Opposition Senator Leila de Lima is pushing for a bill that seeks to declare the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City as a national historical site for history, freedom and independence.
De Lima, in filing Senate Bill No 2301, said the parish bore witness to centuries-worth of Filipino’s triumphs and struggles and also housed them in their time of need.
“Its grounds are where the hopes and dreams of Filipinos have been implanted, and from its halls their prayers have been heard,” De Lima said in the explanatory note of her bill.
The senator said that for hundreds of years, the San Roque parish reverberated of stories and tales of heroism shared between parishioners.
For instance, De Lima said the church was a “living witness to the bravery and heroism of the many katipuneros in Balintawak who laid their lives and paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we relish today.”
“When the Filipinos knew that the time has come for an uprising, when they realized that enough is enough and they could no longer tolerate and endure the tyranny of the Spaniards within whose iron first they have been crushed, the thirst for freedom spread like wildfire,” she stressed.
De Lima said the parish had served as one of General Antonio Luna’s stagng camps in 1899 where he led the fight against American soldiers during the Filipino-American war. During that war, the American soldiers were able to overrun Luna and his party, which caused the church partially destroyed.
The same grounds were also utilized as a temporary hospital for the injured members of the invading force.
The San Roque Parish, she said, was also built with the blood and sweat of residents within the area under the direction of Fray Manuel Vaquero, an assistant priest from the Parish of Tondo.
“This is the very reason why we protect these treasures—not only because of their historical importance, but because many of them are the only existing witnesses to the struggles and triumphs of our forefathers who fought for and died for the many blessings we cherish today,” De Lima stressed.