIC Executive Director Carminda Arevalo.
Domagoso in his speech said the historic Battle of Bangkusay shall serve as a reminder to every Filipino and present leader of their obligation to maintain the freedom and sovereignty in the 7,100 islands of the country.
“Yan ang obligasyon ko! Yan ang obligasyon mo! Yan ang obligasyon nating lahat na mga Pilipino bilang pamana natin sa mga susunod na henerasyon (That is my obligation! That is your obligation! That is the obligation of all of us Filipinos as our legacy to future generations,” Domagoso said.
On June 3, 1571, more than 2,000 native warriors from Hagonoy and Macabebe and nearby provinces fought the Spanish invaders in Luzon led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in an estuary called Bankusay Channel.
While the natives failed to expel the Spanish colonizers then, the NHCP said the Battle of Bankusay remains to be a "historic and significant" event in the country's history as it was the "last or if not one of the last resistance of the natives of Manila against the Spaniards."
"The battle’s conclusion was deemed one of the major driving forces why Legazpi decided to establish the City of Manila," the NHCP said.