Malacañang declares March 22 a holiday in Cavite

LUCENA CITY –– Malacañang has declared March 22 as a special non-working holiday in Cavite province to mark the 152nd birth anniversary of the first Philippine president, General Emilio Aguinaldo.

Proclamation No. 1117, issued on March 17 and signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, said the holiday declaration would give the people of the province “full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.”

However, the proclamation stressed that the celebration would be “subject to community quarantine, social distancing, and other public health measures” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.

A copy of the declaration was posted on the Facebook page of the Provincial Information and Communication Affairs Department on Thursday.

Aguinaldo, one of the revolutionary leaders during the Spanish occupation, was born on March 22, 1869 in Kawit town.

On Feb. 6, 1964, Aguinaldo died of heart failure at the age of 95.

A year before his death, on June 12, 1963, at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, Aguinaldo formally donated to the Philippines his historic mansion in Kawit town, where the country’s independence was proclaimed in 1898.

Then-president Diosdado Macapagal received the donation on behalf of the government.

LZB