President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed an administrative order creating an inter-agency committee for the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Philippine independence and nationhood.

Marcos signed Administrative Order No. 8 on Tuesday, tasking the committee to “facilitate the planning and execution of programs and projects” for the commemoration of the 125th Philippine independence anniversary.

The committee will be chaired by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as vice chair.

The inter-agency committee’s members are the Department of Tourism, Department of Education, Department of National Defense, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Transportation, and the Metro Manila Development Authority.

The country will commemorate the 125th anniversary of Philippine independence from 2023 to 2026 to “give focus on the freedom that our forebearers struggled for towards that they dreamed for the country and the history that we seek to remember and honor them with.”

Republic Act No. 10086, or the “Strengthening Peoples’ Nationalism Through Philippine History Act” provides that the State shall provide the means to “strengthen people’s nationalism, love of country, respect for its heroes and pride for the people’s accomplishments by reinforcing the importance of Philippine national and local history in daily life with the end in view of raising social consciousness.”

It is further directed to “reinvigorate government support for historical research; and sustaining and enhancing programs for the protection, preservation and conservation of historical relics and memorabilia, monuments, sites and other historical resources.” (PNA)