MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
[ Proclamation No. 720, February 10, 1996 ]
DECLARING THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF FEBRUARY 1996 AND EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER AS THE NATIONAL ECUMENICAL DAY OF PRAYER AND RECONCILIATION
WHEREAS, recognizing the supreme authority and just government of the Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations, it is but fitting for all to set apart a day for National Prayer and Reconciliation;
WHEREAS, it is the duty of nations, and of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to admit their transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with fervent hope that genuine repentance will lead to Gods mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Word;
WHEREAS, we are blessed with a bountiful country and we have grown in numbers, but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten that gracious hand which preserves us, multiplies and strengthens us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all the blessings we have were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Let us humble ourselves before God who has made us, to confess our national sins, to pray for clemency and forgiveness, and to profess our faith in the words of the Holy Scriptures:
“And if my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
WHEREAS, we, as a nation, will commemorate on February 25, 1996 the Tenth Anniversary of that miracle now enshrined in our history as the People Power Revolution of February 1986, which event is but another manifestation of the Almightys unseen hand in guiding the affairs of men.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, ever mindful of the Almightys grand design in our People Power Revolution, and in our daily affairs, do hereby designate the Twenty-Fifth day of February effective this year and every year thereafter as the National Ecumenical Day of Prayer and Reconciliation.
And I do hereby implore all our People to abstain on that day from their secular pursuits, and to congregate, at their places of worship or their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, there to render such homage and confessions, and to offer to Him such supplications for the attainment of true and lasting harmony for all.1aшphi1
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope professed by the Divine teachings, that the united voice of the nation shall be heard on high, and answered with Gods blessings and pardon of our sins, and that He shall bestow upon our country His everlasting gifts of peace and unity.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.
DONE in the City of Manila, this 10Th day of February in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.
(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
By the President:
(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary
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