Senator JV Ejercito warns against turning Pinaglabanan Shrine into a ‘theme park’

Senate Senior Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito has urged authorities to stop treating the Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan City like a "theme park" following the relocation of several historical monuments to the site.

Delivering a privilege speech to mark Pinaglabanan Day and National Heroes Day, Ejercito raised concerns over local city ordinances passed in 2021 that moved the monuments of Gat Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, and Dr. Jose Rizal from their original public locations to the shrine.

“The Pinaglabanan Shrine is not a theme park where different monuments are simply brought together because they share a similar theme,” Ejercito said.

The San Juan City government previously defended the transfers, citing safety concerns at the original sites and a desire to give the national heroes a more dignified setting. However, Ejercito argued that relocating the statues disrupts local history.

“Monuments are landmarks. They serve as markers of an important event, form part of a community’s identity, and serve as a bridge between the present and the past,” Ejercito emphasized. “When we tamper with a landmark, we are not merely moving stone or metal. We are moving the collective memory of a place.”

While clarifying that he is not opposed to public safety measures, the senator insisted that relocating historical monuments requires thorough study, heritage impact assessments, conservation plans, and broad public consultations with historians and residents. He suggested that local officials address traffic safety through road redesigns, protective barriers, and improved lighting rather than moving the statues.

“History and public welfare should not be pitted against each other,” he noted, adding that monuments belong to the public rather than any politician.

Ejercito, who served as San Juan mayor in 2002, commissioned the Bonifacio and Jacinto monuments and later collaborated with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to establish the Museo ng Katipunan in 2004. He explained that the monuments were originally placed along busy thoroughfares so students, workers, and commuters would be daily reminded of the country's freedom fighters.

Following the enactment of Republic Act No. 12250 in 2025, which officially designated August 30 as Pinaglabanan Day in San Juan, Ejercito urged Filipinos to keep the legacy of national heroes integrated into daily life.

“True respect can be seen in the way we preserve the things, places, and memories they left behind,” Ejercito said. “I hope we do not treat them like expensive glasses or plates kept inside a display cabinet and brought out only during fiestas. Our heroes deserve to be showcased, not put in a display case.”

-Paraluman News