After declaring independence, in June 1898, former President Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini initiated the shifting of the government from Dictatorial to a Revolutionary Congress.

All 136 delegates from 43 provinces gathered and moved to Malolos, Bulacan on September 29, 1898 where the Congress ratified the June 12 Independence we commemorate annually.

The Malolos Constitution, being the first Democratic Constitution in Asia, started and declared a system we enjoy today, which birthed and marked the Philippine Republic.

The core of the Congress is to establish a structured government that represents even the smallest units of the country — towns and provinces, where everyone holds the right for a sound election, rights, and equal representation — and most importantly, to start and institute the First Philippine Republic to assert sovereignty and impose laws that voice out the true meaning of the Malolos Congress — a revolutionized, functioning republican government and nation.

Decades after, we now gratify the very essence of the Malolos Congress. Celebrating its 127th Anniversary at the historic Barasoain Church, we Filipinos — not just Bulakenyos but the entire Philippine nation — honor the fundamental movements that freed and nurtured our generation.

It is our critical duty to uphold the Republic’s legacy wherein “Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan” as the central theme, is at heart — fueling the fire of a revolutionary country 127 years ago and for the years to come.