127-YEAR-OLD PHILIPPINE FLAG DISCOVERED IN ANTIQUE

A HISTORIAN from Antique discovered a Philippine flag estimated to be 127 years old.

Historian and former Antique Board member Errol Santillan is coordinating with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to declare the century-old Philippine flag a  national treasure.

Santillan is also seeking a resolution from the Antique Provincial Board for the flag to be declared historical and cultural heritage and be preserved.

According to Santillan, the flag is currently in the possession of the family of 2Lt. Ruperto Abellon, the second-in-command in the Visayas under Gen. Leandro Fullon during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-United States war.

Fullon led the armed expedition dispatched by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo from Luzon to reclaim the island from the Spaniards on Sept. 6, 1898.

The historian said a team of 140 officers and 340 men arrived in Pandan, Antique on Sept. 21, 1898.

He said the flag was brought and hoisted in Libertad, Antique as part of the armed expedition in 1898.

The flag, according to the 79-year-old granddaughter of Abellon, is believed to have come from Hong Kong and was brought by Aguinaldo when he returned to the Philippines on May 19, 1898.

Santillan sought permission of the family to disclose the flag in their possession.

The local historian said the century-old Philippine flag is made of special material and measures 53 inches in width and 93 inches in length and like the modern flag has the colors red, blue and white; and the three stars symbolizing Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.