The Senate approved on third and final reading five house bills seeking to declare special non-working holidays in several provinces to commemorate local significant events.
Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government and sponsor of the proposed measures, said the holidays he was proposing were milestones that “warrant equal recognition from all Filipinos because each commemoration completes the nation’s memoir.”
House Bill Nos. 5262, 5259, 5691, and 6780 proposes a special working holiday on May 15 in Surigao del Norte, May 22 in Guimaras, June 18 in Ifugao, November 15 in Occidental Mindoro, and November 22 in Sultan Kudarat respectively in commemoration of its founding anniversary.
House Bill No. 5202, proposes to declare November 22 a special non-working holiday in Surigao del Norte to be known as “Adlaw Nan Surigao del Norte.”
“These dates remind local residents how the cradle of their community was formed. This is also an occasion for them to celebrate the period when they united as one province,” Angara said.
“This is also an occasion for them to celebrate the period when they united as one province.”
Also approved was House Bill No. 5554, which proposes to declare December 9 as a special working holiday in Dinagat Islands, Leyte in commemoration of the birth anniversary of Ruben Edera Ecleo, Sr. Founder of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, Inc. (PBMA). Ecleo served as mayor of Dinagat for 24 years, from 1963 until his death on December 20, 1987.
House Bill No. 5688, which proposes to declare September 21 a special working holiday in Cebu in celebration of ‘Cebu Press Freedom Day’, was likewise approved.
“Declaring September 21 as Cebu Press Freedom Day, which also falls on the anniversary of Martial law, acknowledges the huge role that the press play, both as a government watchdog and as guardians of human rights,” the seasoned legislator said.
“Declaring September 21 as Cebu Press Freedom Day, which also falls on the anniversary of Martial law, acknowledges the huge role that the press play, both as a government watchdog and as guardians of human rights.”
