A Facebook post went viral last week showing a photo of Dr. Jose Rizal’s monument at Luneta Park, undergoing what looks like a reconstruction.
Jaycie Castillo jokingly said in his post that it seems like our national hero’s monument was being rotated to face Torre de Manila. The construction of the Torre de Manila building was heavily criticized for defacing the view of Rizal’s monument, dubbing it a photobomber of what used to be a picture-perfect Luneta Park.
We’ve reached out to National Parks and Development Committee and it turns out that Rizal’s monument was just getting groomed for the upcoming Independence Day on June 12. Ian Alfonso, a History Researcher from National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the lead agency in organizing the commemoration of Independence Day, also clarified everything in a Facebook post.
Now we know Rizal is staying put and just getting polished before the big day where we all recognize our heroes’ sacrifices to achieve the freedom we have today. We hope his monument would also be free from unwanted photobombers like before.