20 SEPTEMBER

Gabriela Silang

1763 - Gabriela Silang, the first known Filipino woman to lead an uprising against a foreign power, is executed by hanging by Spanish colonial authorities along with 80 of her followers; Gabriela Silang has continued the fight for freedom left by her husband, Diego Silang, who proclaimed the independence of Ilokanos from Spanish colonial rule and declared Vigas as capital in 1762 but was treacherously killed by a hired mestizo assassin four months earlier.

1899 - Seven months into the protracted  Philippine-American War (1899-1914), Gen. Emilio  Aguinaldo of the fledgling Philippine Republic issues a  decree regarding secondary public education,  instructing competent teachers and principals to teach subjects to students of secondary schools; the  decree is issued from Tarlac where the  government-on-the-run is currently based, having  earlier moved northward from Cavite to Malolos while  avoding the enemy forces of the imperialist American  invaders.

1934 - The election of Filipino delegates to the National Assembly takes place during the Japanese  Occupation of the Philippines during World War II;  half of the delegates are elected by provincial and  municipal officials from the list provided by the  political party KALIBAPI (Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod sa  Bagong Pilipinas), with the other half being composed  of provincials and city mayors deemed by the  Constitution of the Second Philippine Republic as the  assembly's ex-oficio members.


Photo credit: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=565229