Life in the Philippines: 4th of July or Filipino-American Friendship Day

Jose Rizal was a Filipino nationalist, poet, novelist, ophthalmologist, journalist and revolutionary. He is considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and was executed on December 30, 1896 by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish Army at Fort Santiago. In 1896 a rebellion was started by the Katipunan and Rizal was arrested in October of that year due to his association with them. Rizal was tried and convicted of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy and was sentenced to death. He was executed on December 30, 1896 by a firing squad of Filipino soldiers who were backed up by the Spanish Army in case they were disobedient.

Philippine Republic Day, also known as Filipino-American Friendship day happens to fall on the 4th of July. This is the day to commemorate the United States recognizing the independence of the Philippines on July 4, 1946.

In celebration of both country's independence, Dave, Ryan and I decided to spend the day at Fort Santiago with two of our Filipino agents: Emz and Jay. Jay has a passion for history so he gave us a personal tour of the Fort and told us all about the history of their national hero. Here is a sampling of the 150 pictures I took of our adventure. You can find the rest on my facebook.