HAPPY BONIFACIO DAY!
by Hector Otones Cofreros, November 30, 2024

An iconic landmark of the Oton plaza is the statue of Andres Bonifacio. Historical records of Oton are bereft of the exact date when was the statue erected but some suggest that it may be one of the statues installed in the town plaza in 1929 during the leadership of Municipal President Rafael Londres.

During the arrival of the Allied Forces in March 1945, which we celebrate every year as a local Holiday called the “Liberation of Panay”, the same statue of Andres Bonifacio was photographed shadowing the entrance of tanks, troops, and trucks heading to the City of Iloilo. Encircled in the photos below, is the statue, the crowd and the forces on that day. Towering in the background as well is the famous old stone church of Oton.

After the destruction of the old stone church of Oton in 25 January 1948, the statue of Andres Bonifacio was also photographed (below photo, at lower-right) with the ruins of the stone church and the temporary wooden church in the background.

At present, the statue is relatively standing in the spot where it was photographed in both instances, but it might have been moved and raised several meters away from where it used to stand because of road repairs and improvements in the town plaza.

The statue, being one of the remnants of the past, is being honored and revered during celebrations of national and patriotic holidays.

/HOC

Photo Sources: US National Archives & Mill Hill Missionaries