IBA Commemorates Armistice Day

IBA is one of the few schools in the Philippines that officially recognises the importance of Armistice Day which falls on November 11th each year.  This is a day recognised in many countries across the world as the day that brought an official end to the First World War.  It is a day that the soldiers who died protecting their countrymen are acknowledged by wearing a red poppy.  In recent years the day, also known as Remembrance Day, has come to mean a lot more than simply the end of the First World War.  It is now widely accepted that November 11th is a day during which we should all pause for a moment and give thanks to the men in uniform who sacrifice their lives so that we may live in peace and enjoy the freedoms in our respective countries.

In a brief but moving ceremony students of the school reenacted a tableau representing the types of sacrifices that are expected of our military men in so many of the conflicts that they have to face on a daily basis.  The presentation this year also recognised the suffering endured by the families of military men who have to face long absences of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.

Some of the moving scenes captured during the tableau.

This was followed by the lighting of a central candle after which each of the students, faculty and parents present carried lit candles as a mark of respect.

Once the candles were lit, in a ceremony suitably solemn for the occasion, wreaths were laid and a gun salute offered.

Finally, prayers were read by students of IBA representing the four major religions and giving thanks for the lives of those sacrificed for freedom.

“In Flander’s Field” is the poem created by Major McRae in 1915 that led to the poppy being used to represent the lives of the soldiers that had died in the conflict.

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