Rizal. Rizal Days in history On his Rizal Day address on December 30, 1937, President Manuel L. Quezon declared through Commonwealth Act No. 184 the adoption of Tagalog as the national language. Under Japanese occupation during World War II, the Rizal Day program of 1942 attended by Benigno Aquino Sr., and President Jose P. Laurel included the recital of Rizal's final poem Mi último adiós in Japanese and the inauguration of the KALIBAPI. Starting in 1936, Rizal Day was also the inauguration day of the incoming president, although the first inauguration on December 30 was on 1941. Presidents usually chose Independence Grandstand (now known as Quirino Grandstand) as the inauguration venue because it faces the spot where Rizal was buried, and also the site of the independence ceremony in 1946, according to historian Manuel L. Quezon III. In the inauguration of Ramon Magsaysay after winning the 1953 presidential election via a landslide, around 300,000 to 500,000 people attended the ceremonies. With the approval of the 1973 constitution, inauguration days were moved to June 30. On the centenary of Rizal's death on December 30, 1996, the program included retracing Rizal's last steps from his cell at Fort Santiago to the execution site, followed by a reenactment of his death and the customary flag-raising. On December 30, 2000, local terrorists (with the backing of Jemaah Islamiyah) bombed five areas in Metro Manila, killing 22 and injuring 100. Changing the day of commemoration Being that December 30 is sandwiched between Christmas and New Year's Day, National Historical Commission chairperson Ambeth Ocampo pushed for the moving of Rizal Day from December 30 to June 19, Rizal's birth. This would allow students to participate in commemoration activities as opposed to it being held on December 30 which is in the middle of the Christmas vacation. The House of Representatives approved on its third reading a bill that would have changed it to June 19 on December 10, 2008, but was not acted in time by the Senate after the 14th Congress ended its session and was thus not enacted. On April 29, 2011, President Benigno Aquino III officially declared June 19, 2011 a special one-time non-working holiday in commemoration of Rizal's 150th birthday. References External links Decree of December 20, 1898, declaring December 30 as a day of national mourning Act No. 345, establishing national holidays in the Philippines Republic Act No. 229, prohibiting certain