Senate OKs bills declaring holidays in several provinces

The Senate approved on third and final reading five 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 on Monday that declaring local holidays in these provinces is giving “equal recognition from all Filipinos because each commemoration completes the nation’s memoir.”

House Bill Nos. 5262, 5259, 5691, and 6780 propose a special non-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.

Also approved was House Bill No. 5202, a bill proposing to declare November 22 a special non-working holiday in Surigao del Norte, which will 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 in a statement.

The 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), was also approved.

Ecleo served as mayor of Dinagat for 24 years, from 1963 until his death on December 20, 1987.

Meanwhile, House Bill No. 5688, which proposes to declare September 21 a special working holiday in Cebu in celebration of the ‘Cebu Press Freedom Day’ was likewise approved. /ee