To enable Filipinos to properly observe and reflect on the major events in our nation’s history, President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared the month of August, and every August thereafter, as History Month.

In issuing Proclamation No. 339, which he signed on February 16, 2012, the President repealed Proclamation No. 1304 (s.1974) that set the observance of History Week from September 15 to 21.

“Whereas there is a need to transfer the observance of History Week from 15 to 21 September to the whole month of August and rename the occasion as History Month to emphasize the most significant turning points in Philippine History,” the Proclamation read.

The President cited the need to extend the observance of our nation’s history from a week to a whole month “given the richness and diversity of our nation’s history” as well as the fact that “major events occurred in the month of August which concludes with National Heroes Day on 30 August.”