NEWSFLASH

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RENOVATED FORT SANTIAGO OPENS

Manila, Jan. 1, 1998 - President Ramos marked the 101st anniversary of the martyrdom of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal by leading top government and civic officials in retracing the steps of Rizal from a cell in Fort Santiago to the spot at the Bagumbayan Field (now Rizal Park) where he was executed by a firing squad.

The President started the day by officially reopening the renovated Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago, where Dr. Rizal spent the last days of his life in a tiny cell and where he wrote his famous "Mi Ultimo Adios."

In a short message, President Ramos exhorted every Filipino to emulate our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal's virtues of unity, selfless courage and sacrifice for the country to surmount any crisis that comes along.

It was Rizal, he said, who first aroused the Filipino sense of national consciousness which eventually led to the birth of the Philippine Republic.

Fort Santiago is one of the most popular tourist spots in Manila. It was used as a Spanish garrison, a Japanese military prison and an American camp. During the Aquino administration, Fort Santiago was closed to public while government-sanctioned diggings were conducted by American treasure hunter Charles Mac Dougald who had convinced President Aquino that tons of Marcos-discovered Yamashita Treasure gold bars were stashed there by the late president.