Philippine Independence Day is on June 12, '13

The Philippine Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of independence (Spanish: Acta de la proclamación de independencia del pueblo Filipino), Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain.Independence was proclaimed on June 12, 1898 between four and five in the afternoon in Cavite at the ancestral home of General Emilio Aguinaldo some 30 kilometers South of Manila. The event saw the unfurling of the National Flag of the Philippines, made in Hong Kong.
The Declaration is currently housed in the National Library of the Philippines. It is not on public display but can be viewed with permission like any other document held by the National Library.

During the Philippine-American War, the American government captured and sent to the United States about 400,000 historical documents. In 1958, the documents were given to the Philippine government along with two sets of microfilm of the entire collection, with the U.S. Federal Government keeping one set.

Sometime in the 1980s or 1990s the Declaration was stolen from the National Library. As part of a larger investigation into the widespread theft of historical documents and a subsequent public appeal for the return of stolen documents, the Declaration was returned to the National LIbrary in 1994 by University of the Philippines professor Milagros Guerrero.

source: Wikipedia

We Filipinos are about to celebrate the day that we have been set freed. I can actually feel the spirit now as I read the daily newspaper, recent events in a lot of sites in the internet and a lot more. Is this occasion really that salient to all Filipinos? I guess for most it is and I am one of those people who joins in celebrating the Philippine freedom from any other nation's colonial rule. Indeed, we must be a part of this celebration and we must indulge ourselves to related activities that would manifest and ascertain to all Filipinos that we consider this a great deal in behalf of all our fellow Filipinos who sacrificed their personal interests in fighting for our country's FREEDOM. Without them, we Filipinos wouldn't have been able to express ourselves freely though newspapers and magazines, internet sites and media. Thus, alas to those Filipinos who have fought for Philippine Independence.

craving for pork humba

We Filipinos some times spend our Sundays with our family. I seldom experience it myself because of my family's hectic schedule, we barely find time to eat together you see. So, I kind of figured out to prepare humba for lunch. 

Never really wanna be the one in charge for it however things change. I am now so eager to learn it.

Humba is a sweet pork dish that resembles the famous pork adobo in terms of appearance. This is popular in the southern parts of the Philippines and is considered as one of the delicacies of the region. This dish uses all the ingredients of pork adobo; however, certain ingredients such as brown sugar, salted black beans, and banana blossoms make this dish stand out. There are also other variations wherein pineapple juice is used – this gives more life to the dish (as what i have done on my humba mastepiece for lunch earlier). 
source: http://panlasangpinoy.com/2010/01/27/filipino-food-pork-humba-recipe/

Here's the link of the recipe i followed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aktoj6jGfo

Photo of my humba masterpiece

Humba Recipe - Ingredients of my masterpiece

• 2 lbs pork belly
• 1 cup Pineapple juice
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons salted black beans
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ cup dried banana blossoms
• 2 pieces dried bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorn

For my humba, i forgot to buy the dried bay leaves. Anyhow, my "humba" masterpiece still tastes so good, as if you can't get enough when you start eating it.

Cooking Procedure

1. Heat the cooking pot then brown the pork belly
2. Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft
3. Put-in the soy sauce, peppercorn, bay leaves
4. Pour-in the pineapple juice and let boil. Simmer until the pork is tender (add water as needed)
5. Add the vinegar and wait for the mixture to re-boil. Simmer for 3 minutes
6. Spoon-in the salted black beans and brown sugar then simmer for 5 minutes
7. Add the dried banana blossoms and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes
8. Transfer to a serving plate and serve.  

Happy eating! Share and enjoy! You all have a nice day! ;)